Advent- Mark 13:32-37

Advent is the beginning of the Church year, the time of preparation to remember Christ’s first coming as the infant Jesus. It is also a time to think about other ways that Jesus Christ comes into human lives, including His second coming (Mark 13:32-37). As we contemplate the Scriptures, we should realize that there is both judgment and mercy, both Law and Gospel, both demand and promise. In our preparations to celebrate Christ coming into the world anew, we need to keep both sides of the message in our hearts and minds. As a season of preparation, Advent stresses waiting in humility and repentance as we look forward to the joy of the Incarnation. Advent is not quite as somber as Lent (hence the relatively recent tendency of some churches to use blue rather than purple during Advent), but Advent is a time for serious reflection and self-assessment. Human beings often prefer to skip over that and rush the Christmas celebration. Even believers do this, and the secular world is even worse.

It is not easy to resist these social pressures, but we must try to set aside some time for serious reflection. We need to think about Christ’s comings into the world and into our lives. And before we rush into celebration, we need to ponder our spiritual condition as Christ’s Church and as individual believers. We should reflect upon the various ways Christ comes to us: as an infant at Christmas, as the messianic king in Holy Week, and as our judge on the last day. We must also be open to Him to come to us through worship every Sunday (especially in the Lord's Supper) and in Scripture and prayer every day of our lives.