The Tension of Advent

“Festive.” That is usually the word that first comes to mind when we think about Advent. The season rightly reflects that. We are in the midst of the most non-productive time of the year. We roll from party to party, we spend a large amount of money on gifts. Most of us have traditions that mark off this season as one of feasting, joy, and family. I know this is true in my family and because my family is by nature a group that is a “party waiting to happen,” we slide right into the “festive” mode easily.There is however another side of Advent we dare not miss. Advent is a time we ponder the second Advent of Jesus. What does that do for us? This morning at 4:45am, Addison, my foster baby who is five months old, woke up howling to be fed. I stumbled out of bed and made my way downstairs to the kitchen to mix up a bottle and then on to her room to top her off so we could all get a little more sleep. I do a lot of praying over her and her future in this nightly ritual with Addison. I ask God for all kinds of things for her, and for me - I ask God to help me trust him with her future.As I was praying for her future, I began to weep. I wept because I can’t shield her from all the brokenness of the world. She will see things before she is ten that I didn’t see till I was in college. And ultimately she will grow up in a world that is increasingly hostile to the claims of Christ. Here is the tension of Advent. While we are deep in joy, we are also weeping and longing for Jesus to heal all the broken things. I have learned that we can live in that tension; Jesus did all the time. He was called “a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief.” He was also the man of joy at the same time. Jesus was always weeping and yet always the life of the party. I have also learned that it is this tension that drives us out with joy in broken places to bring healing and restoration.How do we do this? I don’t know exactly, but most of it has to do with trust - you believe the promises. Also, you spend a lot of time running to the cross. At the cross is some kind of resolution. I find it there over and over again when I find myself under its shadow. There, weeping gives way to joy or we weep for joy and we can trust that if God loved us enough to lose his son, then he really will make the suffering, or pain, or whatever, be redemptive for us in time.This Sunday I hope to take you deeper into the tension. A word of warning. You can’t get the deep, gut wrenching joy without being willing to enter into the weeping.Blessing,Jim