The Fifth Day of Advent

The Fifth Day of Advent

Wednesday, December 7, 2017

I am Alpha and Omega,

the beginning and the end,

the first and the last.

Revelation 22:13

Jesus – the beginning and the end. That’s what he says of himself. And though this is one of those difficult sayings, we can almost understand. Before anything was, he was. “In the beginning was the Word . . . . “ (John 1:1) And in the Revelation – at the very end – we read, “Surely I come quickly.” Before there was a world and at the end of what we know to be the world, Jesus is. Our minds can almost grasp that, even though untold numbers of years lapse from the beginning to the end.

But if there is a beginning and an end, isn’t there also a middle? Where does he fit in the middle? Only for thirty-three years or so, or is there more? We had no control over the beginning nor will we have control over the end, but have we not some modicum of control of the “in between?” He said he would send a Comforter to help us get through this life. Where does he, in the person of that Comforter, the Holy Spirit, fit in our part of the middle?

It’s Christmas, one of the most important of our Christian holidays and we have lots to do to get ready. There is shopping for all the things that must be wrapped and placed under the tree or double wrapped and mailed to go under someone else’s tree. And cards to be addressed, and baking, and decorating. We cannot possibly have Christmas without lots of food and aromas and at least a little confusion. Where is Jesus in this part of the “in between?”

We carefully place our little manger scenes on our tables, in our yards, in our offices. Somehow we feel warm and comforted, remembering his entering the world just as we did, as a tiny infant. But over the manger of that infant Jesus, meek and mild, lurked the shadow of a cross, planned from and for all eternity to be a part of his very existence in between the beginning and the end. How do we treat his “in-between” time and that ugly shadow? Is Christmas for us only about a baby, or is the crucified and risen Lord a part of our celebration?

Father, as we move through this Holy Season, remind us often that Jesus is not just the beginning and the end but everything in between. Remind us that if we do not invite him to be a part of our lives in this in-between time, we miss the meaning that you have planned for us. Remind us that the season only becomes a Holy Season when Jesus has his rightful place in all that we do there. As we fill our homes with the aroma of evergreens and pumpkin pie, please also fill them with the sweet aroma of your Holy Presence. Amen.

The Light of the World
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, 2008,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator.