Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the poem Christmas Bells in 1863. Some of the words are:
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet – The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said:
“For hate is strong, And mocks the song
Of Peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead; nor doth He sleep!
The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Advent is a time of preparation. I hung the outside lights at my house last week because it was fairly warm. Carolyn and I will put up our Christmas trees this week. All the Thanksgiving “stuff” will come down and be replaced with Christmas “stuff.”
We prepare for Christmas when we commemorate the first coming of Christ some 2,000 years ago. We focus on the great mystery that God became man! The word Advent means “coming.” The text from Isaiah 40 takes us back to the time of exile in Israel’s history. It refers to God saving His people from their exile and captivity and restoring them to the land of Israel with its great Temple in Jerusalem. The second thing this passage points to is the advent of Jesus Christ, when God would come to dwell with His people in the flesh.
In II Peter 3:8-14 we see where there are consequences for our behavior. We believe “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” God wants us to repent and turn to Him in love. God is patient with us, and He does not want anyone to “perish but that all shall come to repentance.”
God went so far as to become one of us and die on a cross in order to save us. He has given us everything we need to have new life in Him and get to Heaven. We are called during this time of Advent to prepare and meet the Lord!
Prayer – God of the universe – we prepare ourselves for your coming. We ask for strength to prepare ourselves. May this Advent Season be filled with your grace and love as we prepare for “the day of the Lord.” Amen.
Isaiah 40:1-5 – “And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.”
Author: The Rev. Tommy Herndon
Image: Oleksandr Skochko, courtesy of Unsplash
