When we think about the preparation that advent brings, making space for God in our daily lives, it is something that should be everyday of the year, we sometimes loose sight of where advent is heading. Too often we stop at the manger and we want to stay there.
The manger while meagre, is a safe place. It is a place where anybody can come and meet with the baby Jesus. It doesn’t matter of your social standing or lack there of, of wealth, of nationality, or political leaning, of your history, of your sex. There are no gates, no royal guards to keep the unwanted out, it is a place that should not be important but it is a place where the hierarchy of heaven and the belittled of humanity meet in praise and awe. It is a place surrounded by the basest of life and the holiness of creation. It is a place where all can come and meet with the babe who is older than time, who is stronger than the mightiest warrior. Who is faithful even though He is but a helpless baby entrusted to faithful humans, among the blind and rebellious society that has forgotten God.
The manger is a paradox of sorts. In its baseness it holds the divine, in its openness it holds the key to a mystery that excites the soul. It holds the innocent life but points to the cross of death. And this is why we cannot stop at the manger for too long. If we stall here, the joy that comes from this little child will fade away because we miss how this child confronts the fullness of our sin laden death and brings us to redemptive life.
Advent doesn’t just lead to Christmas Day, it leads to Easter Sunday, to the resurrection, to new life because of Jesus and through Jesus. This leads us to the eternal joy that confronts the realities of sicknesses, broken relationships, loneliness, unemployment, failures, lost and forgotten, and reminds us that we are redeemed children of God.
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