Awe and Advent #3
“Awe and advent go in hand in hand. We can’t control a God we don’t understand. All we can do is worship Him in reverence, and in awe.”
If I was writing the Christmas story, here is the way it would play out:
Mary and Joseph get married.
The angel gives both Mary and Joseph lots of advance warning during their first year of marriage that they will become parents of God, so they have time to get used to the idea, and are able to avoid scandal.
Mary becomes pregnant by the Holy Spirit and she confirms with a pregnancy test when they get back from their first year anniversary celebration.
They call ahead for reservations at a comfortable hotel and make sure there is a bassinet in the room before they arrive in Bethlehem.
There is a midwife waiting their arrival who helps with the birth.
Jesus is born in comfort and wrapped in his going home outfit, purchased by Mary in advance.
Jesus achieves fame at an early age as God’s Son, and Mary and Joseph are venerated and given the keys to the city.
Jesus is accepted by the existing religious and political leaders and given a seat of prominence in the church and as an elected official.
The powerful and influential alike come to him for his wisdom and the world is changed and believe that the Messiah has come.
He dies at a ripe old age and his disciples follow His ways for generations to come.
It is the script as any one of us would have seen it played out. Because It makes sense.
What doesn’t make sense is that God turned what could be into what should never have been but was the only way it could be and asks us to stake our lives on it.
Maybe my questions are your questions.
How can I understand a God who would send His Son to us in scandalous circumstances?
How can I believe that God asked Mary to suffer humiliation while being chosen to bring the Saviour of the universe into the world?
How can I believe that Joseph would wrestle with scandal and yet choose to believe that God had chosen Mary to be Jesus’ mother? Why didn’t He just walk away?
How can I believe that the God of the universe could not at least provide a more comfortable environment for His only Son? Why that dirty and messy manger?
Why would lowly shepherds be chosen to be present in the moments of Jesus’ birth to witness firsthand the divine touching the human? They had no influence.
This is the strategy of a God I don’t understand.
This is a God that can never be relied on to do anything I expect. I never know with God how His story will play out. I don’t know what miracles await me around the corner. I know God is my only safe space, but I also know that He is a God that commands not only my respect, but my awe.
It is this healthy fear of God, this Advent Awe that motivates me to be faithful.
Only a God we truly fear and respect is a God to whom we will be faithful.
A God that we can manipulate at a moment’s notice to write the script our way is a God that we play with and follow when it is convenient.
But a God who we are in awe of because His ways are beyond comprehending, is a God to whom we will be faithful.
We cannot truly enter or appreciate the sacred season of Advent without a sense of awe.
His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. And I am so glad.
I live in awe of God because He is the only one who can break through the darkness with His eternal light.
I live in awe of God because He is the only one who can bring a divided world together in harmony and create supernatural unity with His peace.
I live in awe of God because He is the only one who can truly liberate and break the chains of sin and bondage.
Awe and advent go in hand in hand. We can’t control a God we don’t understand. All we can do is worship Him in reverence, and in awe.
O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light.
O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
May you experience renewed awe in this sacred Advent season.
Cathie