In the West, our 2009 liturgical year has come to an end.  Going to church from Sunday to Sunday, it's hard to make the connection.  Hopping from dot to dot, it's difficult to connect the dots - hard to realize that there is indeed movement in the Christian church's liturgy.  This past Sunday, Advent Sunday, we were to be celebrating the triumph of Christ and his church, the eschatological hope on which our Christian faith is founded.

Advent, as the Latin implies, is a building of anticipation towards the coming of Christ, the incarnation, the penetration of God into his creation in a new way.  In fact, the Latin adventus translates the Greek parousia - commonly used in the New Testament with reference to Christ's second coming.  Historically, Christians have believed that the season of Advent serves as a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by the Jews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting that Christians today endure for the second coming of Christ.

We are celebrating Christ becoming present amongst us, his becoming resident within us, our existence in him, and his coming again for us.  Today, the fullest expression of the Christian faith is an indwelling of Christ, which creates a new life that then lovingly decorates all of God's creation with Christ-like living.

Jesus came the first time to bring a fullness of life to those who would come to know him as Lord and Savior.  As Christians discover how we can live fully and authentically as humans within our own cultures, we, and our cultures become reconciled to God and to each other.  All is made right in Christ.

So, the real decorations of the coming of Christmas are in fact those of the church.

Jesus Christ was born thousands of years ago and continues to be born again into lives all over his world.  Let us be mindful then, in this Advent season, of the life of Christ in our every day existence.  Let us nurture the coming of Christ, this rebirth that leads to reconciliation all across the world.

At his first advent, Jesus was born a refugee. The Christ was born "on the way."  In our world, let us be mindful in particular during this Advent season of those refugees within our midst.  There are so many - economic, political, social, emotional, physical, and religious.  Today, might we find Jesus alive and well in the midst of the marginalized?  He has always preferred to live there....

Let us also be aware that in order to nurture the coming of Christ across the world, we must live as Christ on earth - critically challenging all institutional structures and prophetically calling the religious back to God ... loving as Jesus has always loved.

In native African religions, I have met a belief that any evil in life is sourced in the immoral action and behavior of others.  This dangerously plays itself out in retaliatory human behaviors.   In African Christian communities, I have met a faith that decorates the blighted landscapes, the corrupt political systems, the failed economies, the social poverties, the medical emergencies, and the ethnic hatred, with an unmistakable hope for a better day.  For many, that day has already come as evidenced by their lives spent giving to others and loving all - particularly those most in need.  The power of such loving behaviors, of such lives, overwhelms hatred, neglect, and all need.  Against such dramatic backgrounds - poverty, sickness, hatred, and corruption - Christian lives stand out like bright ornaments ... Christmas decorations for all to see.

This Advent season, may we live as Jesus loves ... living and loving as beautiful ornaments for all to see Jesus, our bright Morning Star.

Love,

Jamie