23 Days Before Christmas

We are in the season of Advent.

We look forward to the arrival of Christ.

When Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote of a prison cell "in which one waits and hopes and does various unessential things.... but is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside," he most certainly referenced the unique deliverance Christ offers.

Martyred for his activist faith, Bonhoeffer knew the love of God turns darkness to light, fills every dark prison and floods every shadowed place. Jesus walks into midnight and makes it midday.

Bonhoeffer realized God's coming is not simply glad tidings but, "frightening news for everyone who has a conscience." When God's love fell on Bethlehem, it was not weak sympathy; it was burning fire. God's love reveals sin and defeats it. God's love scatters the proud, humbles the mighty, feeds the hungry and sends the rich away empty-handed.

Even though the door of deliverance is opened from the outside, depending on God doesn't deliver us from responsibility. The coming of Christ - the essence of Advent - fills us with anticipation; it is preparation for action. It is the expectation of a new beginning and the willingness to risk everything for it.

Luke 1:49-55  -  Holy is his name, and his faithful love extends age after age to those who fear him. He has used the power of his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly. He has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich away empty. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his faithful love  —according to the promise he made to our ancestors— of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.