Of course it would mean something beautiful. Of course the Lord was going to use it for His own purposes. It was always going to contain an element of the supernatural with a pinch of surprise, totally regardless of the circumstances of its conception.

The church chose to celebrate the advent of Christ at the end of December, a decision that some history book somewhere or other will tell you was the result of the early Christians' desire to offer a positive alternative to the celebration of some false deity. What was driven by a Christian desire to be different and distinct from the world led to the appointing of a day for advent that inevitably would contain seasonal parallels with the salvation story of mankind. A winter festival for the offering of worship to some pagan deity has now become a celebration of light and the gift-giving love of the true God in the midst of the cold dark winter of man's collapsing depravity. The advent season is now the the perfect portrayal of God's love descending into a cold, dark, sinful world in the form of a baby, God taking on the flesh of a man to walk among mankind forever.

And what was the name of that previous pagan holiday? And which deity did it honor and celebrate? No one really remembers anymore. Nothing could be a more perfect testimony to the sovereign providence of God's grace than this: we all found so much more joy in the birth of God's son that we all stopped celebrating the old holiday; we don't even remember it anymore. Of course it was going to be transformed by God this way. Of course, of course.

But what exactly is the meaning of advent? I think Dietrich Bonhoeffer, martyred for his Christian beliefs by the Third Reich, puts it best. Eight months after being taken into custody by the Gestapo, Bonhoeffer wrote these words in a letter from his prison cell during the Advent season:

“By the way, a prison cell like this is a good analogy for Advent; one waits, hopes, does this or that—ultimately negligible things—the door is locked and can only be opened from the outside.” [Advent reminds us that] ... misery, sorrow, poverty, loneliness, helplessness, and guilt mean something quite different in the eyes of God than according to human judgment; that God turns toward the very places from which humans turn away; that Christ was born in a stable because there was no room for him in the inn—a prisoner grasps this better than others. And for them, this is truly good news.

“We simply have to wait and wait... The celebration of Advent is possible only to those troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.”

Will you worship God with us on Christmas Eve? Will you celebrate the Advent of God in Christ with Bridge Baptist Church, Calvary Community Church and Grace Life Church along with all of Kamloops this year? Or to put it another way: will you fill yourself with mirth as you recall the sound of the cell door being unlocked? Will you feel the deep sense of gratitude for the one who unlocked the door and let you out? If yes, then join us Christmas Eve at 7:00 PM at Calvary Community Church.

We look forward to worshiping the Savior and celebrating His Advent with you! Merry Christmas!