Oh, how I love Christmastime! Fireplace warming after fresh-fallen snow, nutmeg & cinnamon in my cocoa, red ribbons on trees and evergreen wreaths, colorful constellations of twinkle-light bling, holly and jolly and bright caroling! HOORAY! And oh, yes - of course, the birth of Jesus too…mainly that. “The reason for the season” ...shepherds & angels & manager & some special star & frankincense (isn’t that an essential oil?) & baby Jesus & peace on earth…the whole shebang.

Now, I’m not suggesting, dear brothers and sisters, that Jesus is merely a dull afterthought to you this season. But if I’m being candid, my honest-to-God jitters of excitement in December are fired up faster by the presents and children and sledding and cookies and days off(!) and holiday fun - in short, the glorious decorations of the season - than they are at the meaning in that manger.

One of the most deflating effects of the Fall that I constantly have to fight is the numbness of familiarity. So would you join me for a moment of the happy business of shaking my soul awake, once again, to this astonishing thing about which we sing?

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King!”

Christmas is the crescendo end to a very, very long countdown. Everybody loves countdowns! The longer the count, the bigger the shout. And this one ticked through thousands of years. Through days upon days and decades upon decades of the darkness of man’s depressions and depravities, a light was slowly dawning. This light illuminated, pixel by pixel, the profile of a hero. The Hero. The one all their weary souls longed for. (The One all our weary souls still long for!) But our God is one fantastic storyteller - and this is the story of the ages! So he slow-rolls the reveal. Echoing all the way back to the shadow-struck garden, he whispers promises to each generation about One who could and would come to reverse the curse, redeem the fallen, and restore on earth an everlasting Eden. With each whisper the light grew brighter: seed of a woman & serpent-crusher, prophet-leader from the Moses mold, invincible King from David’s line, Suffering Servant whose shed blood heals, “and his name shall be called…Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God(!), the Prince of Peace.” Finally, God said he would send a messenger to prepare the way for His arrival. Then there were 400 years of mic-dropped silence.

“Mild he lays his glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth!”

But in the fullness of time, a voice cries out of the darkness with the old thunder: “Prepare the way for the LORD!”

“Advent” means arrival. And what an arrival! Angelic orchestras split the sky, meager men on promised pilgrimage, even the blazing stars align in clockwork wonder. Then - in miracle manger, like a little lamb, the God-Man is born.

What a mystery! What a marvel! What a Light! What a Knight!

This Christmastime, this Advent season, allow yourself to shiver with those tingles of childlike wonder at the reality of Jesus. And then recall anew that we indeed are heralds of a second countdown to the second coming. For this King will arrive again. So come close to Christ at Christmas this December and with wonder we remember, God again has whispered true - He’s coming back for me and you!

-Nathan Hettick, TRA Chaplain