Advent: A Season Of Preparation at Christmas

At this time of year, I find myself asking what Advent means. Many of us know it as the season leading up to Christmas. Maybe in your church, you light the Advent candles of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, and then look forward to Christmas morning to opening presents. So many of us look forward to Christmas every year, hosting dinner parties and soaking up the mirth of the Christmas season.

Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning “arrival” or “coming,” derived from advenire (“to arrive”). In many ways, this makes sense. We are looking forward to what’s to come.

What’s implied, though, by a season of arrival, is a season of preparation.

I hosted a party of some friends near the beginning of December, and as usual, I spent more time getting the house ready than I did at the actual party. Anyone who’s ever prepared for a party knows the deal—clean the floors, windows, the stove, baseboards, put away the messes, childproof for the little ones. Figure out food sensitivities, plan a meal, make enough of it ahead of time so that you can cook it while actually enjoying some of your party. Get out enough chairs, plan an activity. Figure out the music that would be nice in the background, and for goodness’ sake, did anyone shovel the driveway?

By the time the day comes, you’re exhausted but also excited. People are coming! Is the dust out of the corners? Is the mirror clean? You’re throwing random items behind closed doors last minute, telling yourself, “I’ve got to find some time to declutter the rest of this place.” And then you open the door, ready to entertain.

As we prepare the spaces around us for the Christmas season, sometimes we forget to prepare our hearts, too. We clean the dust off the baseboards before we clear out the cobwebs of our soul. We wipe the windows while we harbour resentment.

Does this make sense? What makes Christmas so precious is not the lights or the tree or the turkey with trimmings. It’s that God Himself chose to be present with us. He made Himself vulnerable in the form of a baby.

And have you ever seen a baby? Some of my friends have babies, and when I see them, I am overwhelmed in awe. How these little grabby hands, little wiggly feet, little cute faces, little-yet-massive hearts just steal our hearts instantly. Yet also, it’s so easy to see how vulnerable and helpless they are, and how much care they require.

Yet God chose intentionally to arrive on Earth as a baby.

A vulnerable, helpless baby, who needs teaching, needs love, needs charity and needs sacrifice. Why would God, the Creator of All, the Wanter of Nothing, do this? Why would he depend on Mary and Joseph—two young engaged Jews—to raise Him?

Could it be that He wanted to be received, not managed?

Parents spend months preparing for their little one to enter the world. They babyproof their homes, buy supplies (and if they’re lucky, receive some donations), set up the crib/nursery, and figure out how they’re going to juggle raising the next generation while also making a living.

In other words, they make room. They anticipate that a baby will need space. Once there’s a baby, the baby is the main event—they should be.

Are we making room in our hearts for the presence of Jesus? Is He really our main event?

Are we anticipating that He will need to take up space in our lives? I’d love to say that I always do, but admittedly, sometimes I struggle with this.

Sometimes I want to invite Jesus into my heart, but I want him to sit down and be still, be very quiet while I finish my task.

But that’s not how babies work, and it’s not how Jesus works. He commands and demands your attention—your time, your presence. He’s not just a guest in your life to manage—He is its centre. He is not meant to merely fit into our lives; our lives are meant to revolve around Him.

Because Advent is not about preparing space for a holiday, but about surrendering space to a King.

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