It’s hard to believe that this Sunday is the beginning of Advent! The word Advent derives from the Latin (also French and Spanish) verb venir, which means “to come.” Advent is a time of waiting; waiting for the Messiah to come.

Auntie Mame was tired of waiting, ready to celebrate the cinnamon-scented, cookies-in-the-oven, magic of Christmas NOW and who could blame her?

It’s been a brutal 18 months. To paraphrase Auntie Mame,

“We need a little Christmas, Right this very minute. It hasn’t snowed a single flurry, But Santa, dear, we’re in a hurry. Yes, we need a little Christmas now.”

Along with Auntie Mame, we’ve had a rough year and a half. And I think we are all waiting for a little Christmas magic to come. Who isn’t ready for a Hallmark Christmas movie right this very minute? But unlike Auntie Mame, we know what the magic of Christmas truly is and where to find it (spoiler alert! It’s not on the Hallmark channel or in a plate of warm-from-the-oven-gingerbread!)

Consider the Jews, waiting for thousands of years for the Messiah to come. Not knowing what a savior would look like, or even what a savior would save them from.

So, Advent.

Waiting for the Messiah to come. For us, it is only four weeks that we wait for the celebration of the Savior’s birth. We’ve already seen the end of the movie, we know what freedom and hope and peace and joy await in the Messiah’s arrival!

Think of all those near and dear among us today; our neighbors, family members, coworkers, even total strangers. Those suffering from the pandemic blues, not knowing where to find freedom and hope and peace and joy. Peering, like Ebenezer Scrooge, through the window into the cozy Christmas family gather. Can we share with them the fuzzy warm Christmas magic that they are so desperately seeking? Can we invite them to the table?

Whatever our circumstance are, whatever we are waiting for, perhaps the pandemic to end or for a new chapter in our life to start, “The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.” Lamentations 3:25.
Because ultimately, what is the alternative?

“I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.” Psalm 130:5

But for those who don’t know what they’re waiting for, or even that they are waiting, how can you share the magic of Christmas with them this year?