It’s the Most ___ Time of the Year
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
It’s the busiest time of the year.
As we sat on Sunday for the announcements I couldn’t help but think, it really is the busiest time of year. But yet, it also really is the most wonderful time of the year. Many of the things that we scheduled are fun and bring joy and wonderful moments of togetherness and community – Light It Up! Christmas Connect! Christmas Celebration Sunday! Christmas Eve! And those things are just at Central!
Yet this season of Advent is one in which we are meant to reflect and await the coming of Jesus.
And it is hard to reflect when we are running.
It is nearly impossible to wait when we are drowning in to-do lists and color-coded calendars. So how do we live in the tension? How do we honor the things we must do and the celebrations that bring joy, while also making room in our hearts to pause and truly welcome Christ?
Scripture reminds us that God’s people have always known what it means to wait. In Psalm 130 the psalmist says, “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” This is not passive waiting but a deep longing. It is choosing to slow down on the inside even when life is full on the outside.
All throughout the Christmas story, we see this same holy expectancy. Zechariah waited. Mary waited. Joseph waited. Israel waited. Even the shepherds were watching in the quiet of the night when the angels broke through with good news. The miracle of Christmas didn’t arrive in a moment of perfect calm or in a world free of busyness, it arrived in the middle of ordinary life.
God came near while people were working, traveling, worrying, wondering.
Maybe that’s the invitation for us this year: not to escape the busyness, but to look for Jesus within it. To let ourselves wait for the Lord, even as we bake the cookies, wrap the gifts, attend the gatherings, and serve our community. To allow small moments to anchor us in the hope that Christ still comes.
Because Advent isn’t about creating the perfect quiet. It’s about opening our hearts in the midst of it all, trusting that the God who came to a stable in Bethlehem can certainly come into our busy December too.
Emmanuel is still God with us.
Grace & Peace,
Rebecca DeLucia
Next Generation Pastor