Who Wants a Raw Christmas?

A Message for Advent 2022

Imagine that you sit down to Thanksgiving dinner and what’s passed around the table is a big raw turkey, a bowl of dirty, cold, fresh out of the ground potatoes, a loaf of stale bread, some bullion cubes, and a few bowls with flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and butter. Sure, all the ingredients are there to make a fine meal, but there’s clearly something missing and that thing is…

Preparation.

We can buy all the ingredients for a Thanksgiving feast, but without investing the time and the care that it takes to adequately prepare them, they aren’t anywhere near as good as they should be, or as good as we expected them to be.  Preparation is the thing that puts the pieces together, measures out the ingredients, mixes them, and warms them to precise temperatures for a measured amount of time.  Without that preparation, we end up with raw meat and stale bread instead of a succulent roasted turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and dessert.  It is the preparation that makes the house smell so good, and drool with anticipation.

It seems so obvious when we think about Thanksgiving and food.

So, why does it seem so hard to understand when we think about the season of Advent?  These four weeks are a time that has been deliberately set aside as… a season of preparation.  It is a time for us to set out the ingredients, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, hope, faith, joy, love, prophets, shepherds, angels, and everything else, measure them out in the right proportions, mix and season them, and warm them in the love of our community of faith.  And then, at just the right time, it all comes together, and what is served is just what we imagined and just we needed to fill our souls to overflowing. 

During this season of preparation, we invite you to come into the kitchen with us.  Join us as we set out the ingredients, measure, share news of family and friends, mix, season, and warm it all, and us, in the love of faith and community.  The result, on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, will be much more satisfying and fulfilling than raw turkey and bowls of uncooked ingredients.  Like Thanksgiving dinner, the thing that makes us drool with the anticipation of Christmas, and so deeply satisfies our souls, is found in setting aside the time to prepare it, together.

Won’t you join us for this season of preparation?

Blessings,

Pastor John 

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