The word "Advent" means come. As Christians we believe that Christ has come and that Christ will come again. We live in a perpetual state of expectancy. We all go through moments in our lives where it is hard to grasp on to the reality that Christ is coming. A barren land if you will.
A few weeks ago at Elevate we talked about that life is adventurous. This word adventurous means an exciting and unusual experience that can be typically hazardous. Life is filled with all sorts of experiences that can go in to the unusual and exciting category. The story of Mary and Joseph wasn't the romanticized version that we portray in our manger scenes. But instead it was quite messy. Mary was 14 years old when she has this encounter with God. And her first response isn't excitement but instead she is "troubled." Mary at the time was engaged to be married to Joseph and being found with child could only mean one thing... she cheated. And this act in itself was punishable by death.
Mary was taking a huge risk. Instead of walking away and being afraid she embraced this calling. She understood what God was doing was worth the risk. What a beautiful story that Christ comes in the midst of our mess! Mary told such a beautiful story with her life. Now what kind of story do we tell with our lives?
This week we will dive deeper in to the story of Joseph. Joseph had a hard time with Mary's calling. How does Joseph explain to all his friends that his future wife is pregnant? Would they buy such a story? Do you buy such a story? So he planned to privately divorce her. Joseph was not prepared. Football players "prepare" for a game. Cooks "prepare" for a meal. Preachers "prepare" their sermons. Preparation is important in our lives. And as Christians we prepare. Our world is messy. And we are not exempt from it's messiness. But the question is what we do with this messiness. What do we do when we get bad grades? Give up? Or do we keep striving. Reading scripture, praying, serving others develop character in a Christian. So the Adventure continues...
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