“I am making all things new.” (Rev. 21:5)

Four centuries of silence bridged the last words of the Old Testament and Jesus’ coming. Not a word from God. As the exiled Israelites waited and waited for their promised Messiah, surely they cried out, it’s not supposed to be this way; we are God’s people. We belong in our land, with our Temple and customs, not subjugated by foreign powers.  Surely, they rehearsed their sins and repented of the idolatry that sent them into exile. Surely, they remembered their prophets foretelling restoration to their land.

Echoing this exile and the long wait for a Messiah, Advent today is a time of hopeful waiting, personal preparing, and alert watching for many Christian communities. We remember when we, too, desperately needed a savior. Confronted with our own sinfulness, we realized our lives aren’t supposed to be this way, exiled from God. The Advent of Jesus into our lives caused us to glimpse how life is supposed to be: how He sought out the marginalized, how He loved radically, how He gave everything to save us. Having been made new creations in Christ, we now join in the work of God making all things new: loving others, seeking justice for the marginalized, feeding the poor, making new disciples. 

But just as Jesus’ outreach wasn’t always welcomed, sometimes neither is ours. Rejection stings.

As we sit in front of the candles of an Advent wreath, reflecting on the first Advent, don’t we sometimes feel like ancient Israelites: exiled, praying, waiting for deliverance from our world, too, where rulers exploit their people, where children are trafficked, where virtually anyone can be subjected to anonymous but brutal online shaming, where racism continues its scourge, where disease strikes globally, where the gulf between the rich and poor continues to widen? So much that we see and experience is far, far from what God intended. As poverty, injustice, and evil continue to stalk our neighborhoods, our cities, our globe, don’t we long for the second Advent, for Jesus to return to cleanse our world from all the effects of sin, to make it the way it was supposed to be? 

That is what Advent should make our hearts yearn for: a return to Edenic fellowship with God in a city where He lives with us, where He makes everything new, where He “wipes away our tears,” where life is the way it’s supposed to be with “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Rev. 21:3-4). 

O come, thou long-expected Jesus.

Yes, enjoy anticipating the celebration of Jesus’ birth: decorating, singing praises, baking. But in your quiet time, as those Advent candles slowly burn, let them remind you to slow down, to examine yourself, to prepare your heart to long for Jesus’ second coming. 

To read or re-read the overview/summary of this week’s passage, you can click here.