But Lauren is home now (for five weeks), so we are going to pick up with Advent, do a little hustling, and "get to the manger" with just a small adjustment in the travel schedule. So bear with me, for our journey is still alive and well.
This week, we light the BETHLEHEM CANDLE or the CANDLE OF PREPARATION. This time of preparation and anticipation is such an awesome attitude for my little family......"and even now, Lord Jesus, do quickly come!" We celebrate by remembering the time before Jesus was sent by His Holy Father into this dark world. We can do so with gladness of heart, because we live on the opposite end of the Incarnation spectrum - for our lives have never known of a time of gloom and darkness in which there was no LIGHT.
This week, we - as the church family of First Baptist Church of Thomasville - have also been reminded of the fact that preparation and anticipation can be bittersweet as well. This week, Sue Spencer (who is the mother of our dear pastor Dan Spencer) made her final journey home to bask in the wonder, the glory, the LIGHT of God's unfathomable splendor. For weeks, we have prayed for this trip, anticipating and preparing for the time in which Sue's body would give up its earthly struggle and be freed for full acceptance into the Kingdom of Heaven. And this past Wednesday, our collective anticipation was summoned to a close as Sue drew her last breath and slipped triumphantly through the "thin veil" and into eternity. Praise God - her round trip is now complete. We praise God, even in this, for Sue's life - her earthly life - is FAR from over. Sue's legacy lives on through her husband Jerry, through her children (which include Dan and Tresa Spencer) and for all those who loved her and cherished the warmth of her friendship and smile. But perhaps the greatest of all is the fact that the "seeds" of Sue's faith have been broadcast into the lives and hearts of her grandchildren - Jeremiah and Jacob (two of which I am especially fond). We will watch as those seeds continue to blossom in the lives of these special young men. And from the flowering of those seeds will come the splendid fruits of faithful legacies as yet unborn.
I have heard so many people say, "Oh how terrible it was that Sue passed away so close to Christmas." I say, "What a wonderful time of year for Sue Spencer to depart for the far shores of Heaven." Why? Because Christmas is all about gifts and the giving of gifts. God's supreme love for His children was so clearly evidenced by the giving of His Son - the greatest gift the world has ever known. But know this, dear Christian, Sue Spencer's life here on Earth was also a tremendous gift of magnanimous proportion. And the gift of Sue's life was constructed of eternal substance - a gift that will be opened again, and again, and again, and again, ..........................
God - who always keeps His promises - kept His promise of a Savior who would be born in Bethlehem. Preparation (and anticipation) means we need to "get ready." Therefore, Christ Jesus, help us to be ready to welcome YOU, O GOD! As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: " a voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God's salvation" (Luke 3:4-6).
The splendor of a King, robed in majesty - let all the Earth rejoice. He wraps Himself in LIGHT, and darkness tries to hide - let all the Earth reroice, "How GREAT is our God!" I can't wait to see Him face to face, just as He is! It's a beautiful sight, huh Sue?
Selah (סֶלָה )
So, as the church celebrates God’s inbreaking into history in the Incarnation, and anticipates a future consummation to that history for which "all creation is groaning awaiting its redemption," it also confesses its own responsibility as a people commissioned to "love the Lord your God with all your heart" and to "love your neighbor as yourself."
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