The three ways Jesus comes to us
As you likely know, we are in the church season of Advent. However, do you know the purpose of Advent? It's not to celebrate Christmas; it's to prepare for Christmas.
The season of Advent is not the season of Christmas. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas, and runs to Christmas Eve. The church season of Christmas is the twelve days (yes, like the song) between Christmas Day and the Feast of Epiphany (January 6).
Traditionally, Advent is much more akin to Lent - a time of preparation for the arrival of the Lord Jesus. It was somber. Christmas hymns were not sung (those were reserved for the Christmas Eve and the Christmas season). Followers of Jesus focused on preparing their hearts and lives to receive the Lord Jesus once again, which often meant taking time for prayer, fasting, and reflection.
In other words, it was nothing like it is today.
The word advent simply means "coming." It can refer to the coming or arrival of anything or anyone important or worthy of note, which is why the church uses it to refer to the Incarnation.
However, I love what 12th century monk Bernard of Clairvaux (founder of the Cistercian order of monks and co-founder of the Knights Templar) says about the coming of Jesus when he points out that the Incarnation is but one of the ways Jesus comes to humanity.
"Christ comes to us in three different ways: firstly, in Bethlehem at Christmas; secondly, at the end of the age; and thirdly, in the lives of believers every single day."
~ Bernard of Clairvaux
During the Advent season, we certainly grasp the first way Jesus comes to us - as the fragile, infant King of Kings and Great I Am.
Followers of Jesus also understand the second way Jesus will come to us - at the end of the age when he returns as the powerful, victorious King of Kings and Great I Am.
But what of the third way - in the lives of believers every single day as the loving, servant-hearted King of Kings and Great I Am? We may grasp this third way intellectually (it makes sense to us), but to grasp it actively is a different matter.
Which is why we circle back to Advent.
PAUSE and REFLECT: Advent is a season of preparation. It's great if we are praying for all three of Christ's comings this Advent season, but perhaps we can for the moment hone in on the third way he comes to us - in the lives of believers every single day.
And let's not focus on the way he comes to us through the lives of followers of Jesus, but the way he comes through us to the lives of others.
If you're reading this, you are likely a believer. How does Jesus want to come through you to others around you? Who does he want to come through you to?
If Advent is a time for sober reflection as we prepare ourselves to receive Jesus anew, let it also be a time of sober reflection on how Jesus is coming through our lives into the hearts of others.
Today, how might this loving, mighty, humble infant and King of Kings want to love you today? How might he want to be born in you today? How might he be inviting you to be a conduit of his presence to those around you today?
As the Christmas season approaches, prepare yourself to receive him, and prepare yourself to carry him to others.