“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5
If you are feeling anything like I am this week, then the idea of launching into a holiday season seems unreal. There are so many unresolved challenges and difficulties in our world right now. A season of celebration feels inconsistent with the realities around us.
And yet, celebrate we must. The Christmas season is all about Jesus’ birth, his arrival, and his continued presence here with us. How do we move on and prepare for Christmas while still feeling stuck in the problems around us that are still waiting for answers?
This season of Advent offers the space to adjust our focus and live in hope. The word Advent derives from the Latin word Adventus, which means “coming.” It originally referred just to the coming of the feast of Christmas. But over time the season of Advent took on a double meaning. Today it refers both to the “first coming” of Jesus Christ in his birth at Christmas and to his “second coming” at the end of time. (1)
We look forward to the celebration while also keeping an eye on the horizon. Someday Jesus is coming back. His kingdom, his justice, his peace, his rule will be established. Until then, we pray so that we can stay in close relationship with him, and we live in faith focused on his word and his nature.
On the day Moses heard God say these words from Exodus three, he was leading his normal life, grazing the flock as he did on any other day. But on this day, something out of the ordinary caught his attention. He went over to check it out and discovered, as the story in Exodus tells us, “a bush that does not burn up.”
The bush may have been the only item showing evidence of flames, but the whole place was filled with God in the form of his voice, his person, and his plan. Even the ground beneath Moses’ feet may have been warm from the fire reflecting God’s glory.
God called his name.
Moses answered, “Here I am.”
Then God informed him of the reality Moses discovered. “. . . the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
In this encounter with the Lord, Moses experienced a little bit of Advent. In the midst of the ordinary day with the same common tasks that were performed the day before and needing to be done all over again tomorrow, God broke in. His shining glory turned a plain monotonous place into holy ground.
God had in mind a redemption plan for his people under oppression in Egypt. He’s getting ready to act. Moses is the first to see, the first to hear, and the one through whom God wants to work to bring this plan about.
All these years later, God still has in mind a redemption plan for his people. Each time the Advent season rolls around, we stand with Moses on holy ground. God is here. He’s getting ready to act. A savior is on his way. We listen, we prepare, and we anticipate the day when he arrives.
As we head into the weeks of December in which the world’s definition of Christmas competes with God’s, the quiet, underlying significance of Advent can help us retain peace as we stay focused on God’s voice. We prepare not only for days of celebration, but also for God’s plans to unfold in our lives. We anticipate not just the arrival of special occasions to make memories, but the reign of a King. His rule is one that will bring justice, order, and hope. The holy ground warms with the glow of his joy as his arrival draws closer.
A prayer from the Book of Common Prayer:
Holy One, whose coming we await, you invite us into the light of your presence. Illumine the dim places of our hearts. We are thirsty for your compassion. Draw near to us and fill us, that we may pour out your goodness to all who hunger. Amen.
(1) quoted from Seeking God’s Face, Praying with the Bible Through the Year, published by Faith Alive Christian Resources and the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, MI, 2010, 2013.
