lessons... from advent... part 2...

It started yesterday...
the explaining of the one big Advent lesson...
and continues today...

Advent is a state of heart...

The songs of Behold the Lamb of God...
specifically... A Labor of Love...
and the personal practice of daily communion...
brought me to this understanding of Advent...

The kind we do at Christmas...
just four-ish weeks out of the year...
preparing for a thing already done...
is no preparation at all...

The call to daily communion...
led to inviting those in my home to the table...

The few days around Christmas...
at times... found all five of us sharing the meal...
remembering Him...

In one of these times...
the invitation given...
my three children gathered...
the Word read...
bread blessed and passed...
the beautiful young woman...
the one I call Baby Girl...
she yawns... as she takes the bread to her mouth...

And that's when I saw it...
I wish I could've captured the moment...

I saw the early church...
the one described in Acts...
gathering daily...
for prayers...
lessons from the apostles...
fellowship...
and the meal...

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching

and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

...

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking

bread in their homes, they received their food with glad

and generous hearts, praising God...

Acts 2:42, 46-47 ESV

Daily they came...no matter how tired...
daily... to share... and remember...
daily... to gather as the church...

It came to me a few years ago...
every believing marriage... the basic building block of the church...
every believing family... a church in and of itself...

And here in my kitchen...
gathered around the island...
makings of dinner...
a single votive...
a single cracker...
a single glass of wine...
we remember Him...
we are the church...

I remember His life...
His death...
His resurrection...

I remember we are currently in a time of waiting...
a time of advent...

We are waiting for Him to return...

No one knew the date or time of His first coming...
No one knows the date or time of His second coming...

Like those who were prepared for His first arrival...
we are to prepare for His second...

To truly practice advent...
is to practice it in the everyday...
in the ordinary moments of life...

In the practice of weekly worship...
in daily communion...
in hopeful waiting...
in obedience...
in righteous living...
daily...
daily...
daily...
moment...
by...
moment...
remembering...
waiting...

Advent is a state of heart...

Father God... help me hold on to the lesson of Advent...

keep me looking forward not back...

keep my heart... in a state  of advent...

Blessed are all who wait for him!

Isaiah 30:18