04516
November 22, 2004

Looking Forward to Advent

by the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick
General Assembly stated clerk
Reprinted from Perspectives

LOUISVILLE — The period that begins with Thanksgiving and runs through the Christmas holidays is one of my favorite times of the year. It is a time to slow down and focus on the wonderful gifts that God has given us. It is a time to be with my wife, my children, their spouses, and my marvelous grandchild, who will turn five years old the week before Christmas.

      I feel a special need for Advent this year. We are just completing a national election campaign that has been one of the most bitter in recent memory, a sign of the deep divisions among us as Americans. The war in Iraq continues to take countless lives, and even the part of the world into which the Prince of Peace came is filled with violence and despair. A friend commented recently, “The world is a mess,” and I think she is right.

      It was into just that kind of world that Jesus was born. Into a world hungry for a Messiah who would right the wrongs and destroy the unjust came a baby born of Mary whose message was one of love and reconciliation. The message of this Messiah is one far more powerful than that of any military power — the message of the power of suffering love to transform the world and the human heart. The promise of this Messiah is a promise of “peace among those whom God favors” (Luke 2:14).

      May this Thanksgiving season be a time in which we give thanks to God for the gift of Jesus Christ and the community we share with his followers. May this Advent season be a time in which we wait with great expectancy for the coming of this Messiah into our lives and into our world. And may Christmas be a time in which we each receive anew the greatest gift anyone could ever receive — the gift of life in all its fullness in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

      May God’s richest blessings be with you and all those you love this holiday season.