John 1:9–13 (NIV)
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
CONSIDER THIS
Several years ago, Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten conducted what he called “an experiment in . . . perception.” He set out to answer the question, “In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?”1
He enlisted the help of world-renowned violin virtuoso Joshua Bell, convincing him to play in a bustling Washington, DC, metro station during rush hour. Now, here’s something you need to know: Bell plays a handcrafted 1713 Stradivarius violin, reportedly worth $3.5 million. Just days before, he sold out Boston Symphony Hall, where many of the tickets went for one hundred dollars a piece (because you have to pay for that violin somehow).
So there he was, treasured talent, playing his treasured instrument, like a common street performer. Would anyone notice? Would they perceive?
In the forty-five minutes that he played that day, with more than a thousand passengers passing by, twenty-seven people paused just long enough to drop a little change in his hat. (Totaling $32.17. You’re not paying for the violin like that.) Seven people stopped for any length of time to take in the beauty of the moment. One person recognized who he was. In the routine of the everyday, in the rush of the moment, almost everyone failed to perceive.
Advent is an invitation to perceive. Christmas calls us to look again.
We are drawing close to the culmination of this journey from darkness to light. And as the waiting and anticipation moves toward fulfillment, this is a moment to pause. This is a moment to confront John’s harsh assessment that those who waited for the Messiah failed to see him. This is a moment to look again.
Look again at the story you’ve seen repeated every single year of your life and pause long enough to find it fresh.
Look again at Joseph. His reputation trashed in honor of the woman he loves and the God he serves. He will raise the one who will raise the dead. He will teach the Creator how to be a carpenter. He will show God what it means to be a man.
Look again at Mary. From the first moments she has been in uncharted waters, and things won’t get any easier from here. Time moves too quickly for any mom. Even more when your baby is born for a mission like this. But for now, she will ponder it all in her heart and cherish every moment.
Look again at the baby. Look close. Take him in. This is our redemption. This is our seed of hope pushing up through the dirt after a bleak and bitter winter. This is beauty arriving at an inconvenient time and in an unexpected setting as the masses rush by.
This is an invitation to perceive. Christmas calls us to look again. What will you see?
A reminder: We not only look again; we look ahead. Advent is a season when we anticipate the arrival of Christ at Christmas. But it is also a season that calls us to watch for his second arrival when the true Light that gives light to everyone will shatter the darkness and make all things new. May we have eyes to see.
THE PRAYER
Light of the world, help me to see you and to see the world around me in light of you.
THE QUESTION
Have you paused long enough to perceive this Advent season? How have you seen Jesus show up at inconvenient times and in unexpected places? Where will you see him today?
For the Awakening,
Matt LeRoy
P. S. WAKE-UP CALL CHRISTMAS PARTY
On Monday night, December 18, 7–8 p.m. (CST) join J. D. Walt, friends, and special guests for Advent awakening encouragement, Christmas carol singing, testimony, and prayer. Bring your own hot chocolate! Here’s the link.
NOTE
- Gene Weingarten, “Pearls Before Breakfast: Can one of the nation’s greatest musicians cut through the fog of D.C. rush hour? Let’s find out,” Washington Post (April 8, 2007), https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestylemagazine/pearls -before-breakfast-can-one-of-the-nations-great-musicians-cut-through-the -fog-of-a-dc-rush-hour-lets-find-out/2014/09/23/8a6d46da-4331-11e4-b47c-f5889 e061e5f_story.html?utm_term=.a86a7e9a84f4.
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3 Responses
“He came to that which is his own, but his own did not receive him.” Maybe some of the folks who are faithful “church attendees “ fail to perceive the “true reason for the season” due to all the hustle and bustle associated with the holiday season. But, I believe that the bigger problem for our time is the tendency to lose the enchantment of Jesus’s first coming due to it’s commonness. This yearly celebration tends to be like the manger scenes that are taken out of storage every year, and then put away sometime after Christmas Day; the baby Jesus is laid in the manger to be celebrated for a while, then forgotten about until Resurrection Sunday, C and E Christianity. A Renewal is prayerfully in the near future.
Eyes that see the Truth from the Spirit’s perspective see Jesus, His way, and His life in every little thing.
John 14:6
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
C.S. Lews said it beautifully.
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun (Son) has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” (Parenthesis mine)
Stying 💪’ n Christ
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, stay strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
Look again!
Do you recall
The most famous
Birth of all?
Jesus the living God
Was born in human flesh.
Now He reigns as Lord of all!
Hear and obey His call
Throughout the day.
You’ll no longer find Him
As a babe in a manger,
But if you’ll look
With the eyes of your heart,
You can see Him living and working
In someone you consider to be a stranger.
Let the people of God assemble heart-to-heart,
In the life-changing, radical love of Jesus
And His Spirit-led ekklesia,
Not in routine religion.
Break out of
Religious routine.
Look and experience
The unseen Jesus.
Taste and see
What can’t be seen
With the human eye
Open your heart to receive,
And to ever perceive
The reality
Of the risen Christ.