“So you’re coming to visit? What day? What time? Oh, you don’t know?!?”

When a dear friend tells me they’re coming over, and they neglect the ‘minor’ details, like date and time, it causes no shortage of anxiety - even more so when it’s a dignitary, celebrity, or even the Lord of the Universe.

So at this time of year, when we’ve already got holiday stress to deal with, why would Jesus throw lighter fluid on the fire with an Advent warning about His impending visitation while neglecting what could otherwise be known? How do we know what to cook, when to serve it – which bedroom to prepare, and how much room will be needed?

Perhaps it’s because we’re already, ready.

Maybe it’s because the things we are so apt to stress out about aren’t really details He’s overly concerned with.

The message of this season is that Jesus loves us just for being us. That’s why He came to us in a manger in the first place. It’s not for who we’ll be one day when we get the house finished, the work-life balance sorted out, and the endless duties on our To-Do lists checked off. God is coming for us just as we are and that’s OK.

Sure, we’ll keep busy with the tasks at hand, working as we do for the Kingdom. But the last place we look to to add stress onto our already overwhelming existence is God and God’s expectations of us.

So as we enter into this blessed time of preparation and expectation, relax - let’s do so with the underlying knowledge that what has been done has been done and what has been left undone is undone – and that’s just fine.

Happy Advent.

----------------------

Reading

Matthew for Everyone – NT Wright

Unapologetic – Francis Spufford
The Christian Century