Inspection.

I procrastinated. There. I said it.

As I type this it’s the last day of November. Honestly, where has the month gone? It’s hard to believe that December is here and, as I seem to do this every year, I waited until the very last day of the month to get my vehicle inspected. Am I the only one who does this? I don’t think so and here’s why. I must have visited three different places before I actually settled into one that I considered to be the place that could do this the quickest and most efficiently for me. The funny thing is, I spent about two hours driving around to finally find a place that could inspect my vehicle with what I considered to be a reasonable amount of wait time. There’s some irony in this, right? That’s two hours driving around when, had I just settled into the very first place I visited, I would have actually gotten the vehicle inspected and finished in a shorter amount of time.

As I drove back to the church today I couldn’t help but also think of the irony of doing the same thing over this Advent season. Let’s be honest. Not only is it the “most wonderful time of the year,”, but it’s also the busiest time of the year. It’s easy to rush through this season and check off the boxes on our to-do lists. However, there’s something beautiful that happens when we settle into the meaning behind Advent and spend some time reflecting on what this gift of Jesus that God has given to us all truly means.

So, join me, won’t you? Let’s settle into the song of Advent. Remember, last Sunday I said that the notes that make up the melody of Advent are the gifts of love, joy, peace, and hope. Love: that God loved us enough to step into the world in the form of Jesus. Joy: that our joy is not dependent on our circumstances, but it’s found in knowing Emmanuel, “God with us.” Peace; that, truly, Jesus is the Prince of Peace who brings His perfect peace into our hearts through the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. And lastly, hope. This is Advent. We don’t just look back to the manger; we also look forward to the promise that God will be returning and making all things new.

I’m already getting excited about what I plan to share with you all this Sunday. Last week, I talked about singing in key. This Sunday, let’s talking about “remembering the song.”

Here’s the Scripture passage I will be preaching from:

See you Sunday!