Advent Begins in the Dark

I know the first week of Advent is almost over, but my wife and I have been reading a collection of Advent sermons from Fleming Rutledge and this is too good not to share:

“Advent begins in the dark...where is God when it is dark? The church proclaims that he never hides himself to no purpose. Somewhere, somehow, in spite of all appearances, his vindication awaits the proper moment. At the heart of the Advent season is the proclamation that God did not remain where he was, high above the misery of his creation, but came down, incognito, into the midst of it. Nor did he come down merely to sympathize. Even incognito, Jesus of Nazareth had power to heal every disease and drive out every demon.

To each and all, we bring this announcement: God will come, and his justice will prevail and he will destroy evil and pain in all its forms, once and forever. To be a Christian is to live in expectation of that fulfillment. The life of the church, lived in solidarity with those in darkness, carries with it the embodiment of a certainty: when he comes again, it will be the God of mercy and no one else, and it will be morning. Amen.”