Our calendar year is broken up into seasons and the church’s calendar is divided into seasons as well. They are called liturgical seasons. While our four calendar seasons are, at least here in the Midwest, characterized by changes in the weather, liturgical seasons are characterized by events in the Christian calendar. Likewise, the different times of the year are attached to certain colors – red, purple, green, white, gold, etc.
Last Sunday, we not only entered the season of Advent, the preparation for the birth of our Savior, we also started a new liturgical year. Yes, last Sunday was the first day of the “new’ year for Christians across the world. Isn’t it appropriate that the birth of Jesus is so important that Advent begins with the story of the arrival of Jesus!
We also had our first real snow of the season early Sunday morning, giving us a glimpse of the change from fall to winter. I can’t help but be reminded of Jesus controlling even the winds and the sea as recounted twice in the New Testament. Even nature answers to God.
So we awoke to a surprise – the white snow covering everything around. Not too much, mind you, but enough to provide a coat of pristine white snow to start the Advent season. The first candle of Advent is the candle of hope and that is exactly what the world needs these days. Hope – the hope of Christ, the light of the world, in our midst.
Advent, in addition to Eastertide, are the two main times of the year that Christians increase their faith the most. The arrival of the baby Jesus, and His death followed by His resurrection, are the most important events in the liturgical year. These events are accompanied by verses in the Scripture that affirm the awesome power of God.
The world was flooded with angels announcing the birth of our Savior and there are more instances of angels when Jesus came to earth as a baby, fully human while also being fully divine, than any other time in history. When Jesus is tested by Satan in the wilderness, we also find legions of angels at the ready to assist Him. But Jesus was resolute and strong enough to deal with Satan directly during those trying times.
In the Old Testament, we also see numerous examples of the awesome power of God. Perhaps one of the best illustrations is in the book of Job. A disagreement between God and Satan basically puts Job in the middle of a spiritual struggle. God is sure of the dedication of His servant Job and Satan believes that he can turn Job to renounce God. A long, complex series of discussions occurs and the end of the book concludes with God reprimanding Job, reminding him of the creation story and all that God has created and accomplished.
One of my favorite verses has to do with the creation of heavenly storehouses where the hail and snow are stored. God speaks to Job in Job 38:22-24 by questioning him. God asks, “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?”
Here we have one of the most explicit verses in the entire Bible when God reveals just a fraction of the things that He has created and has control over. Of course, the creation story in its entirety, ex nihilo, meaning something from nothing, is the greatest display of divine power ever!
My encouragement this evening is that God wants us to have hope in His Son and to recognize that nothing is beyond the power of our Savior – not even nature. My prayer is that we will all celebrate the impending arrival of Jesus at Christmas. Then once again, we will have the pleasure and honor to celebrate with the rest of the Christian world one of the most important events ever in the history of mankind. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…