Those who are satisfied have nothing for which they must wait. Their needs are met. They lack nothing. They are fulfilled.

Advent has no place for the satisfied, because Advent is all about waiting.

Should we find ourselves satisfied with the status quo of our faith and the world, it is more than our observance of Advent that needs examination. We ought to step back and examine our very faith itself. After all, the faith that is pleasing to God is an unsatisfied faith. It is a faith that yearns to find completion.

God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you weep now, for in due time you will laugh...

...and on the contrary...

What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now. What sorrow awaits you who are faith and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger awaits you. What sorry awaits you who laugh now, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow. What sorry awaits you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets

Those who are blessed of God are those who are poor, hungry, and mournful. While we may find contentment in our physical circumstances (cf. Phil 4.11), we must never be satisfied with our spiritual condition. We must never be satisfied with the way things are in this world. We are waiting, expectantly I trust, for Christ's return, the new heavens and new earth, and eternity in the tangible presence of God. Things are not as they should be right now. Things are not as they will ultimately be.

So we wait. Content with our physical condition but never content with our spiritual condition--always looking forward with anticipation to the realized blessings of Immanuel, God with us, at his return.

Advent can be celebrated only by those whose souls give them no peace, who know that they are poor and incomplete, and who sense something of the greatness that is supposed to come, before which they can only bow in humble timidity, waiting until he inclines himself toward us--the Holy One himself, God in the child in the manger. God is coming; the Lord Jesus is coming; Christmas is coming. Rejoice, O Christendom!

photo credit: Creative Commons | Scott Wills via Compfight