Advent 2021: The Worthy One

Every year, for the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, we observe the season of Advent. The word Advent refers to the arrival of something, or Someone, of vast importance. It is a time for both honest reflection and hopeful anticipation. The world has changed. Much that once was has now been lost. We all feel it. The prophet Isaiah wrote to a people in exile. Yet, he dared to put God’s dream for a better future into words that his people could live by. He spoke of a kingdom not of their own doing. It would be a gift. The remaking of the whole world. Brought about, not through human effort, but by God’s special Representative. The One. The singular Person who would succeed in all the ways the people themselves had failed. The only One in all of heaven and earth who is worthy to make God’s dream for the world a reality. He was known to Isaiah by many titles. The Child. The King. The Servant. The Messenger. We know Him by name - Jesus Christ. This Advent, we celebrate Jesus’ coming into the world to rescue us, even as we look and ache for him to come again, with the kingdom in hand, to finally set us – and the world with us – right.