Winter Connect 2011/2012

How would you like to begin your life over anytime you please and as often as you please? What if you could start over—literally—daily, hourly even, if you needed to or if you chose to? You may be caught off guard by such questions because you may have never contemplated such possibilities. It’s okay if you haven’t, because Christ provided the answer for you without you even asking. That’s right. He didn’t check with you first. He seems to have done that quite often for you. He goes ahead and does what is best for you and then He waits patiently for you to respond to His loving provision. He does the same for all of us.

Your undeniable need for new beginning(s) was His reason for Advent. The meaning for His Advent—His Coming—is often misunderstood and is certainly made more complicated than it really is. “Advent” simply means “Coming” or “Arriving.” The why for “The Arrival” is often misunderstood and/or ignored completely. His Coming is all-powerful in and of itself. That is true, by the way. Sometimes we see His actions as so powerful and awe-inspiring we forget that it’s okay to ask what the meanings are behind His actions. We forget to ask simple questions like, “What is to be my personal response to an awe-inspiring act of God Almighty?”

In the case of Advent, the answer is that we are supposed to understand that we get to start over. The natural world tells us either that there is no need to start over or that we should just carry the weight of our sin, bitterness, anger, and the rest all commonly referred to as this beast we call “Guilt.” Now there are two hollow possibilities: denial or guilt. What a choice! Flip a coin, please, and we’ll see you at the natural world’s Answer Center when you eventually arrive there for meaningful options that you’ll never receive. You’ll come back again and again, but you’ll only receive one of these two options. You’ll do that, because we all do, whether you’ve been a Christian for a minute or for more than forty years.

Maybe there’s a better answer. There is. Christ’s Arrival changed all the rules of the natural world. We no longer have to deny that we have erred. And we don’t have to carry the weight of our shortcomings with fear and dread and wringing of hands. He gave us a repository for them—all of them. He doesn’t even care how old your sins are. That’s right. He’ll even take your old junk. He’ll take your sin from an hour ago, your infractions from five years ago, or even (and especially!) the guilt you’ve carried for twenty-five years.

Christ’s answers to your first two questions above are fairly simple: yes and yes. Start over. Anytime you want and as often as you want. Advent is a good time to begin your commitment to starting over in Christ. The official Season of Advent begins this year on November 27. Regardless of when it is that you’re reading this, He wants you to start over. Don’t wait for Advent. His answers are that you can, and should, begin anew as often as you feel is necessary. The mistake you made last week, the unforgiven sin from a decade ago, the guilt from twenty-five years ago—all can be placed exactly where they belong: at the feet of Jesus Christ. Forgiven forever, and a fresh start whenever you need it.

"A Season of Expectation," is found in our Winter issue of Connect, a quarterly publication that seeks to share the stories of God's people at KPC.