Advent Day 16: Uninvited Guest

Good morning, friends!

A short little passage not traditionally used for Advent came to my mind and brought joy to my heart this morning.

Luke 10:10-11 reads, 

"But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, 

go into its streets and say, 

‘even the dust of your town that sticks to your feet 

we wipe off against you. 

Yet be sure of this: The Kingdom of God is near.’ "

We have all been there. A seemingly open party is being thrown by one of our acquaintances or colleagues and we decide to join the fun only to make the shivering realization: I was not invited! Matters get even more complicated when the treatment we receive screams to us that we are unwanted, unwelcomed; we were never meant to partake in this festive occasion, we did not make it into the circle of inclusion or intimacy. 

Ouch!

Such was the hostility with which the world received our Savior’s first Advent. The Creator, by whom and through whom everything was made, was not recognized for Who He is. John 1:11 tells us that, “He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” At once, my chest heaves with self-righteous anger at this display of superiority and foolish arrogance. How dare they kick Him out? How can they force the gracious Host to become the uninvited guest at His own party?

Still reeling from pride, I was hit as though a splash of icy water ran across my face when I read, “The Kingdom of God is near.” Am I truly ready for His kingdom? A quick self-examination reveals that I am not ready to meet His holiness. I find myself wishing God away until I put my house in order. The purity of His Word exposes my sin of smugness and conceit with the hard truth that I am no better than those who rejected Christ in Galilee, Korazin, Jerusalem, and even Golgotha. I close the door of my heart on His face each time I fail to ask for His guidance in all my decisions and wait for His intervention. I, too, have turned Him into the uninvited guest to the party of my life.

Yet blessed be His glorious Name for He, the gracious Host, foreknew and prepared everything in advance for my redemption. He has renewed my heart and placed a new song in me: 

Come to my heart, Lord Jesus, 

and prepare me for Your ultimate Advent, 

Your everlasting Kingdom!