Don’t you just love it when someone tells you there are only 48 days left until Christmas. The countdown to Christmas used to be so exciting as a kid. But as an adult, well…it’s still fun, it just comes with a little baggage. There are even those moments where you almost seize up a bit because you know you aren’t prepared (admit it, when you saw the day tally above this was you). And you would think it might be easier in the church because we have an entire season dedicated to preparation, but this holiday and all it entails still seems to take us by storm.

In the church calendar the time we are entering into is referred to as Advent (It begins November 30th this year). And Advent is the season of welcoming/ushering in God’s Kingdom through the celebration of Jesus’ birth. It is a season literally built around preparation…and yet it is often the season where we feel the least prepared. On Wednesday nights our youth group is going through a series on the three parables found in Matthew 25. These parables are all about Advent and the ushering in of God’s present and coming kingdom. The first of these is the parable of the Ten Virgins; five wise and five foolish. The difference between the two is that the five wise had framed their lives around preparation and had brought with them extra oil in their anticipation of the bridegrooms arrival. The foolish virgins, although ready and excited for the bridegrooms arrival found themselves ill-prepared and shut out of the wedding feast. The parable ends with the verse, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour”. Matthew 25:13

I think this speaks to the idea of being ready versus being prepared. Here’s a little personal illustration to further elucidate. I recently ran the Detroit Half Marathon for Team World Vision. And although I considered myself ready (I had registered, bought nice shoes, got there on time…) I was far from prepared. I had not put in the adequate training time to make the experience all it could have been. I think it’s that way with the five foolish virgins. They were ready for the Bridegrooms return, but they weren’t prepared. It wasn’t a part of their DNA. They didn’t think to buy extra oil because it wasn’t a part of everything they did. Anticipating the Kingdom of God should be a part of who we are and not just something we “get ready” for.

So I’m thinking a bit different about Advent this year. Is the celebration and enacting of the present and coming Kingdom a part of me every day or is it something I just celebrate once a year? And I think that if we are constantly being prepared we will start to see the Kingdom ushered in a lot more often than just during Advent. After all, The Kingdom of God is at hand.