Sometime between the last slice of pumpkin pie and the long drive home, the world finally, fully shifts. Thanksgiving ends, December presses close, and suddenly we find ourselves standing on the doorstep of Advent again.
As you read this, our church is preparing to go through the same transition many of us are making at home. Fall colors are being boxed up. Greens, ribbons, Chrismons, angels, candles, and the first hints of Christmas light are appearing. Volunteers (the unsung saints of the season!) are transforming our space so that when we walk in on Sunday, it feels like the promise of Advent has already begun to rise.
And maybe this year, that transformation feels especially needed. Because if we’re honest, we enter Advent weary.
Weary from the relentless news cycle.
Weary from policies and rhetoric that elevate cruelty over compassion.
Weary from divisions that have chipped away at families, friendships, and even churches.
Weary from grief: some fresh, some long carried.
Weary from trying to live faithfully in a world that so often feels unmoored.
That’s why our theme this year comes from one of the most beloved Christmas hymns, O Holy Night: “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” Not the triumphant world. Not the confident world. Not the well-rested, everything-is-fine world. But the weary world rejoices.
And that is the miracle of Advent: Christ comes not to the world as it ought to be, but to the world as it is. The world we live in. The world we scroll through. The world we worry over. The world we long to love better.
There’s a line earlier in O Holy Night that feels to me like it is made for this moment in history: “Long lay the world in sin and error pining,’ till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.”
That’s the heart of Advent and the heart of the Gospel. Christ appears—again, and again, and again—and the soul remembers its worth. Not its productivity. Not its politics. Not its success, image, or reputation. Just it’s sacred worth. And not only our sacred worth, but the sacred worth of every person we’d rather scroll past, avoid, dismiss, or disagree with. Advent dares to say: God still believes this world is worth showing up for.
In a year when so many feel stretched thin: tired, anxious, discouraged, or quietly hanging on. Advent offers a counter-story: You are worth the coming of Christ. Your neighbor is worth the coming of Christ. This weary world is still worth redeeming. Hope is worth holding. Love is worth choosing. Joy is worth protecting. And peace—real, stubborn, justice-rooted peace—is not naïve. It is holy defiance.
The second stanza of this cherished hymn lands its most prophetic punch: “Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease.”
Sometimes in our weary world it seems we have forgotten what Jesus truly taught us, we break his law of love and there is no gospel of peace and oppression isn’t ceasing it’s rising!
That’s why we’re focused on our mission partners this Advent and our UMGFund is taking the lead initiative with a $32,000 gift to our mission partners and invites us to give to both our budget and anything we can spare in our Christmas envelopes to give reason for our weary world to rejoice. In offering our time, talent and treasure – even in the smallest of ways – it is like twinkle bulbs. We all do our small part, and all that darkness is pushed back. Love becomes law. Peace is the good news, and we rejoice because oppression has ceased for Christ is the Lord! O praise his name forever!”
So, as we cross the threshold into Advent, may we do so with open hands and open hearts, trusting that Christ meets us exactly where we are. Not after we get it together, but right in the middle of our weariness.
Every act of generosity, every mission partner we support, every small light we offer becomes part of God’s larger story of redemption. Together, we get to push back the dark. Together, we get to proclaim that hope is still alive, love is still possible, joy still breaks through, and peace is still worth pursuing. This is our Advent calling.
This is our song.
O praise His name forever!
