I have not experienced very much of what might be called "glory" in my life. The closest I think I have ever come to this was on a trip to California with some friends when we spent several days with one of their parents. Now this may sound sort of boring, but a father of one of my friends was a television producer. He worked on many of the television shows I used to watch as a kid. Not only that, but one of the main characters from the show Perfect Strangers was his fiancé. It was a bit surreal to eat dinner with someone I used to regularly watch on TV. It was strange because I was sitting with her and in many ways I felt like I knew who she was. In reality, however, I knew nothing about her at all.
I wonder if this is what it will be like when Christ comes in His glory? Actually, thinking about this is a little scary and humbling. Many Christians find themselves praying for the day Christ will return in glory and restore all of creation. Yet, many Christians and many other people in the world will then realize the Jesus they think they knew-the Jesus that has been described to them or that they see on TV isn't really like Jesus one bit. They will have heard of this guy and feel like they know Him, but they really won't know Him at all.
Advent is a time of year when we wait expectantly. We wait for Christ to come in glory, but we only experience that glory through something that doesn't seem that glorious at all-the cross. We reflect this Advent on what Christ came into the world to do for us. He suffered and died so that when He comes again, we will have the opportunity to rejoice in His glory and to truly know Him and recognize Him as our Savior.
THE PRAYER: Dear heavenly Father, please keep us focused on Christ as He has revealed Himself on the cross to us. Keep us from the temptation to see Jesus as something other than what He truly is, and guard our hearts and minds as we expectantly await His return. Amen.
Written by Pastor Martin Danner
St. Paul Lutheran Church
Fort Worth, Texas
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