Advent: December 3 – Not Everyone Can Wait

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”
Luke 6:20–26

Not everyone can wait. People who are full, satisfied, or lack respect cannot wait. Only those who feel restless inside and those who look up with respect to the greatest things in life can truly wait.

This is why Advent can only be celebrated by people whose hearts are unsettled, who know they are poor and incomplete, and who feel a hint of the greatness that is coming. They wait with humble hearts, bowing quietly, until the Holy One—God himself—comes to us as a child in the manger.

God is coming. The Lord Jesus is coming. Christmas is coming. Rejoice, O Christians!

I think we’re going to have an exceptionally good Christmas. The very fact that every outward circumstance precludes our making provision for it will show whether we can be content with what is truly essential. I used to be very fond of thinking up and buying presents, but now that we have nothing to give, the gift God gave us in the birth of Christ will seem all the more glorious; the emptier our hands, the better we understand what Luther meant by his dying words: “We’re beggars; it’s true.” The poorer our quarters, the more clearly we perceive that our hearts should be Christ’s home on earth.

Letter to fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer,
December 1, 1943

^{Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. God Is in the Manger : Reflections on Advent and Christmas. Louisville, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2012.}