Ninth Gift Of Advent: The Perfect Time

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

Time is up. According to the Mayan calendar, today. And judging by dwindling shopping days, this week. The years slip by faster with every auld lang sang–where have they gone?  Why is time wasted?

But God announces with a shout of joy, “It is time.”

The mystery of Christmas is not only portrayed in pageants, but in the dusty pages of Israel’s history. For our ancient ancestors, the evidence seemed clear–God had abandoned them. At the mercy of cruel empires, in exile or their lands occupied, the cry to God that he remember his promise was met with confusing silence.

But looking back the view is stunning–God was waiting for the time to be ripe.

The Perfect Time

• 600 B.C. The temple in Jerusalem, center of Jewish worship, was destroyed. God’s people were scattered  all over the ancient world. By necessity, study of the Torah replaced the temple as the centerpiece of Jewish piety. Which meant the good news of Christ was eventually carried to people already fluent in the promises of scripture that foretold his coming.
• About 400 years before Christ, Alexander the Great commanded the Greek language be the common tongue for all cultures. Greek philosophy and a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible were widely shared. The seed was thus planted in obscure places–the possibility of one universal God instead of local gods of wood and stone.
• Around 300 years before Christ, the Roman Empire introduced Pax Romana, uniting its vast empire through common laws, freedom of religious expression, and a system of roads. Ideas and information, including the message of Jesus Christ, were enabled to spread fast and far.
• Unrest and desperation plagued the ancient world. A majority of the population in the first century Mediterranean world were impoverished and in bondage of some sort. The longing for freedom and deliverance, for good news and a reason to hope, was palatable. The time was ripe, as God well knew.

When the fullness of time had come, God sent his son…(Galatians 4:4). 

Have people changed? Not much. Dreams of freedom, the search for hope, prayers for light in the darkness haunt our hearts too. And, like the ancients, we may believe God has forgotten.

To celebrate Advent is to learn to anticipate. Not look to a Mayan ending, but to a glorious answer to our longings and prayers. The same God the ancients waited for is at work in our world, despite the way it seems. From heaven’s perspective, time doesn’t slip away, it allows God’s plan to ripen. When all the pieces are in place, he will act.

Will you trust him?

I invite you to watch this video and remember: Good news comes with perfect timing.

Photograph, Canadian Rockies, courtesy of Melanie Hunt