Submitted by Pastor Brad Dush, Fairfax United Methodist Church

Over the last four weeks, many churches worldwide have celebrated Advent by lighting Advent wreaths. In Advent, the themes of hope, peace, love, and joy are explored. Advent is a special time of the year because it properly prepares us to celebrate the birth of Jesus. I have always found it very important to celebrate the themes of Advent with a certain level of expectation, considering the past, present, and future. Sometimes people can easily get hung up on Advent looking back to the event we celebrate, the birth of the Savior of the World. However, Advent reminds us of the hope, peace, love, and joy in Jesus we experience in this present moment and the moments yet to come. Advent is as much about what God has done, is doing, and will do! Frankly, that excites me! This past Sunday, as we celebrated the joy of the Lord this Advent season, I shared a text from the Word of God that was probably not shared by many pastors during Advent.

The text I shared was from the prophet Ezekiel. It is a rather famous text from the book, arguably the most prominent text found in chapter 37. It is often referred to as “The Valley of Dry Bones.” It was interesting as God drew me to the text several months ago for Advent, but I fought it at first. The text vividly describes a vision Ezekiel had where God showed him that God has the power to restore life to a pile of dried-out bones. At first glance, it doesn’t seem to fit into the theme of joy, considering Advent and the coming Christmas holiday. But, then God began to impress upon the joy present in a situation where life seems non-existent to experience the life-giving grace and power of the Almighty! How beautiful the scene unfolds as life flows through the valley and God does what only God can! Then I remembered the promise of 2 Corinthians 5:17, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

As Jesus Christ works in us to bring us new life in Him, our natural response should be JOY. How amazing that God can breathe new life into us, not just in the Advent season but year-round. It is much easier to see and experience the joy of the Lord during the holiday season. So as we ready ourselves for December 25th this year to proclaim that Christ has been born, we must let the hope, peace, love, and especially the JOY of the Lord penetrate us to our very core and overflow in ways we could have never anticipated. If we are dried up and dead inside in any way, may the joy of Jesus wash over us! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Praise God!