Advent III: Cleaning our room.

“I don’t want to,” I whined to my parents when they reminded me that I needed to clean my room before our guests arrived. A bigwig in the church, an Archbishop of some kind, and his wife were coming to our house, and my parents were rather tight, shall I say, about it looking good. As I made my way upstairs, I resented our future guests and grumbled how ridiculous it was I needed to clean my room for guests who would probably never see it. 

I was surprised to like them as much as I did. They looked me in the eye when they asked me questions and actually wanted to hear the answers to their questions about what it was like to be a seventh grader and the sports I played. By the end of their visit, I was eager for their return. It was the beginning of a long, wonderful friendship, and whenever they came to visit I was more than happy to prepare my room.

I think Advent is like that. The church reminds us that we need to prepare, to clean up our lives, in anticipation of Christmas. We sometimes feel like whining about having to do such spiritual work, particularly when we’d rather sing carols and shop. It’s a different matter when you know the guest who’s coming. When you know Christ, God with us, you want to straighten things up not out of obligation but out of affection. 

Before knowing the guest, you have to clean your room. Once you do, you get to.