By Edgar Twedt
1 Peter 1:8
6 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7 so that the genuineness of your faith – being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
The first thing that came to my mind when I read this verse (in bold letters above) was what does this have to do with Advent. Then I tried to turn my doubting mind away from its cynical bent, and take a deeper look. The passage is a message from the Apostle Peter to those who have not actually seen the Lord physically as Peter had. When we look at it in the overall picture of Advent through Resurrection and finally seeing our Lord face to face, it makes remarkable sense. Just as we have not seen our Lord face to face, and just as we do not see him now, still we love him, believe in him and rejoice with what Peter calls an indescribable and glorious joy. And the same is true of the Advent of his Incarnation. None of us was there, none of us saw the event personally, but we believe in him who came and dwelt among us, and we continue to rejoice with indescribable and glorious joy at the oft repeated story of the Advent of his coming. In a very important sense our first meeting of our Lord was one of indescribable and glorious joy, and so every time we celebrate ADVENT it reminds us of the first time we met him. No wonder we are filled with awe and wonder as we move into the season of ADVENT. It isn’t just the holly and the ivy, the trimmed Christmas tree, the stockings all hung by the chimney with care, or the beautifully wrapped presents so neatly displayed around that tree. It’s the indescribable and glorious joy of our relationship to the living Christ.