Advent: Its not about entertainment!

Will Christmas make a lasting difference to your life this year?
Yesterday marked the second Sunday of Advent, a celebration of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
The season has only begun, and already many have started worshipping their man-made messiahs — all the various forms of consumerism that make entertainment the central truth of Christmas.

Carl Trueman in his book “The Wages of Spin” explains why people are so caught up in entertainment that it becomes an idol.
He writes: Distraction is the production of entertainment for the purpose of taking one’s mind off the deeper realities of life.

People create their own “messiahs” to distract themselves from the real questions that the Season challenges us with.
And the ultimate questions are about why do we live! and what happens when I die. But denial makes life so much easier. It is easier to numb ourselves with self-indulgence and idol-worship, than asking the life changing questions that Jesus came to ask.

The messiahs whom we want, are the ones who will save us from deep thought. We prefer saviours that help us avoid life changing choices. Therefore, if I think my real problem is boredom, then someone please just buy me a toy to stop the pain;
but if my problem is sin, death, and the wrath of God against my sin, then I am going to need something (Someone!) that money cannot buy.

The Advent season is not really about entertainment. Mat 1:21 states that the Child-king came to rescue from sin and death. The Gentile Magi or Wise Men came from the East to Israel to pay homage to the newborn King. They offered royal gifts to the Child. They spent their time and their money on the Child. What an exceptional act of worship and praise!

The Infant-king deserves our adoration, but he deserves it in a way that is backed by real investment in his Kingdom and real worship time.

Lets stop being self centred during this Advent and Christmas seasons - and bow down before the only King that matters, reflecting deeply on our faith in Jesus and how to follow and honour him.

Lets bring homage to the Child-king - who is no child anymore, but the almighty Christ, the eternal King that reigns in heaven, on earth and in our lives today.