Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

The Shift Into Advent

I started December with Thanksgiving leftovers still in the fridge. Brown satin ribbon was tied on candlesticks, the hue selected to match autumn dinner plates reserved for the season. All signs pointed to the need to shift gears and turn my attention toward the gift of Advent. Journal open and pen in hand, I set to the task of discovering how the first week of December would mark the pace of the greatest wait of the year.

Setting My True North

I found an online oasis set for Wednesday morning hosted by Ruth Haley Barton’s Transforming Center. Fuller Seminary’s Center for Spiritual Formation had a virtual silent retreat slated for Friday. All was set. With True North identified, I eagerly waited for these calendared moments to become divine appointments—spaces that would serve as directives for how I might be more curious and more present in the weeks ahead.

Entering the Story of Jesus’ Birth

The online oasis proved to be exactly what it promised—an oasis in the midst of busyness designed to nourish and replenish the soul of my leadership. “Making Room for Advent” was the theme, and Ruth defined Advent as “entering the story of Jesus’ birth.”

Advent reminds us of a very real Jesus showing up to this people, in this time, to this virgin. This thisness “grounds the principle of incarnation in the concrete and the specific,” what theologians call the scandal of particularity.

The Scandal of Particularity

Ruth asked us to engage this scandal of particularity by asking,
“Where are you in touch with your humanity, in all of its fullness?”

This is Advent’s invitation: to watch for signs of Jesus’ presence in our ordinary and everyday lives. To be awed by presence, wowed by hope, and open to the surprise of joy in dark nights.

“The more improbable that Jesus could be moving is the place of the most waiting.”
— Ruth Haley Barton

Waiting With Hope

I left the oasis knowing I am not the agent of change. I don’t control when or how the kingdom comes. I had no control over Christ’s birth. I can’t predict the second coming. And that frees me to wait with hope that something good is going to happen. And that’s why my favorite Christmas hymn is “Joy to the World.”

Joy to the World: My Advent Hymn

Joy to the world; the Lord is come;
Let Earth receive her King;
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav’n and nature sing.

That third line is short but sweet: Let every heart prepare Him room.

Advent is the great preparation of making my heart a place where the Savior can rest. This is the time, when this soul, with this need, and this ache gets to encounter this great King.

The Great Work of Making Room

It is quite the scandal indeed—to go from universal to concrete, from them to me. To see that every individual heart has a great work ahead.

Make haste, friends. Do whatever is necessary to engage your heart in the making of room for the greatest Inhabiter to enter there.

Reflection Invitation

A scripture to read: The angel visits Mary, Luke 1:26–38

A song to listen to: Giver of Good Gifts, Eric Nordhoff

A date to set: Rhythms of Repair – A New Year Workshop, January 3rd

A prayer to pray: Lord, I open the door of my heart in expectation of Your arrival.
Prepare me for Your nearness.
Make room in me for Your peace, Your joy, and Your transforming presence.
Let this ordinary life become holy ground as I wait for You.
Come, Lord Jesus. My heart is ready. Amen.