This Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Love. By the fourth week, the temptation is to rush on to Christmas. After all, it’s just around the corner and I can feel it! I feel the pressure to run there and I feel the excitement that’s waiting. But it is still Advent, the season of expectations. Last week was the Sunday of peace. But were we brave enough, “faithed” enough, to expect peace?
The artist’s name is Catherine Williamson. I stumbled across this artwork of “Peace” through a friend’s blog. The artist says of herself, “I love all things water: water to drink, water to swim in, water to splash in, watercolors. I love the ocean, woods, tea and honey, family, friends, naps, chocolate, music and meeting new people. I love to explore, to ask, “Why not?” I love the Lord who gave me the gift of painting and I LOVE to paint.”
What a powerful confession. “I love to explore, to ask, ‘Why not?’ I love the Lord who gave me the gift of painting and I love to paint.” I think she’s onto something vital, a crucial connection between peace and love. In some mysterious, Christmas way, love overcomes fear and allow us to explore, to ask, “Why not?”
What is your “why not” list this Advent? Your “why not” list from God? Why not go and meet my neighbors? Why not go and learn more about those refugees – their story, their journey, their pain, their struggles? Why not go and meet their children? Why not go and learn more about their culture? Why not overcome fear and let love guide us into conversations, friendships, community? Catherine Williamson wisely connects love, peace, and the Lord. So should we!
It sounds like a great deal of work, of course. It doesn’t sound easy at all. But it also sounds and feels just like Christmas. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
Wade Bibb
Senior Pastor
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