Is Anyone Really Looking for Jesus?

Is Anyone really Looking for Jesus? I will kick off Advent season by using the John Ortberg book as a Title for my series,"God is Closer Than You Think". Advent is seen by many as a denominational thing: catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, etc., but the celebration of Advent is not bound to one group or one church.

The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God.

Advent is the beginning of a celebration where the Church looks forward with expectation and anticipation for our coming Lord while making great preparation to that end.

However, I must ask again, Is Anyone really Looking for Jesus"? A Post-Thanksgiving crowd of New York shoppers burst through the doors at Wal-Mart knocking down a Wal-Mart worker while thousands of people trampled on, stepped over and stepped around but never stopped to help.

Dozens of employees came to help their fallen brother and they too were trampled on, run over and knocked down by a feeding mob fed by the assumption that they were saving money even if it meant they were taking a life.

When they announced that they needed to shut the store down because someone had died, people yelled, screamed and cursed saying, "I have been in line since yesterday morning" and they kept shopping. Is Anyone really Looking for Jesus?

On the left/west coast, two men are shot inside a Toys R Us, whether for toys or an argument over rival gangs no one knows, and yet more people are concerned over the economic impact ensuring shoppers that it is still safe to shop, please ignore the shooting of some misplaced individuals, feel free to continue spending your money here with us. Is Anyone really Looking for Jesus?

As tragic as it is that America cares more about Macy's and the Mall then they do about the Messiah and the Manger, as amazing as it is that Black Friday from a Wall Street perspective means more now than Good Friday does to a Christian from a salvation perspective, it is mind-boggling to think some of our churches are missing Jesus as well.

We have developed a Martha mentality where we have become so lost in the details that we have forgotten that the deliverer is in our house. The positioning of the poinsettias mean more than the proper placement of the Prince of Peace in our houses of Worship. Is Anyone really Looking for Jesus? I will start this Sunday to began a search for this "so called elusive Jesus that is so hard to find to help show someone this advent season in the words of John Ortberg, God is closer than you think.

We will start Sunday in John 1:14 with the hope of simply saying, God took off divinity that he might kiss with grace we the disfigured that we might have the chance to be delivered back to our Daddy. Pray for us in this adventure as we are excited about the journey.