Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow, detail from The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.
"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. … The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep."
Matthew 25:1, 5
We are human and finite, and thus cannot live perpetually in a sense of expectation, or in a continuous Advent.
It is here that we need to see why it was necessary for Christ to come to the earth. God has come to us because we, by our own power of soul, by our own emotions, even the noblest and most sublime, can never attain redemption, can never regain communion with God.
True expectancy, the waiting that is genuine and from the heart, is brought about by the coming of the Holy Spirit, by God coming to us, and not by our own devices. Spiritual depth, if it is true, is the working of God coming down and penetrating to the depths of our hearts, and not of our own soul's climbing. No ladder of mysticism can ever meet or find or possess God. Faith is a power given to us. It is never simply our ability or strength of will to believe. The spiritual experience that is truly genuine is given to us by God in the coming of his Spirit, and only as we surrender our whole lives to an active expression of his will.
To put it quite simply, spiritual experience, whether it be of faith, hope (or expectancy) or love, is something we cannot manufacture, but which we can only receive. If we direct our lives to seeking it for ourselves we shall lose it, but if we lose our lives by living out the daily way of Christ we shall find it.
Spiritual experience, if it is of God, will indeed lead to a life of activity. But the nature of the true activity is surrender and obedience. The most striking revelation of this is found in the conception and birth of Jesus.
Philip Britts, in an address from the Bruderhof Archives, published in Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas.
Christianity Today Advent Calendar compiled by Susan Wunderink
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