Recently I was at meeting and talking with another pastor about various ministries within the congregation

and at some point in the conversation, the other pastor asked the question, ‘How many do you

worship?’ This is a fairly typical question among pastors; since it gives a frame of reference for the

type of congregation. The information that the pastor was asking was what is the average attendance

at worship. My answer back was that we worship around 230. Then soon after I responded, a preaching

profession at a Lutheran seminary who was sitting next to us added the following answer—he

said, ‘you worship 1’. We all laughed, but the professor was reminding us of an important point.

The point is that in worship, it is not the number of people who are in attendance that is important but

the most important thing is that in worship, we worship only one—God! This may seem very basic,

but at times we need to be reminded about the basics and keep the first things first.

I thought that this was a good thing to remember as we begin the Advent Season. Since it is during

the Advent Season that the culture seeks to redirect our thoughts and energy about the meaning of the

holiday season. The world reminds us about buying presents and seeking to find that perfect gift. The

world reminds us about decorating our homes, putting up the Christmas tree and lights, and all the

food we will need to make for this special occasion. The world reminds us about the family that will

be visiting and all that we need to do to prepare for them. It is during this time that we hear a lot

about Christmas, but most of that talk and chatter is about things other than the true reason for this

celebration.

During this busy time of the year, none of things listed above (decorating, family visiting, food, presents)

are bad or things that we should not be attentive to; but we need to remember that they are not

the primary focus of this time of year.

The Season of Advent is about being ready. Many of the lessons that will be read during the four

weeks of Advent focus upon preparing and being ready. But the preparations that these texts will talk

about are preparations of the heart—preparing to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the World, preparing

ourselves for when Jesus comes back again. This is what we need to be attending to most of all

during the upcoming weeks. There will be many things that will vie for our time and attention; my

prayer is that during this Season of Advent you will be attentive to your spiritual life and preparing

yourself spiritual as we prepare for Christmas.

Pastor Steve