I've never taken Advent as seriously as I have this year. Maybe it's because I'm weary of the hoopla that the secular world has injected into the season. Maybe it's because this year has been a remarkable and profound spiritual journey for Dustin and me. Maybe I'm finally realizing that this is what I need at this time of the year. While the world lays in winter slumber, I am discovering that I, too, need to find rest and peace in my faith. While listening to the song "While You Were Sleeping" by Casting Crowns this Sunday, I realized this is what I wanted to talk about.

Oh, little town of BethlehemLooks like another silent nightAbove your deep and dreamless sleepA giant star lights up the sky

And while you're lying in the darkThere shines an everlasting lightFor the King has left His throneAnd is sleeping in a manger tonight

Oh, Bethlehem, what you have missedWhile you were sleepingFor God became a manAnd stepped into your world today

Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in historyAs a city with no room for its KingWhile you were sleepingWhile you were sleeping

There couldn't have been a more perfect way for the Son to come into the world. If He was going to come to teach us humility, service, and love than it had to be in this most humble of ways. We don't know exactly when our Lord was born, but that is not what matters to me. What matters it the way He chose to come--a helpless baby born to a young devoted mother. I often think about what that night must have been like. What must have been going on in Mary's head as she held the Savior of the World after she delivered Him? It's always so surreal for us to hold our children that have just been born, so I can only imagine how much more surreal it was for her.

Nobody sleeping in Bethlehem had any idea that the Savior of the World had just arrived. They had no idea that the world would forever be changed by His coming. If they were expecting the Savior to be someone who came with great fanfare, riches, and accolades, they were mistaken.

Oh, little town of JerusalemLooks like another silent nightThe Father gave His only SonThe way, the truth, the life had comeBut there was no room for Him in the world He came to save

Jerusalem, what you have missedWhile you were sleeping?The Savior of the worldIs dying on your cross today

Jerusalem, you will go down in historyAs a city with no room for its KingWhile you were sleepingWhile you were sleeping

There couldn't have been a more genuine act of love than His dying on the cross for us. If He was going to show us how to truly love one another, then there is no better way to show that than to give His life for those who nailed Him there. In the minds of those witness to that day, a real king would never of allowed this to happen to him. He would have used his awesome might and power and crushed those that chose to persecute him. But, this was not the message Jesus was trying to send. He wanted us to lead others through sacrifice, service, and love. These were foreign ideas then and they are still hard for us to grasp today.

Nobody in Jerusalem, save a few people, had an inkling of what was truly taking place that day. So many were taking rest in their own pride, power, and understanding. If they were expecting the Savior to be someone who wielded his might around and placed himself on an earthly throne surrounded by riches, they were mistaken.

United States of AmericaLooks like another silent nightAs were sung to sleep by philosophiesThat save the trees and kill the children

And while were lying in the darkTheres a shout heard cross the eastern skyFor the Bridegroom has returnedAnd has carried His bride away in the night

America, what will we missWhile we are sleepingWill Jesus come againAnd leave us slumbering where we lay

America, will we go down in historyAs a nation with no room for its KingWill we be sleeping?Will we be sleeping?

There couldn't be a more obvious growing neglect and dismissal of Jesus in our country. The more apathetic we become about our faith, the more that turn away because they feel they are being duped by some fairy tale, the more we fail to live out our Christian calling, the more we suffer. We are failing each other in our quest for personal happiness and satisfaction. We so often choose this path, yet who of us is inspired by those that seek only their glory? Who of us is inspired by those that wrap themselves up in pride and riches? Not many I'm sure. Yet, who is inspired by Christ's teachings of sacrifice, love, and service? Who isn't inspired by those that shed themselves of the chains of slavery to pride, greed, lust, and anger? Most of us are inspired by those that live counter to what the world tells us we are entitled to.

Nobody in America, save a few people, truly grasp the negative impact our apathy is having or will have. We are sleeping through this life, dreaming of glory, wealth, and material possessions. We are expecting that what our society tells us is good for us, will make us happy and bring us joy. If that is the case, than why hasn't a selfish, shallow, and rich person changed the course of history in the way Jesus has? Could it be that we are asleep to what the truth really is?

Advent is the time of preparing for Jesus' arrival. I pray that we, myself included, not be asleep when He comes again.