Advent and Preoccupation with Singular Salvation
This is the second Sunday of Advent. The second week of Advent may focus on peace, preparation, and anticipation in some traditions. I appreciate Advent for several reasons, not least of which is the focus on Christ's return. This morning we read from Luke 2:22-40, focusing on Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Anna. I came away unable to shake the sense of immediacy and urgency the prophetic voices of Anna and Simeon would have had as they met the infant Christ. I regularly lose my focus, and found myself imagining the type of focus they would have had to maintain in readiness for this day. How would the mundane have worked out in between? The reality I came back to in reflecting on these two people of God was sin. It may sound like a strange place to land, but I have been reading through the minor prophets and Isaiah for the last couple of months. It's difficult, nay impossible, to miss the reality of sin as you navigate this portion of the Bible. What I have been struggling with