Will Vaus

I remember as a child looking forward to Christmas more than any other day of the year, perhaps even more than my birthday. Of course, like every family, my family of origin had various rituals in which we engaged as we looked forward to Christmas. First, there were the Christmas decorations that did not come out of the attic until December 1. Then there was the opening of doors on an Advent calendar. Next came the Christmas tree. And, of course, woven throughout this time, there was attendance at church during the four Sundays of Advent. As I have mentioned a few times during this season, Advent means “coming”. It is the season of the church year when we look back and remember the first coming of Christ. But it is also the time when we look forward to his second coming. The big question is: how does God want us to live as we look forward to Jesus’ second coming? The life and words of John the Baptist give us some direction. Listen to what Luke has to say about him from Luke 3:7-18. Li...

How do you get ready for guests coming to stay? We had Scrooge stay at our house during Advent several years ago. That is to say: our guest was Bill Carmichael, the Broadway actor who played Scrooge in a production of   A Christmas Carol . Even though it was Scrooge coming to stay, we tried to make sure our bathrooms were clean, we put fresh linens on the bed along with a clean towel, and we purchased some extra food.   Now, let me re-phrase the question this way: “How did you or how would you prepare for a newborn baby coming to your house?” When we were expecting each of our children, we made sure the nursery was ready and freshly decorated. We purchased seemingly endless supplies of baby paraphernalia, especially for our first child. And of course, there was the need for baby clothes, for a newborn and for each stage of the first year of life. And with our first child, more than subsequent ones, we read books like, “What to Expect when You’re Expecting”. With all this in mi...

It seems to get harder every year to focus on the real message of Advent and Christmas, don’t you think? Now the bombardment of a commercialized Christmas begins before Halloween. And then when we do get to December the world is singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. Now, I personally have no problem with Santa Claus. But the Church for almost 2000 years has had a different message during this season. That message is: Jesus is Coming to Town. And I think it is important that this message does not get lost in all the hubbub of the season. Let’s take a look at what Luke has to say about this in Luke 21:25-36. Listen for God’s word to you… “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and grea...

In his book  The Kingdom of God Is a Party , Tony Campolo relates an experience he had late one night in Hawaii after arriving from a long plane trip…   Tony was hungry and went in search of a restaurant. Up a side street he found a little place that was still open. He went in, took a seat on one of the stools at the counter, and waited to be served. The owner, wearing a name tag that said, “Harry”, asked for Tony’s order. He ordered a donut and coffee.    As Tony sat there munching on his donut and sipping his coffee at 3:30 in the morning, the door of the diner suddenly swung open and, to his discomfort, in marched eight or nine provocative and boisterous prostitutes.   It was a small place, and so the prostitutes sat on either side of Tony at the counter. Their talk was loud and crude. Tony felt completely out of place and was just about to make his getaway when he overheard the woman beside him say, “Tomorrow’s my birthday. I’m going to be 39.”   Her “f...