We find ourselves in the darkest month of the year.  What is interesting is that one prone to dark moods, namely Martin Luther, would become upbeat even bouyant during Advent.  I believe this was due to his faith and imagination.  The seasons of the church year were not some abstract human creations but living reenactments of the original events for Luther.  No wonder Luther's mood lifted this time of year.  He was celebrating again the incarnation, Immanuel, God with us.  We are no longer bumping along in darkness alone and without hope.  God has intervened in subtle yet powerful ways through His Son Jesus Christ born as a baby for you and for me, in the most humble of circumstances.  I commend to you this following excerpt provided by Gordon Conwell Seminary.  I hope it is as edifying to you as it has been to me and that this Advent and Christmas would be a blessing to you and yours:

In the theological tumult that was Martin Luther's life, the great reformer seemed to be heartened each year by the great festivals of the church, particularly Advent and Christmas. The man who "invented" the Protestant parsonage was also sustained by a blazing sense of humor and a happy home life. It was open house all year in the large converted monastery at the east end of Wittenberg where Luther, his wife Katie, and their six children lived, along with numerous students who stayed there as well. One of them wrote that as Christmas approached, Luther grew increasingly cheerful: "All his words and songs and thoughts concerned the incarnation of our Lord. Then he sighed and said, 'Oh, we poor people that we should be so cold and indifferent to this great joy that has been given us. For this is indeed the greatest gift, which far exceeds all else that God has created. Yet we believe so sluggishly, even though the angels proclaim and preach and sing, and their lovely song sums up the whole Christian faith, for 'Glory to God in the highest' is the very heart of worship."

Luther's writings contain a multitude of references to Advent and Christmas. The following excerpt comes from a sermon on the Nativity that he preached in 1530:

If Christ had arrived with trumpets and lain in a cradle of gold, his birth would have been a splendid affair. But it would not be a comfort to me. He was rather to lie in the lap of a poor maiden and be thought of little significance in the eyes of the world. Now I can come to him. Now he reveals himself to the miserable in order not to give any impression that he arrives with great power, splendor, wisdom, and aristocratic manners. But upon his return on that Day, when he will oppose the high and the mighty, it will be different. Now he comes to the poor, who need a Savior, but then he will come as a Judge against those who are persecuting him now. 

     May God continue to Bless you all.  

Pastor Bruce