This is the Advent challenge. Here we are in this season of preparation. We prepare to remember the coming of Christ in the Incarnation. We prepare to celebrate the first of these truths in all the pomp, glory and joy of Christmas. This truth, we express in Advent with solemnity and sobriety.
Advent is a time to become aware of one's sins.
Worship always, but in Advent especially, expresses the tension of living between, and in the knowledge of, these paradoxical truths. We await his coming in glory. And so long as we know God only in the ways of man, by contentious learning, by arguing and dispute, we see nothing but the shadow of Him, and in that shadow meet with many dark appearances, little certainty, and much conjecture. Paul said something very like this in our Epistle Lesson today. In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.