The Trouble with Advent Calendars

This message takes us into the heart of Advent by contrasting our modern consumer culture with the Christian practice of spiritual preparation. We're invited to consider how Advent calendars have evolved from tools of religious anticipation into commercial products filled with everything from bourbon to beauty samples. Advent calendars give us gifts we know we want, whereas in Joseph's story from Matthew's Gospel, we discover that God's gifts rarely come wrapped the way we expect. Joseph didn't ask to raise the Messiah. Instead, he received a calling that would upend everything, requiring him to flee with Mary and Jesus to escape Herod's murderous rage. The profound truth here is that God's gifts often arrive disguised as disruptions, challenges, or circumstances we never would have chosen for ourselves. Yet they shape us in ways comfort never could. Even when God's gifts don't match our expectations, they are always good and always purposeful—and they are the true gifts of His Advent.