“This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:12
“Advent is, of course, first of all a preparation for Christmas; which commemorates God’s saving entrance into history in the incarnation of Jesus Christ…All men saw was a poor girl unconditionally submitted to God’s will, and a baby born in difficult circumstances…He comes and the revelation is not a bit what we expect.
So the next lesson Advent should teach us is that our attitude towards Him should always be one of humble expectancy. Our spiritual life depends on His perpetual coming to us, far more than on our going to Him. Every time a channel is made for Him He comes.
Every time our hearts are open to Him He enters, bringing a fresh gift of His very life, and on that life we depend. We should think of the whole power and splendor of God as always pressing upon our small souls. “In Him we live and move and have our being” [Acts 17:28].”
Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) in Advent with Evelyn Underhill, edited by Christopher L. Webber (New York: Morehouse, 2006) 1-2.
What does “humble expectancy” have to do with generosity? Everything!
It’s how we who live as conduits of material and spiritual blessings must position ourselves to receive so that we may richly give. Try taking this posture this Advent season and see what happens. Likely God will show up in ways you could never imagine, just like the first Christmas.