Easter Eggs for Advent

 

Advent 1 (December 1, 2024)

Did you know that Barbie was launched on March 9, 1959?  It turns out that the makers of the Barbie movie made the odometer of the car read “030959” in homage to this date.  This is one of many “Easter Eggs” in the film; many films have “Easter Eggs”, references to other films or historical events.  You likely miss them the first time, but when you replay the movie, they bring a smile and recognition that the director is good and creative.

In life, God drops lots of Easter Eggs for us — small things that point us to the fact that life’s “director” is faithful, creative, if not even humorous.  

Yet, we miss them!  And even when we see them, we often struggle to believe that they are revelations of God’s goodness in our lives.  

In the story of Zechariah meeting the angel Gabriel in the temple (Luke 1:8-20), Zechariah struggles to believe.  Zechariah’s struggles of faith are like ours, as life grinds us down, closing off our heart to God’s work in our lives.

Pastor Rob reminds us that the solution of the angel for Zechariah’s unbelief is silence. Likewise, the medicine for our inability to see the “Easter Eggs” is silence.  This Advent, these weeks leading up to Christmas, we too are invited into silence, to contemplate the Easter Eggs both in Scripture but also our lives.  For God, in Jesus Christ, has promised to be faithful to us, even when we struggle to believe.