Happy New Year! Advent begins on November 30, and with it we celebrate the beginning of a new Christian year. Each Christian year we rehearse the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and Advent begins the journey. Sidebar: the lectionary many churches use goes through a three year cycle, with one of the synoptic gospels being central each year. This Advent we begin year A, with Matthew being the governing gospel.
The New Handbook of the Christian Year says this about Advent: “A season of four Sundays which closes on December 24 and focuses on the comings of Jesus Christ, historically, experientially, and eschatologically. “ (p 287. Eschatology has to do with the end of time.) This means that Advent has to do not only with the coming of Jesus to Bethlehem, but with all the ways God comes into our midst. Advent invites us to also prepare for the comings of Jesus into our lives in the present. And it invites us to prepare for “the consummation of all things in Christ at the end of time. “ (The New Handbook, p 52.) The First Sunday of Advent in particular often focuses on the Final coming of Christ.
If you are aware that your life and the world are not all they could be, are not all God intended, and you long for something more, then you have an Advent state of mind. If you want to see God at work in the world and rejoice when you do see God’s activity, then you have an Advent state of mind.
There is paradox in this season. Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas talks about the paradox this way. “ That paradox , to paraphrase the modern martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is the fact that God’s coming is not only a matter of glad tidings but, first of all, frightening news for everyone who has a conscience. The love that descended to Bethlehem is not the easy sympathy of an avuncular God, but a burning fire whose light chases away every shadow, floods every corner, and turns midnight into noon. This love reveals sin and overcomes it. It conquers darkness with such forcefulness and intensity that it scatters the proud, humbles the mighty, feeds the hungry, and sends the rich away empty handed. (Luke 1:51-51)” (pp xv-xvi) It is, nonetheless, love that is coming our way, bringing to us the possibility of new life.
Words associated with Advent: love, joy, hope, peace, preparation, anticipation, repentance, expectation, longing
Activities associated with Advent: using an Advent wreath, using an Advent calendar, an Advent service of lessons and carols, increased prayer time
Hymns associated with Advent: numbers 196-216 in the United Methodist Hymnal are Advent hymns, including “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”; “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed”; “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light”; and “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
Advent is here. Jesus is coming. People get ready. Make this a season of prayer. Sing or read Advent hymns. Participate in an Advent study. Volunteer. Let this rich season prepare your heart to meet Jesus.
Pastor Jimmy