It is finally here.
We have been counting down since sometime in October. Next year I won't start counting until fall break, I think. Eight weeks will be enough!
I am not as "together" about some Advent preparations as I was last year, when I had all of my Christmas shopping done save two gifts. But we are probably more together regarding liturgy, and decorations, and music.
For those of you who wonder why I am making such a big deal out of Advent, I give you an excerpt from our pastor's Advent letter this year. (This is the first time he's sent one-- our church historically hasn't done much with Advent besides a wreath up front). Here is a pretty good introduction to help explain what we're about here this year:
"I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday. I like Thanksgiving because it means that basketball season has started. My favorite team was on the other day. As the game clock was winding down, I was due to board a flight. After missing the end of the season opener, I realized two things: First, I need to plan my trips better; second, games that don’t have an ending aren’t very good. We watch sports because the game has a destination, a purpose, an outcome. Without that, the game just doesn’t make much sense.
The Church year is similar. Without Advent, the Church year would be like a game without the ending. If we had Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, but not Advent, we would go through the great events of God's purpose for the world – the birth, the life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus, and the coming of the Spirit – but would miss the conclusion to which all these other events have been building. We would miss the end of the game.
To put it another way, our understanding of Jesus’ own story would be incomplete: we would celebrate his birth, his death, his resurrection, but not the end of his story when he will be revealed as the world’s rightful and loving Sovereign. And without that event, this story doesn’t make much sense. Of course, the conclusion to the story hasn't happened yet. Thus on Advent Sunday we are not remembering, as we do when we tell the story of Jesus at Christmas and Easter, nor are we focusing on our present experience of Christ and the Spirit as with Pentecost; on Advent Sunday we are looking forward to Jesus Christ's future, which is also our future and the future of the world."
"As I have reflected on the culture in which we live, I have become more and more convinced of the value of the Church calendar for forming and rooting Christian communities in a biblical view of reality. Let me explain. While recent advances in technological communications have brought real benefits (as anyone who has ever skyped their parents or grandchildren can attest), they also provide troubling dangers in that they distort our sense of space and time. But the Church calendar works against these difficult social realities by rooting Christians in time and reminding us that God has been pleased to act in time for us and for our salvation.
The calendar in general, and Advent in particular, reminds us that Christian lives have direction. We're involved in that uncompleted story. We're living between Pentecost and the coming of Jesus at the end. We live in the certain hope that God is going to have the last word: not evil or suffering or death or meaninglessness, but God and God's good purpose for his whole creation are going to prevail finally and forever. Advent is a time to look forward, forward to God’s promised future. It is a time of longing, expectation, and hope. So once a year at least, during Advent, we remind ourselves where the story is going and reorient ourselves in that direction."
"In light of that, we will be doing some exciting things this Advent season to help direct our thoughts, practices, and imaginations towards the coming of Christ. First, shaping our thoughts, our sermon series during Advent will be entitled “In Light of His Coming”. We will be looking at different ways in which the Bible says that the coming of Jesus informs Christians today. Second, shaping our practices, the orders of worship in our services will be thematically developed around the certainty that Christ will come again. Third, shaping our imaginations, our worship space will be artistically decorated in blues and violets. Both colors have been used by the church during Advent to capture people’s imaginations with the second coming of Christ. Blue represents the sky, from which Christ will come. Purple is the color of royalty; for when he comes all will know that he is the world’s one true king."
I had bought purple ribbon for our little Advent wreath. I went out last night to cut oak from our trees, and rosemary and cotoneaster from the shrubs. To my delight, I found the rosemary already adorned with purple blooms. Consider the lilies. The ribbon will keep.
This Advent, I hope to chronicle our family traditions and attempts to train our hearts to keep in mind our certain future and hope.
Happy Advent!
