We need the Season of Advent

Today we celebrate the second Sunday in Advent with a festival of Advent lessons and hymns. Advent is an interesting season of the Christian Church Year.

There are the sounds of Advent: The hymns that we sing both look backward and forward. Back to Christ’s first appearing in humility as the Child of the Virgin Mary. And forward to His coming in glory on the Last Day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:11). The hymns are somber, plaintive cries: “Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel. That mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear” (CW 23:1). They are penitential prayers: “Then cleansed be ev’ry life from sin and furnished for a guest within, and let us all our hearts prepare for Christ to come and enter there” (CW 16:2). They are excited preparation: “Prepare the royal highway; the King of kings is near! Let ev’ry hill and valley a level road appear! Then greet the King of glory, foretold in sacred story” (CWS 702:1).

There are the sights of Advent: The royal blue as we look to the sky as the King of glory comes (Ps 24:8). The Advent wreath, an eternal circle of evergreen branches. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is the eternal God and yet for our sakes He became a mortal man. His righteous branch was cut off and killed so that we might be ever green with His eternal life. A different candle is lit each week symbolizing the spiritual gifts that Christ’s Advent brings with Him – hope, love, joy and peace.

There are the images of Advent: The King of glory coming to us because we cannot go to Him. The prophetic Word standing on the brink, ready to be fulfilled as Jesus will be born in David’s Royal City. Human history literally pregnant with the Promise of God. God preparing a way in the wilderness so the Lord may enter. An angel whispering in the ear of a young virgin girl that she will become the Mother of God. John the Baptist appearing out of nowhere in the wilderness, preaching and baptizing, calling to repentance and preparing the people. The Messiah is near! Get ready to meet Him!

I laughed when my 6-year-old, Belle, was driving with me before Thanksgiving and she said loudly from the back seat, “That’s so frustrating!” I asked her, “What do you mean?” She explained, “People have their Christmas decorations up already! We’re not even close to Christmas!”

We are very different from the rest of society. Inside the church we are celebrating Advent. Outside the church, people are celebrating Christmas. So that when December 25 finally rolls around, they are tired of Christmas. So that by December 26, decorations are coming down, the tree is out on the curb and the Christmas music is off the radio. But that’s when the Christmas season should just be starting.

Advertisers have no use for Advent or Christmastime except when it comes to stealing all the religious symbols of these seasons – the tree, the greens, the lights, the music – in order to sell their wares. But we Christians own Advent and Christmastime. The symbols of these seasons are our property, not just an advertiser’s gimmick. If we want to keep them as part of Christianity, we’re going to have to wrestle them back, probably with a good fight.

And it’s worth a fight. We need Advent. We need a time before Christmas to encounter the darkness, to slip slowly into winter, instead of immediately masking it with tinsel. We need a season of hunger and silence to make us eager for our coming festival. For without Advent we stop being what we are: a people who are waiting. We need Jesus’ terrifying, but anticipatory announcement of Judgment Day. We need the prophets’ threats and consolations. We must listen to the call of repentance by John the Baptist and mediate on the beautiful song of Mary.

We also need Christmastime. We need a festival that runs beyond a single day, beyond a single week. We need  the twelve days of Christmas to tell the journey of the Magi, about the embrace of old Simeon and the naming of Jesus because “He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

In the many days of Christmastime we shout loud and clear that Jesus Christ is born. The reign of God is here among us, in our own flesh and blood. That’s why we gladly decorate our homes and church with trees, wreaths, angels, stars, lights, silver and gold, Wise Men and Shepherds. The marvels of Christmas are not just pretty decorations. They are signs of God’s reign, signs of a life that conquers death, of “the light shining on in the darkness, a darkness that did not overcome it” (John 1:5).

Of course, Advent cannot exist if we jump the gun on Christmas. And Christmastime cannot exist if we are already tired of it by December 25. These two seasons are a package deal: One demands the other. Only after the silence of Advent can the carols of Christmastime spring. Only after Advent’s darkness can a single star give such cheer. Only after Advent’s terror can an angel be heard, once again, telling us to fear not. Year after year, we so genuinely need these seasons as rehearsal for heaven.

So, it is good for us to come to church where we can do the counter-cultural thing, to watch and pray for the coming of Jesus while the rest of the world is watching for bargains and praying for short lines. It is good for us to get away from the “holiday cheer” and sing these ancient prayers to our long expected Jesus, begging Him to come and redeem His people. I heard a grandfather lament the other day that it was difficult for him to buy Christmas gifts for his grandchildren since they already have everything they want. It is good for us who are so accustomed to getting everything now, to practice a little “delayed gratification” and wait for the One who will come with vengeance and divine retribution to save us (Isaiah 35:4).

This may be society’s time for cleaning off the shelves to boost the year end sales figures. For us, it is a time to clean out our hearts with confession and repentance, asking the Lord to no longer remember our sins or hold them against us (Isaiah 64:9). It is good for us to let our faith interfere with our lives, structure our activity and shape our expectations. It is good for us to be here. It is good for us to truly enjoy and celebrate the season of Advent, so that we can then truly enjoy and celebrate the season of Christmas. Amen.