Not Just a Christmas Countdown
It's Christmas time, the most wonderful time of the year! Along with it, many people celebrate the season of Advent. There are a million ways to celebrate advent, and so many calendars that have suggestions of what to do, or a gift to open, or a story to read, or something along those lines. And if I were to be honest, my whole entire life - like, until last week - I just kind of thought that Advent was a fancy way to say countdown to Christmas. While I wasn't completely wrong, I missed the big picture by a long shot.
Advent is the time leading up to Christmas beginning four Sundays before Christmas, and it is a celebration in the Christian church. In Latin, "advent" means coming. The dictionary defines it as the arrival of a notable person. I can't help but love that definition as I think of this season. What is the reason for advent? It is the waiting of the arrival of Jesus Christ. We celebrate it as the world celebrates the birth of Christ beginning all those many years ago, but we are also celebrating it in anticipation of the second coming of Christ.
I can't help but wonder, though, how many church-goers and followers of Christ have missed this. I grew up in church. I have loved Jesus since I was seven years old, and I didn't really hear of advent until I was senior in high school, and I just now discovered what it really is. Why? See, I think the issue is that instead of celebrating Advent along with Christmas, we have gotten caught up in the commercialization of this most significant holiday. It's gotten completely lost behind all the toys and parties and traveling and cookies. I think, if we as believers keep Christmas as it should be - the celebration of the birth of Christ - we won't miss the celebration of Advent.
We celebrate the birth of Christ because it provided HOPE and it was a promise that was being awaited with much anticipation. I love that, and I think it is a great parallel of where we are now. We have HOPE as we are awaiting a promise for us. There is obvious, nearly palpable, heartache in our wold. We see Syrian refugees suffering mass genocide, people who are falling ill each time we turn our heads, corruption in governments, and broken families. And while we can do something, we can only do so much. There is only One who can fix it, and we are waiting for that. We have HOPE that our Savior is coming, and we are waiting with bated breath.
All of this clicked for me a few days ago as I was reading my devotional for the morning. The scripture was Matthew 1:22-23.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us).
And I read the commentary Shauna Neiquist provided for the day; I was blown away. I felt as though my heart would explode. I couldn't quit with the "Amens." And it stuck. Here's what she said, "Advent is the question, the pleading, and Christmas is the answer to that question, the response to the howl...hope is on its way, but the yearning is still very real...Give up your false and failing attempts at merriment, and thank God for a season that understands longing and loneliness and long nights. Let yourself fall open to Advent, to anticipation, to the belief that what is empty will be filled, what is broken will be repaired, and what is lost can always be found..." It just resonated in my soul because in this season of life, not the year, I just feel heavy. I just need some hope, and I need to know there is understanding. And that's when I got it. I understood what Advent is.
Immanuel has come. God is with us, and we have hope, but we long for the day when the promise of complete restoration will be filled. When this world is not broken and bitter, but restored. And I cannot imagine not having that hope that has come for us. When this took place, the people were in desperate need of hope. There had been 400 years of silence since the last time God spoke, and he broke it in the stable with the cry of a babe.
So, yes, this IS the most wonderful time of the year. But it isn't because we have presents, toys, travel, and cookies. It's because we have HOPE. We have a time to anticipate, grieve, and long, but it doesn't last because he comes to fulfill his promise to us!