What is Advent for you? For some, Advent and Christmas are virtually synonymous as houses are decorated in Christmas themes and Christmas music plays. For others, it is marked by small festivities like Advent calendars filled with chocolates. For me, Advent has always been a nice break from the business of the Christmas season- a reason to find time to meditate and hopefully find some peace amidst the hustle that is preparation for Christmas.
It is also, of course, the season of anticipation for Christ’s birth, as Christ will be born on Christmas Day. But what I and others often forget or overlook is that the anticipation of Advent has dual reasons. We are not simply waiting for Christ's birth on Christmas Day, but are anticipating the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Now, I know. It’s easier to anticipate the birth of Christ. That will for sure occur on Christmas Day as a remembrance that God is with us in Jesus Christ. In regards to the second coming, Advent calendars do not make sense as no one knows the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36). Rather, in the season of Advent, our anticipation for Christ's birth, and anticipation for the second coming of Jesus are intertwined.
As I’ve mentioned before, in the Advent season we dwell in our longings. In our Sunday Advent worship we have been longing for hope, peace, love and joy as we look out into our world and do not always see hope, peace, love, and joy. Through this, we reflect on our need for Christ to be with us, particularly in our broken world and broken selves. We are not only hopeful for Christ's birth, but Christ's return, in which all flesh will see the salvation of God, and all things will be made whole (Luke 3:6, Acts 3:21).
Perhaps, make a journal entry on what in your life gives reason to need Jesus? What needs restoration? What are your hopes? What does peace look like to you? What is love that reminds you of God? What moments give you joy? Answering these questions will set our eyes onto Christ, as we anticipate his birth on Christmas Day, and place our faith in the promise that Christ will come again and make all things new (Revelation 21:5).
And when you’re done writing, take comfort in the knowledge that the God who makes all things new is near, as the God of the Magnificat (Song of Mary), “for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.” . . . “and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things” will be born on Christmas Day. And as we wait for his return, “His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven” is a promise for then and now.
Your Sibling in Christ,
Pastor Alec Brock, Seminary Intern (he/him/his)