And the Word became flesh and lived among us ... full of grace and truth.
[John 1:14]
By the time you read this, the first Sunday of Advent will have already come and gone. The new church year will have begun. Advent will be here. Christmas will be on the way.
Seriously?
Or should I use my favorite new "in" phrase, "I know, right?!"
Well, we may or may not be ready for it, but Christmas is a-comin', yet again. Advent is the season that gets us ready.
The dictionary definition of Advent is "the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event." The origin of the word is Old English: adventus "arrival," from advenire, from ad + venire "to come." On the surface, Advent anticipates the coming of Christmas. The songs and lights of the season point us in the direction of the day we're all waiting for. If we go deeper, Advent is about the coming of the One whom Christmas celebrates: the Word made flesh, the Christ come into the world to live among us, God himself with us, full of grace and truth.
Our experience of Advent is that it is a season of waiting for what is to come. And waiting is something we don't really like to do. Our culture preaches a gospel of instant gratification: why wait? Get what you want now! Having is better than yearning. In the face of this, Advent means swimming against a countercultural tide.
The Bible teaches us that we live "between the times." We live after the First Advent-the coming of the child Christ in a manger in Bethlehem-and before the Second Advent-the coming of the cosmic Christ when he returns in power and glory. We know a fair amount about the former through the Old Testament stories of the Hebrew people whom God chooses to be his own, through the prophetic anticipation of the Messiah who is to come, through Gospel stories about the birth of Jesus, God's Son, and about his preaching, teaching, suffering, dying and rising again to bring new life to all. We know not much at all about the latter, Second Advent, when God will "uncreate" the world that he has made and gather up and bring all things back to himself. We know nothing about the timing, but we are assured that the future is safe in a loving God's hands. So we wait, with hope. Or at least we try.
But we don't wait alone! Because Jesus, the Christ, is not dead, but lives again thanks to God's awesome power on that first Easter Day. We don't simply have to muddle along on our own as we wait for the cosmic Christ's coming again. The good news is this: Christ comes again all the time, here and now, moment-by-moment and day-by-day. The living Christ is present in this world, in our church, in your and my life, always! He is our hope, here and now. He is our hope, whenever he comes again.
And so Advent is the season to celebrate The Coming-the Christ who has come in that boy-child of Mary, born in a stable in Bethlehem. The risen Christ who lives and moves and has being in our midst with every breath we take. The cosmic Christ in whose loving hands the future is safe and secure.
Advent blessings to all!
Grace and peace,
