Matthew Laker

Series: Beginner’s guide to Advent

Growing up every year, my mom would buy us advent calendars filled with chocolate. For me, advent was not spiritual, but a Christmas tradition that counted down to Christmas day.

I grew up in a church that practiced lighting advent candles and had parents that did their best to teach their kids about the purpose of this tradition. However, it was not until my adult years I really started asking what the role of advent was. I wondered just what was commercial and what was tradition in the church? Was there any connection to Jesus, or was this a tradition developed by man?

To understand advent I first must make mention of the church calendar. One writer comments on the use of the calendar as “time itself could be an entree into worship, a retelling of the Christ story”(http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2014/december/our-own-kind-of-time.html).

 

The church calendar takes the 365 days in a year and coordinates with the solar calendar and the life of Christ. There are the major holidays which many know, like Christmas, Good Friday and Easter, as well as Pentecost. Then there are other special days or seasons that fit around these days.

 

One challenge is there is not one universally accepted calendar for the church year. However, the idea of the church calendar can have benefits to discipleship and spiritual growth of people.

 

Advent is the beginning of the church year. The word “advent” means “the coming.” It starts four Sundays prior to Christmas day. The length will vary depending on the date of the first Sunday. It is about a time to prepare to be worthy to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord’s coming into the world – his incarnation. It is not so much an event as it is a preparing season to position to meet with God.

 

Those who have gone before us have chosen Scripture for this journey that speaks to three aspects of advent.

1. The advent of Christ coming into our own lives.

2. The advent of Christ’s physical birth in Bethlehem.

3. The advent of his second coming at the end of history.

 

In most traditions there are four themes, one for each week of advent. The common ones are hope, peace, joy, and love.

Hope (Isaiah 9:2);

Peace (Isaiah 9:6-7; John 14:27);

Joy (Isaiah 65:18; Galatians 5:22-25);

Love (Deuteronomy 10:17-19a; John 13:34-35)

 

There seems to be no fast rule about this. As one can find many themes, here is another example.

Waiting (Isaiah 52:7-10);

Accepting (Luke 1:26-38);

Journeying (Isaiah 55:6-13);

Birthing (Luke 2:1-7)

 

There is a place in our journey for a longer season of reflection so that we may be what God has called us to.

It’s during advent that as the world speeds around, advent calls us to slow down and mourn, hope and prepare.

It is a time to face the brokenness of our world and in ourselves and embrace healing in Jesus.

It is a time to be reminded we are an alternative kingdom.

 

It is a time to reflect upon how the Jesus follower uses time, power, money, our bodies, possessions, work, how we understand race, injustice, relationships, God, forgiveness and how they can be at odds with our culture’s way of doing life.

Advent is a call to realign our life with Jesus.