Christmas Week Reflection 2015

Posted on by Matthew Laker

Christmas week devotional starts next week. Over the Christmas week, the regular 2-3 posts a week is going to be paused.

Instead, I will offer daily reflections from December 21- 26.

 

 

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Here is what you need to know:

  • To receive the Christmas week reflections, you must sign up here or below.
  • The regular posting schedule is on hold.
  • After Christmas, the 2-3 post a week schedule will come back.

The Christmas devotionals will reflect on four topics:

Dec. 21- God’s immanence – Luke 21:25-36

Dec. 22 – God’s guidance – Luke 1:69-79

Dec 23 – God’s provision – Isaiah 12:1-6

Dec. 24 – God’s Arrival – Micah 5:2-5a

Dec. 25 – Christmas day reflection and prayer

Dec. 26 – The day after the celebration

The good news is, no matter what our storm looks like, God has not left us. He is coming; he is here. During the Christmas week take intentional time to pause and seek Jesus. When you do that you will enter, engage, and experience the life you were created for (John 10:10).

 

Series: Christmas week reflection 2015

Beginners guide to advent:Advent as a discipleship tool

Posted on by Matthew Laker

“The church year was developed centuries ago as a teaching tool. From four Sundays before Christmas to the celebration of the ascension of Jesus, it tells the story of the Christian faith. Advent is the story of the sinful world yearning for a savior. It focuses on Old Testament prophecy related to the coming Messiah”( Rev. Roland McGregor).

The church calendar contains different seasons of the story of Jesus. Each season helps us to get into the flow of the Christian story. In each season, we take the time to learn, experience and live in the story of Jesus and let his story enter our story.

Advent is part of a larger system of discipleship to teach people who Jesus is, who they are in Christ and what we are to do. During advent, we can hit upon the two major themes of Christ’s first coming and his second coming.

If one follows the church year, which starts with the advent, when it comes full circle they will have journeyed through the life of Christ.

We may see advent as a time to just light candles and sing some Christmas songs, but traditionally it is a call to learn and enter the story of Jesus. Advent is not just a tradition, for tradition sake, but a call to obey the commands of Jesus. It is as we embrace Jesus that we enter, engage and experience the life we were created for.

On a Personal level in my home, we use advent as a way to disciple our children. One year we even used a type of advent calendar that had a scripture reading that we read each day. Each night we light a candle, which provides a moment to call them to Jesus, to enter the story of Jesus and talk about the story of Jesus.

Some may say, “but do we not do this throughout the year?” The reality is many have not thought through or have any system in place to make disciples. How are we going to teach people to follow Jesus? Advent can be a tool to help.

Advent can serve as part of a larger system to teach about Jesus. I am not convinced that we have to be legalistic about it. I do believe for the corporate body it can help larger teaching and guiding of the community to cultivate and foster faith in Jesus. In a smaller community, like my family, it provides times for specific conversation.

How have you used advent to teach the young, or old, and or searching in the faith about the story of Jesus?

Beginner guide to advent: Symbols of Advent

Posted on by Matthew Laker

The Advent season is one filled with many symbols, but two core symbols dominate.  

The first is the wreath and the second are the candles.  During the Advent/Christmas season, there are many surrounding symbols that have been added.  Often the symbols have been adopted and redeemed for Christ.  Tension comes from adopting for some, but Jesus is in the business of taking something old and making it new.

In churches and some homes, the wreath is one of the most well-known symbols.  It comes from northern Europe and does not have its origins with Jesus followers.  It has been adapted to point us to Jesus.  Evergreen leaves are placed in a circle to remind us of life and God’s never ending love.

Candles are the biggest symbols we see in many churches and homes.  Often candles are placed inside the wreath.  Many churches will light one candle each Sunday service of advent until all four candles are lit  Christmas eve or Christmas day.  

Three of the candles are purple representing kingship or even  repentance.  One candle is often pink and represents Joy, reminding us of the need to rejoice in this season. Some will put a white candle in the middle and light that candle at the Christmas eve service or on Christmas day.  The focus is not so much the colour, but the light.  Today you sometimes see people using just plain white candles.  

Purple is often the colour of advent.  It represents repentance, fasting and royalty as we welcome the king.  Often we do not think of advent as a time for fasting, etc., however, we must not forget its connection to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus came in the flesh to reveal God’s grace through his life, his teaching, death and resurrection.  For this reason we see some shared colours between the season of advent and the season of lent. 

There are other symbols that are connected to the Christmas story such as the star and the manager.  The Christmas tree has also become a staple in many churches and homes here in the West.  Again this is an example of a symbol that has been claimed and transformed to point us to Christ.  Later, decorations with Christian symbols would be used to decorate the tree. 

There is also a tradition called the Jesse tree.  It seems to have its origin from the medieval times and is used to tell the story of the bible from creation to the birth of Christ.  The name comes from Jesse who was the Father of King David in the old Testament.  Isaiah 1:1-4 is the root of this symbolism speaking of a branch that shoots up from the stump of Jesse. Like many other symbols, trees have been used to help teach people who can not read or write learn the stories from creation to the birth of Christ.  Today it is used more often as an advent Calendar.  Here is a great online resource to learn more.  Read the intro here: http://www.loyolapress.com/the-jesse-tree.htm

You can use a normal tree and each day of advent, or just on the Four Sundays of advent, hang a special decoration or ornament that tells a story from the bible on the tree.  

The symbols of advent are used to help us focus on both the past and the future.  They speak and serve as a signpost on the spiritual journey as the followers of Jesus affirm that Christ has come, that he is present, and that he will come again. 

Beginners Guide to Advent: A Short History of Advent

Posted on by Matthew Laker

The season of advent “ties our lives to Christians throughout history”( John Feister, the editor of AmericanCatholic.com).

For many, the season of advent is filled with indulgences, distractions and 

commercialism that pushes us to rush into Christmas.  However, observing this centuries-old Christian practice has the potential to feed us and lead us to a deeper and more fulfilling state.

Advent is a season you will not find in the bible, and for this reason, an argument is sometimes put forth against this tradition. This objection, however, does not undermine the value of this practice to our faith formation and journey with Christ.

The early stages of advent are not well known.  It is not until sometime between the 4th and 5th century in Gaul and Spain that “advent” was first seen in its early stages.  

During the end of the 400’s there are some sermons that speak of preparation before the birth of Christ.[1] In a sermon from St. Gregory the Great, who was a Pope from 590-604, he speaks of the second Sunday of advent. By 650 in Spain, we see the celebrating of five Sundays. Some have shared it was during the 6th-century that followers of Jesus in Rome started linking the season to the coming of Christ, focusing not on his birth but on the second coming. It is during this time momentum for advent begins to take off[2]. Different regions seemed to work out different practices around this season. Then Pope Gregory (1073-85) takes the celebration from five Sundays to four, the preparation initially not being about Christmas day, but Epiphany.

Epiphany is a celebration found in early January that celebrates the Baptism of Jesus, the miracle at Cana and the visit of the magi.  Once again, we see the use of the calendar for the purposes of teaching and making disciples.  In many cases, this is used for new Christians to be baptized and welcomed into the church.  Like lent people would spend 40 days examining their life and repenting.

Traditionally the Christmas season began Christmas Eve and went for 12 days ending with Epiphany.  The time before this was advent, a season of preparation for Christmas. Today, the Eastern Church participates in a fast that is longer and more like lent and the Christmas celebration lasts for three days.  In both the eastern and some western Churches there are services held on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

During the Middle ages, there was a pagan celebration in December and the church worked to counter and Christianize it, thus further developed advent. Therefore, it became more connected to December.    This does not mean that advent is a non-Christian activity.  It just means Jesus followers at the time were looking for ways help people turn to Jesus.  Thus, the development of a system to help focus on Jesus. 

Advent seems to be a tradition that has evolved over time.  It is a time calling the church together to fast, celebrate and remember.  It has carried themes reflecting on both Christ’s first coming and his second coming. For the moment, there seems to be a strong connection to traditions from the last couple hundred years, but I suspect it will start to adapt again since strong culture shifts are taking place all around us.

[1] (http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-articles/the-history-and-meaning-of-advent/article/173/sort/relevance/productsperpage/12/layout/grid/currentpage/1/keywords/advent

[2] (http://www.canticanova.com/articles/xmas/art1e1.htm) and (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/decemberweb-only/12-2-52.0.html)

Beginner’s guide to Advent: What is advent?

Posted on by 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.