Advent
Liturgical sensibility is almost non-existent in my tradition. When Presbyterians attempt to practice the church year, they almost always have no clue what it’s all about and end up window-dressing their services with liturgical decorations and miss the proper purpose of it all.
The English word Advent is derived from the Latin advenire, “to come to.” Advent has to do with the Lord’s coming to us. The Lord has come to us (at the birth of Christ), regularly comes to us (especially on the Lord’s Day), and will come to us (bodily again at the end of this age). Advent season, then, is a time to reflect upon all of the ways—past, present, and future—in which the Lord comes to us.
Please remember that the purpose of Advent is not to imagine ourselves to be living at the time immediately preceding Christ’s birth and so somehow pretend that we are waiting for him to be born. It is not time for a spiritual game of “make believe.” Neither is the purpose of Advent to think sentimental thoughts about the baby Jesus. There is no real spiritual power in any of this. The purpose of Advent is to expect and pray for the coming of the Lord.
Although the hymnal our church uses (Trinity Hymnal) does not separate out Advent from Christmas hymns, a quick glance at any of the traditional Advent hymns will confirm that they are prayers for the Lord to come (see #231, 145-149, and 235-243). “O come, O come, Immanuel,” for example, is not about us pretending we are living before Jesus’ birth. It is a prayer for the Lord to come now and deliver the church (“captive Israel’).
During Advent we remember his first coming (the Lord kept his promises to his people in the OT) and we pray that the Lord will remember his promises and come to us again, judging the enemies of the church and delivering his people from all evil. This season of the church year is not “let’s pretend Jesus hasn’t been born,” but rather let’s all pray the Lord would come again to us, both now and finally at the end of the age. Jesus was born in the winter of human history in order to bring light and salvation to the world.
Not Make Believe
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
