As an adult I learned about the year-round Christian calendar, which tells the story of Jesus and the Gospel each and every year, from his birth to his death and resurrection. Advent is a part of this year long story.
Advent, as presented in my church experience, is a time of reflection and anticipation to the celebration of the birth of Jesus, centered around December 25th. Jesus wasn't born on December 25th, but after some centuries the early church decided it needed a day on which to celebrate Jesus' birth. It's an account worth investigating, which I won't go into here, but the church decided on December 25th.
For several years, I've become increasing unsettled in the way I've experienced Advent. It seems that we mostly zero in on the "waiting", or "anticipation" of the birth of Jesus. We tell the Christmas story and try to transport ourselves to first-century Israel to experience the story as if through the eyes and ears of those living in that time.
Now, there is nothing wrong with trying to read and understand the Bible through the contextual lens of the culture in which it was written. In fact, I think that is an essential aspect of studying the Bible.
But, I've come to feel that the Advent I've experienced is lacking in the full story of what Christians "wait" for, and "anticipate". It seems to me, there is something lacking in what we observe as part of the full telling of the gospel story through Advent.
The early church, those worshipping in the first three or four centuries, didn't have an "Advent" as we think about. Of course, the traditions we have today are the result of many centuries of reflection, revelation, and experience. The early church observed Advent, but Advent meant something different.
The early church didn't celebrate the birth of Jesus as we do today. They didn't look back and enter into a season of "waiting", or "anticipating" the coming of the Messiah in Bethlehem. In most of their ideology, the idea of "waiting" for the Messiah to be born was not a thing, because the Messiah had already come!
Advent in the early days didn't involve looking back to the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of the coming Messiah. Of course they taught the story as part of the gospel, just as we do today. But any sort of "advent", or "waiting" or "anticipation" had to do more with the awaited, future return of Jesus the Messiah.
For the early church, the Messiah had come! There was no waiting or anticipation of the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, because that had already happened!
What they anticipated, and what I think is missing from many modern Advent observations, is the spirited, joyful, and hopeful anticipation of the return of the Messiah, and the time when God will redeem all things.
The birth of Jesus two-thousand years ago is certainly a thing to be celebrated with great gladness and joy! It was the occasion when
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." (John 1:14)
God took on a form people could touch and see and experience in the form of Jesus. The long awaited Messiah, foretold in the words of the Old Testament and anticipated by Israel, had come. That which had been anticipated for so long in the history of Israel, had come.
The first coming of the Messiah had come and was to be celebrated. The second coming of the Messiah was what they anticipated and waited for with hope.
Advent today is celebrated over the four Sunday's prior to Christmas. Each Sunday has a theme assigned to it. The themes are Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, each of which point to an aspect of the life lived in submission to God and Jesus.
A couple of years ago, I had the occasion to facilitate an Advent class on the Sunday of Joy. As I worked up my presentation, I did a Bible-search for passages where joy was mentioned. I noticed many New Testament references to joy had to do with the joyful anticipation of the return of Jesus. I read through those passages and an interesting trend developed for me. Christian joy seems to be heavily associated with the promise of the Messiah's return, and for all things to ultimately be made right, new, reconciled and redeemed by God, and the eventual resurrection of the dead to new life!
“But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control." (Phil 3:20-21)
"So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.” (John 16:22)
"Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” (John 4:1-3)
I also noticed the Christian theme of Hope is almost exclusively associated with the work of the Messiah in forgiving sins, and the future return of Jesus to make all things right. The promise to wipe away every tear, and heal every hurt. The promise of God where God says,
"Behold, I am making all things new" (Rev 21:5)
and
“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." (Rev 21:3)
Hope does not seem tied very tightly to promises for this mortal life, but for the life to come. The life we wait for, and anticipate.
"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2nd Corinthians 4:17)
The theme of Peace is that peace is a gift of the Holy Spirit, grounded in the promise that God is with us, God is for us, and that everything will eventually be alright. God's peace is an other-worldly gift grounded in the hope that God is not done with this world, and that one day, we will see that "eternal city" that the author of Hebrews describes.
"The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:5-7)
"For he (Abraham) was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Heb 11:10)
The theme of Love is, of course, the central theme that ties all of Christianity together. God is Love. For God so loved the world. Love the Lord with all your heart. Love one another as yourself. Love as I have loved you. Love your enemies. I could go on and on with Bible passages on God's love, and the application of love in our own lives in gratitude for the love of God given us in Jesus our Messiah. Without love, Christianity is meaningless.
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." (1st Corinthians 13:1- 3)
"For God so loved the world, that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, would not perish, but would have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." (John 3:16-17)
"We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other." (1st John 3:14)
I think the true joy, hope, peace, and love found in our Advent season is best found in our expectant hope for the promised return of Christ the Messiah. It's not easy to wait in patient anticipation. But, although the early Christians anticipated Christ's immanent return, clearly its going to take longer than they thought.
"Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near." (James 5:7-8)
It's probably going to take longer than we think, too.
But Christ will return. We have the Holy Spirit sealed upon us as a promise, as a downpayment or deposit on our future glory with Christ in God.
"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory." (Eph 1:13-14)
May the joy of the Christmas Season fill you with gratitude and thanksgiving for Jesus Christ and the gift of Emmanuel, God with us on earth.
May the joy of the Christmas Season also fill us with hope and anticipation for the day of Christ's return in glory, when all that is wrong will be made right, every tear will be wiped away, in a world where all will be redeemed, restored, and made right to the glory of God.
After all:
"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross." (Col 1:15-20)
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross." (Col 1:15-20)