We are in the period before Christmas known to many Christians as Advent. Despite the commercial festivities going on all around us, it is not yet Christmas. This period of waiting, of a hope not yet fulfilled, echoes the period of Israel’s exile, during which they longed for a return to their true home and for the coming of the Messiah.
From Robert Webber’s Ancient-Future Time:
Advent is a time when we ask, even plead with God not to leave us alone, for when God leaves us to our own choices and turns us over to our own ways, we are certain to drift from him. Our indifference to God is soon turned into spiritual boredom, a boredom that leads to spiritual inertia and ultimate death to spiritual realities. Advent is a time to cry, “O God, turn me away from my indifference, create in me a heart of repentence, and lead me to the waters of spiritual refreshment.”
…
Advent is not only about our repentence and conversion, it is also about the expectation of the Messiah who will come to deliver us. During Advent we look for the coming of the Messiah in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2-4) and the coming of the Messiah at the end of history (Isaiah 65:17-25; Revelation 20-22). For Christians both of these Advents are rooted in the paschal mystery. The cross is the goal of the Messiah’s coming. Incarnation and atonement are inseparably linked as are the atonement and the second coming because he came to redeem and rescue creatures and creation. He came to reclaim the creation, to wrest it away from the clutches of evil, to rid it of the presence and power of evil, and to ultimately restore it to a new heavens and a new earth.In Advent we celebrate the beginning and ending of Christ’s victory over the powers of evil, and we call upon God to accomplish that victory in our own lives, to break in on us, to be born in our hearts, and to create us anew. This is the message of Isaiah to us: a Savior is coming not only to Israel but to the whole world. p. 43-44
I usually find myself in a kind of funk during the winter; living this far north will do that to you in the dark months. It usually doesn’t set in, though, until January or February, when the winter has been going in full force for a while and spring is still a long way off.
Daniel mentioned tonight that the Eastern Orthodox church celebrates Christmas on January 7. I would like to extent the Advent period well into the new year, because the feeling of expectation, of longing for much-needed redemption, is not fulfilled by the commercefest we celebrate as Christmas.
We need something more. We need not “the true spirit of Christmas,” but redemption, which only the present-and-coming king, Christ, can bring.
The Christian holiday year spends way too much time on the cradle, especially since the actual date of Christ’s birth was not at this time of year, that being set by the Roman Catholics. The Christian message is always of salvation and resurrection. That was provided by the message of the cross, not the cradle, which is foolishness to the majority of the world (1 Cr. 1:18). And, that message is actually the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4), where I find no message of the cradle at all. If you get depressed at winter in Seattle, try the heavier snow states. You see, the true gospel message causes me to rejoice at all times.
I believe that the Christian year takes us through a rhythm of life that is realistic, that illustrates for us that we can come to God, or rather, that God has come to us despite and through the painful reality of life.
This is the essence of the Incarnation - Immanuel. God is with us. Nowhere is it more clear that the God who creates and sustains all life has come to involve himself in the brokenness of humanity than in the coming of Christ.
I would contest that there can be no cross without a “cradle,” or manger if you will. The incarnation was a major theme of the apostles’ preaching, and it has been rightly incorporated into the Christian calendar.
Advent is a time of readying ourselves, of preparing our hearts to receive this gift (which looks forward to the cross and to the empty tomb). It is this sense of anticipation, this “now and not yet” understanding, that can bring peace and hope to a dark time. Depression does not cause me to cease rejoicing, it simply calls for acknowledgment of the incompleteness of life, of my walk with God, of my relationships with others. Authentic worship can come out of hard times as much, if not more than good times.
And just for clarification, the Christian calendar year, as I have experienced it, focuses more on Easter than on Advent. Yet the importance of Advent cannot and should not be downplayed.
The Orthodox who are on the Old Calendar (Julian) celebrate the Feast of Nativity (otherwise known as Christmas in the west) on 1/7. However, those Orthodox on the New Calendar (Gregorian) celebrate on December 25th. FYI.