Luke 2: 6-15 (NIV) “8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby,
keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But
the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will
cause great joy for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior
has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This
will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a
manger.”
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared
with the angel, praising God and saying,
14“Glory to God in the
highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that
has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Merriam-Webster describes the term “Advent” in three ways: ‘the period
beginning four Sundays before Christmas and observed by some Christians as a
season of prayer and fasting’, ‘the coming of Christ at the incarnation’, and ‘second
coming’. Prayer and fasting are a strong way to get into the coming of Christ.
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| photo courtesy of GraphicStock |
Churches all over the globe and of a wide range of denominations
celebrate Advent with the lighting of five candles, one for each of the four
Sundays before Christmas and the fifth for Christmas Eve as the Christ Candle. As
I watched the Love candle being lit this past Sunday, the third of Advent, I
considered the meaning of Advent, considered it to the point that it framed my
write up of the El Rio Toy Ride in which I’d ridden in the day before.
If we are practitioners of Advent, to what purpose is our
practice? To improve at lighting the Advent candles of Hope, Peace, Love, Joy,
and finally the Christ Candle? No, I don’t think that is the case. Rather, I
believe that our liturgical approach to Advent is to serve as inspiration to
improve at hoping, loving, being joyful, and in finding and advocating peace. Finally,
we are to improve at being Christians. That is, we must improve at being Christ’s
expression on earth of the four elements of Advent; hope, peace, love, and joy.
My friends Merriam and Webster go on to say that the
non-capitalized version of advent is ‘a coming into being or use’ as in the advent of winter for the start of
our flu season. I feel like this is a more action oriented version, the verb
sense, than the noun ‘Advent’ as a thing or season. I like this because it can
spur us into the action of living our lives as the advent of Christ’s coming,
His presence now on earth.
I’m going to risk getting a little deeper with what I found during
my research than I usually do and if my friends Lee and Darren read this and
find my interpretation off, they are welcome to weigh in. Advent comes from the Latin adventus
which is the common translation of the Greek parousia. Parousia is referenced to the Second Coming of Christ. This allows us to share in the longing for
the Messiah as well as encouraging us to be vigilant to His Second Coming, to
advent it now and to all whom we meet and in how we live. Life as Advent.
I’ll wrap it up by providing a YouTube link to Charles Shultz’s
Linus reading the scripture I led off with, the advent descending upon the
shepherds. This is my all-time favorite Christmas video clip:
Enjoy, go out and advent Christ in all you do to everyone you
meet. Turn the tide. Merry Christmas.
In His grip, jerry
