Going into the last quarter of the year, I think it’s important to talk about one of the most important tensions in our lives as Christians: Advent.
The season of Advent is a time of meditation on the fact that we live between Jesus’ first and second coming. Its traditions focus on this tension – on one hand the joy that we have salvation, and that we are ambassadors for the kingdom of God; yet on the other hand that the world is still fallen and we await the joy of new creation. It is a time of joy in the past and hope in the future, of mourning for how lost we are while celebrating that we have been found by the good shepherd. This tension is referred to by many as “already, but not yet.”
If you’re not familiar with Advent, it’s one of several seasons in the Catholic holy calendar that I try to participate in as a protestant. This one starts in November, and lasts about five weeks, ending on Christmas Eve. The religious traditions are varied, but generally serve to focus on the miracle of Christmas, building up to the day with prescribed readings at Mass, daily celebrations and readings in protestant churches, and purpose-made devotionals and calendars as well.
That’s why I’m posting this article in the beginning of October: I want to get it published in time for readers to be prompted to join celebrations. It’s possible your church celebrates Advent in some fashion, in which case you’re all set. However, it may be the case that you want to do more than your local church is offering. A daily devotional would be a good supplement to a sermon reading, or perhaps you want to light an Advent wreath with your family. Especially if purchased online, it could take a week or two to prepare.
And that’s all I want to encourage you to do today: prepare. Even if you don’t do anything specifically liturgical or even religious, Christmas is itself a time of celebration. Everyone talks about how Christmas loses its magic – but I think that’s got to do with how little we find time for it. Fourth quarter deadlines and holidays make us busy at work, and Thanksgiving plans push back our thoughts of Christmas, and by the time it gets here we’ve hardly spent any time thinking about it.
Get a secular Advent calendar. Focus your prayers on Christmas and “already, but not yet.” Make it a goal to bring up the holiday more often. I think there’s something to be said about celebrating just for the sake of celebrating for a season.
When I made a note on the tension of Advent, I originally planned on doing a deep dive on the tension it contains – the hope and terror of apocalyptic imagery from Isaiah and Revelation, and the urgency we face living between that Day of the Lord and the crucifixion of the Messiah. However, I think now that I’ll leave that to a good devotional – instead, I’d prefer to leave you with something to meditate on out of the wisdom books. In this world that so often seems so full of weeping and after losing months of embracing our loved ones, are we taking the time to laugh and embrace?
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
Life in Tension 