A Necessary Advent
The Season of Advent has begun. It is perhaps the most obscure season observed by the church. Many expressions of the church do not observe Advent. Many celebrate Thanksgiving and immediately jump into Christmas. Sometimes the celebration of Christmas begins even much earlier. On our socially distant, mask-wearing Halloween night walk through our neighborhood with our grandchildren, Christmas decorations were already up! Though my wife and I do the traditional Advent observance by progressively lighting candles and sharing Advent writings as we journey towards the Winter Solstice and do not start Christmas decorating until later in Advent, I totally get why Christmas lights are already going up. It has been and continues to be a dark time in our world.
But more than any year in recent memory, Advent seems essential to me. The message of Advent is straightforward. The name Advent literally means arrival. To us specifically, it means the arrival of God. As Advent begins, the scriptures tell us to “Stay awake! Pay attention! Watch! Wait!” We sing, Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah, let the light banish darkness.
Waiting is Hard
But let’s be honest. We stink at waiting. Already we have seen millions of holiday travelers unable to socially distant and wait out these days when the coronavirus is surging. Airline executives are acutely aware of the pent-up demand for air travel and especially international travel. Delta Airlines just announced a plan to work with Rome in providing flights for people who just can’t wait anymore. We hear that two vaccines may begin to be distributed by the latter part of December. Much of America, particularly those who are deemed to need immunization the most, can expect access to the vaccines in the not-too-distant future. Already I have a destination wedding on the calendar in July and another one in October.
Waiting is hard. Children “can’t wait ‘til Christmas.” Those of us who are surviving cancer are all too familiar with the waiting game every time a scan is made, or blood is drawn, or a new piece of tissue is biopsied. It is hard to wait for a verdict, especially one with life and death implications. Those who have a loved one stationed in harm’s way halfway around the world know what it is like to simply have to wait for the weekly phone call, to wait for word that the loved one is okay, and to wait for him or her to appear at home again. Waiting is hard.
We Do Not Know
The scriptures tell us that patience is a spiritual gift. The psalmists write of waiting for the Lord. They also write of impatience. How long, O Lord? And Jesus is reported in the New Testament to tell his follows on more than one occasion, you will need to wait. There are some essential things that we do not know. Only the One who sent Jesus does.
To observe Advent is to strip away the distractions and to wait in earnest for God to show up. We have a lot of distractions right now – politics, the future of this country, wild conspiracy theories, a high stakes runoff election in Georgia, daily ominous virus updates, the ramping up of the annual Christmas spend-a-thon, and millions suffering from economic or racial injustice.
God Will Show Up
Yes. Advent is necessary this year because its message is that God will show up. God will show up and do for us and to us what we are unable to do ourselves. We know the final verdict. It is a verdict of YES! YES to the world – all people, no exceptions!
If we pay attention and stay awake, God will show up through God’s people, the church. God will show up and show us the way of the light that shines in the darkness. God will show up and God’s people will stand with the poor, the powerless, and the disenfranchised. God will show up and bring light and life to all. God will show up and enlist us as co-creators of a renewed world that emerges from this wretched year of 2020 with hope, kindness, mercy, and love for all people and for the earth on which we live.
In the abiding hope of the empty tomb,
