What is “Advent”?

“Advent”
means “coming”.  There are two ways this
word is used.  In one way it can be used
as “the advent of our Lord” or “His second advent”.  “The advent of our Lord” typically refers to
the time before Christmas while “His second advent” refers to His return.  The season of preparation began, most likely,
around the fourth century.  It wasn’t
until the Middle Ages, however, that it was “standardized” as beginning four
Sundays before Christmas.  And that means
Advent starts today!

 

Why Advent?

Advent
helps us manage a date that has turned into a season beginning sometime around
Halloween.  Today, I feel Advent is even
more important because Christmas is nearly a secular holiday and the “magic”
people refer to at Christmas is not the incarnation. 

 

Celebrating
Advent helps keep us grounded in the true meaning of the season and keeps
December from being nothing more than about a Christmas tree that will die and
lights that will somehow burn out throughout the season long.

 

Think
of Advent as a journey: here we are four weeks away from celebrating Christ’s
birth.  And the journey of Advent to
Christmas is a beautiful trip! 

 

The First Sunday of
Advent: Hope

The
theme for the first Sunday (and this week) is hope.  Indeed, Advent is a time for hope.  This is not the “I hope I get an iMac for
Christmas”.  As nice as that would be
(hint), the hope we meditate on is based on Jesus Christ.

 

We
hope.

 

Psalm
80:1-7 prays this way:

 

1 Please
listen, O Shepherd of Israel,

you
who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock.

O
God, enthroned above the cherubim,

display
your radiant glory

2 to Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh.

Show
us your mighty power.

Come
to rescue us!

3 Turn us again
to yourself, O God.

Make
your face shine down upon us.

Only
then will we be saved.

4 O Lord God of
Heaven’s Armies,

how
long will you be angry with our prayers?

5 You have fed
us with sorrow

and
made us drink tears by the bucketful.

6 You have made
us the scorn of neighboring nations.

Our
enemies treat us as a joke.

7 Turn us again
to yourself, O God of Heaven’s Armies.

Make
your face shine down upon us.

Only
then will we be saved.

Psalm 80:1–7 (New Living Translation)

 

We
hope in the restoring power of Jesus Christ to come and reclaim our hearts
again!

 

Lord Almighty, rescue us
from the busyness we have made this time of year.  Renew us from the need for “stuff.”  Remind us to worship you for the real miracle
of Christmas.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

Suggestions
for reading and meditation through this week:

  • Isaiah 2:1-5
  • Isaiah 64:1-9
  • Jeremiah 33:14-16
  • Romans 13:11-14
  • 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
  • Song: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
  • Song: “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”

 

Happy
first week of Advent!  It is safe to
hope in the Lord because we know “hope does not disappoint us, because
God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has
given us”  (Romans
5:5).