Christians Anticipate the Coming of Christ

What is Advent?

It's that time of year again when nifty Advent calendars, temptingly positioned at child's-eye view, are stacked on shelves in almost every store just waiting for the day when each of the 25 window covers will be pulled back and the surprise hidden within will be revealed. The countdown to Christmas!

According to Christian church scholars, the observance of Advent began sometime before 300 C.E. (common era) and was a solemn time of contemplation and fasting in preparation for Christmas (similar to the season of Lent before Easter).

Advent is a time of remembering God's promise for new heavens and a new earth where things are made right again. It is a time of waiting for Jesus Christ to enter into the world and a time for anticipating the promised reign of God to be complete. It is filled with the hope that God's presence through Jesus the Christ will bring justice, love, and mercy. Advent is a time to look forward to the peace that is found when God is present.

ADVENT BEGINS today -- the first of four Sundays before Christmas Day. One of the church's Advent worship rituals involves the lighting of the Advent Wreath. Four candles placed within a circular evergreen wreath surround one larger white candle (the Christ candle); the candles are lit in this way: one candle on the first Sunday, two the following, three candles on the third Sunday, four candles are lit on the fourth Sunday in Advent, and then on Christmas Eve the Christ candle is also lit and is burned all day on Christmas Day.

As the light from the candles increases with each successive Sunday, the intention of the liturgy is to illuminate the worshipper's understanding of God's message to the world. By the time Christmas arrives, the light of Advent reveals that Jesus is the Light of the world.

During this liturgy (liturgy means the work of the people), selected Holy Scriptures are read and a prayer is offered. Over time, themes have developed for each of the Sundays in Advent: The most common are hope, love, joy, and peace. As the liturgy concludes the worshippers respond, "Let us walk in the light of the Lord."

Many of Christ's followers also celebrate Advent in their homes. It is not uncommon to find an Advent wreath and candles in a location where people can gather to read, sing, light candles, and reflect on Christ's presence in the world. The home is where Advent calendars are most likely to be used as a way to teach children about God and about being a people of God.

ADVENT IS A time of waiting for heaven and Earth to come together -- for the Divine to intersect with the human. Rather than a time of dread and fear, Advent is joyous as we anticipate God's gift of love to the world, something like the joyous anticipation of expectant parents. It is a time of hope as we remember that God has promised to save us from the messes we tend to get ourselves into. Advent is the time we imagine the unfathomable peace that comes when God enters the world, when even "the wolf dwells with the lamb."

It is also a time to celebrate and wonder about the mysterious way God chose to come into the world. Instead of selecting a strong, grown, well-established man to be announced as the messiah, God chose to join humanity as an infant born into a humble situation.

One of the most powerful contemplations during the Advent season is that of God's willingness to give a young, unmarried, peasant woman the responsibility of nurturing the Divine. Just think of all the bad things that could have happened to Mary -- but did not.

In a way, God becomes vulnerable through this risky act of aligning with the poor, the downtrodden, and the marginalized. Jesus continues this same alignment during his lifetime and encourages us to do the same.

Let us walk in the light of the Lord!
The Rev. Janet James is pastor of The Gayton Kirk (Presbyterian Church USA). Contact her at (804) 741-5254 or .