Beginnings....

As soon as the kids go back to school, we start seeing signs that The Holiday is coming.  Halloween isn't even over before the decorations and music of the Yuletide season are pounding our senses, and people have started to ponder budgets and gifting requirements.  In the world of secular, nominal Christianity, the season of Advent is spent anxiously awaiting The Big Event, the day to end all days, the most anticipated moment of the year.  For a brief time, anything is possible.  Santa rules the skies and the minds of children (and their desperate parents,) and the stores are filled with the stuff that makes up modern living, so we can shower our nearest and dearest with ever more goods to show how much we love them.

We are indoctrinated by advertising, culture and practice to believe that Advent is about waiting, preparation, decoration and perfecting the dream.  We plan family get togethers, we buy gifts, we anticipate what we will get, we bake cookies and lefse and, for Minnesota Lutherans, at least, dread the smell of lutefisk, which is still a requirement to the whole experience.

There is nothing wrong with most of this, although I would argue it would be nice to give Thanksgiving the attention it deserves, rather than viewing it as an obstacle to overcome on the way to the real holiday we all want to celebrate.  But if you are a Christian, and if this is all you are doing, you have missed the point.

There certainly was a period of preparation for Mary and Joseph as they waited for the birth of the child who would change their lives forever.  But Advent is more than that.  Advent is not really about waiting at all.

Advent is, in fact, about arrival.  It does not lead up to the end point, the conclusion, the penultimate moment.  It is just the humble beginning of the road to the cross.

What difference does it make what words we use, as long as we know the story?  Does this actually matter, how we define Advent?  I think it does, because it changes our whole focus.  In fact, it turns it completely around.  And that, I think, is the point.

The advent of Christ is a moment long anticipated by those who were seeking relief from an earthly existence that was harsh, cruel and uncertain.  Did those present to witness this moment understand what was happening?  It is clear from the Bible that, like us, most people confused the beginning with the end.  But Jesus was never confused.  God had his plan, and Jesus was the fulfillment of it all.

In Daniel 2:44, we are told,

"In the time of those kings, the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, not will it be left to another people.  It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever."

In this season of Advent, we are celebrating the arrival of God's ultimate gift.  In this glimpse of humanity, we are marking the beginning of our Savior's journey to the cross for our salvation.  The fight for our souls began long before the birth of Jesus. The season of Christmas is a way station along the way to the actual main event; important, to be sure, but still a temporary resting place.

As we enjoy the trappings of the holiday, we should also remember that behind the happy celebration comes the greater joy in heaven of the resurrection, and redemption for each and every one of us.  We are no longer waiting for Jesus.  He has already arrived.  Our salvation is not left for some future moment, but is already assured.  The glory is not in the season, or even the advent of the baby Jesus, but in the simple act of humanity that began in the cradle and ended in the empty tomb.

Wishing your Advent season to be one of joyful contemplation of the Gift we have already been given.