Advent is Coming — Orienting Ourselves to Christ
People have always been concerned with time. That probably explains the clocks in most sanctuaries. God has given us the gift of time so that we may order our days. Measuring time is an ingrained tendency for humans. God first measured time for us in Genesis 1:5, “evening… morning—the first day.” Our seven-day week reminds us of God’s work in creating all things. God gave us the Son and the Moon to regulate the day and the night. He appointed feast days and holy days for his people.
Our time is always going to be oriented around something. For many people with kids, our time is oriented around kids’ activities. Where do they need to be and when? For the average American, the week revolves around work and relaxation. Weekdays and weekends.
Into the midst of the business of work, school, sports, activities, and maybe even a quick getaway the church has continued to put forth the Church Calendar. But rather than orienting itself around the Christian, the Church Calendar orients the Christian to Christ.
This orientation begins on the first day of the week, Sunday. Sunday is the day which our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Sometimes we forget that Sunday was not the day of rest for the Hebrew people. They followed God’s command to remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy as a day of rest and remembering God’s salvation. (Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15) By the second century, Christians began to worship on the Lord’s Day. An early manual for Christian instruction called The Didache reminded Christians, “On the day of the Lord, come together, break bread and hold eucharist.”
Over time, the desire to orient the Christian to Christ using time grew. Christians we already celebrating things like Easter and Christmas, the two most important festivals in the Church Calendar. Details were filled in concerning Jesus’ life and his teachings to the church which led to the church calendar as we know it today.
The church calendar divides the year in half. The first half is often called the festival season or more clearly, the Time of Christ. This half of the calendar focuses on Jesus’ life. This is where you find His birth on Christmas, His baptism, His miracles, His suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. Christians recognize these days and others to be especially important.
The second half is sometimes called the non-festival season and is better known as the Time of the Church. During this half of the year, the focus is on Jesus’ teachings and their implications for the congregation.
The first season within the church calendar is Advent. Advent means “coming.” During this season, Christians throughout the world and over the centuries prepare for Christmas. Originally, Advent was seen as a joyous festival season. But over time the emphasis shifted to an anticipation of Christ’s return. The season became a time of preparation and therefore of repentance.
Although Advent may take on a very penitential theme, it is nevertheless a time for joy in knowing that God fulfills His promises through Jesus Christ.
Typically advent uses the four Sundays to highlight four advents of Christ: the prophetic coming of Christ which pointed the world to Jesus coming, the incarnate coming of Jesus as a baby born in Bethlehem to the Virgin Mary, the sacramental coming of Christ in Word and Sacraments, and the eschatological (end times) coming of Christ when he comes again at the end of the world.
I pray that this coming Advent season is a blessing to you and your family. As we light a new candle on the wreath each Sunday, we are reminded that Jesus is the light of the world and that he promises to come to us and save us from all our sins.
