Jesus said, “They will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now, when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Luke 21:27-28
A New Year is about to begin! No, not the one when a large brilliantly illuminated crystal ball makes its decent in Manhattan as midnight approaches on December 31. For the church, Advent is coming (Sunday Nov. 28), the beginning of a new church year.
Advent is my favorite season of the church year. So is Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, the Day of Pentecost, and even Ordinary Time! But why would Advent be on my short-list of favorite seasons? Well, for one thing it’s a season of joyful and expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas.
But there’s more. It’s a season that reminds us that we are still waiting for the return of Jesus at His second coming. As the verses from Luke’s Gospel quoted above suggest, this will be quite different from Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. And the Book of Revelation abounds with descriptions that contrast dramatically from the familiar ones of shepherds in the fields serenaded by an angelic choir singing Gloria in excelsis Deo, and a babe lying in a manger.
I think that both aspects of Advent – remembrance and anticipation – are cause for celebration and rejoicing. When we begin the church’s New Year, by all means, let’s enter Advent with joyful and expectant waiting and preparation as we once again rehearse our salvation history celebrating Jesus’ coming into the world at Christmas.
At the same time, we know that the journey does not end there, for we await the Second Coming – Jesus’ coming again in great glory and power. And that’s something to be joyfully expectant about as well. When it seems like everything is crazy, upside down and in turmoil (nothing new, really), we have Jesus’ promise of His return.
As congregational hymn singing is restored this Advent season, we will once again have the privilege of joining our voices, singing that quintessential Advent hymn, O come, O come, Emmanuel! We sing this in joyful commemoration of Jesus’ first coming and in expectation of his return. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
I wish you a blessed, joyous, expectant, and hope-filled Advent.
God bless you!
Peter
