EDITORIAL: Celebrating Advent makes the wait worthy of Christmas_120604

Posted: 12/03/04

EDITORIAL:
Celebrating Advent makes the wait worthy of Christmas

So now we wait.

Waiting, particularly waiting patiently, is not an American virtue. You know you're wound just a little too tightly when you get annoyed because the microwave doesn't heat your pre-cooked dinner fast enough. You're on the impatient side when you order movie tickets online so you won't have to wait in line to buy them at the cineplex. Americans by the millions are signing up for broadband Internet access so we won't have to wait for our computers to download pictures and songs and all the other “instant” data available at the click of a mouse.

But we wait for Christmas. The Christmas season–called Advent by Baptists and others not worried about being considered “too Catholic”–follows an arc determined by the calendar. It covers the span of four Sundays, usually from the Sunday immediately following Thanksgiving to the Sunday before Christmas. It moves at the timeless pace trod by Christians for nearly two millennia.

Ironically, Christmas can't come soon enough for some Christians, while it arrives much too abruptly for others.

The people who can't wait for Christmas Day occupy the poles of the holiday spectrum. Children and grownups who go all out for Christmas live at one end. Most kids, of course, hear “Christmas” and think “presents.” They can hardly wait for Santa to arrive and for the family to gather around the tree so they can gorge on gifts. The other end, however, is the habitation of people for whom this is a season of sadness. Christmas reminds them of loved ones who are gone, of disappointment and loss. They can't wait to get Christmas over with.

To the contrary, many–if not most–of us feel Christmas bearing down at a pace that would make reindeer dizzy. We hear carols of romanticized Christmases, with snow on the ground, flames in the fireplace and long evenings before a glorious tree. And we grimace at the irony, wondering how we're ever going to find time to get the shopping and wrapping done, the cards mailed, the pageant pulled off and all the end-of-year work completed. We feel like we're riding a jingle-bell juggernaut, and we wonder if we'll fly right past Christmas.

Celebrating Advent–the season of expectation and preparation for the arrival of our Savior–provides an antidote for whatever spiritual ailments afflict Christians at this season. For those who can't wait for Christmas Day to arrive or to be over, Advent offers a steady pace and a way of marking time. For those who feel the mad-rush pressure of the season, it affords a daily opportunity to slow down, be still and savor the season. Advent gives all of us a chance to take a break from commercialism and hype, to ponder the meaning of Incarnation, God-Made-Flesh, living among us, beginning as a vulnerable baby, Jesus. It enables us to peer past all the clutter of our lives, to think beyond our to-do lists and feel beyond our expectations and sadness. It helps us live expectantly, not awaiting shopping trips and pageants and Sunday school parties and family get-togethers, but longing for the arrival of the Messiah, the Savior of the world, our Redeemer.

Most Baptists, especially Texas Baptists, aren't very familiar with Advent. A friend says his mother always described Advent as “how liberals back east celebrate Christmas.” In fact, Advent is one of the most worshipful, reverent, sacred occasions. It comes as close as possible to elevating Christmas to the spiritual height of Easter. Every other commemoration should do as well at helping Christians focus on what God did at Christmas–sending Jesus to earth so that people could discover eternal hope, know divine peace, feel supernatural joy and experience God's love.

Joanna and I first encountered Advent the first Christmas I was in seminary. Grateful sisters and brothers in our church wrote meditations for each day of the season, and their words filled our hearts with gladness. Many years later, our evening Advent celebration–lighting candles on the Advent wreath, reading Scripture and daily devotionals, and singing carols–is our most cherished Christmas tradition. Our daughters never have experienced a Christmas without an Advent wreath. Our evening worship has provided memories that will last all our lifetimes and helped us focus on the Christ who makes this season holy.

If you can't wait for Christmas to arrive or to be over with, and if you feel the busy-ness of “the holidays” is more than you can bear, celebrate Advent every day of the season. You can find Advent wreaths and devotional booklets online or in Christian bookstores. You can start now, in the middle of the season. You will be blessed.

Advent gives all of us a chance to take a break from commercial-ism and hype, to ponder the meaning of Incarnation, God-Made-Flesh, living among us.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com