Looking Up – A Remedy & An Invitation
Dear Hope Family and Friends,
This Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent, and the beginning of the church year. Since as early as the 4th century, Christians have observed the season of Advent (Latin for “the coming”) as a time of preparation and dedication. Early on, it was primarily focused on the promise of the second coming of Christ. As Christians began using the winter solstice to celebrate the Feast of the Incarnation with the Mass of Christ (or Christ Mass), the Advent season took on added significance as a remembrance of the nativity and birth narratives. The season of Advent kicks off the cycle of the liturgical year: Advent, Christmastide, Epiphany, Ordinary Time (season after Epiphany), Lent, Eastertide, Pentecost, Ordinary Time (Season after Pentecost). I’ll have more to share at a later date about the broader church year. As we prepare to enter the Advent season together I want to offer a remedy to our current culture and an invitation to a deeper practice.
First, a remedy. This email will reach your inbox on Black Friday – or, the first day of the secular version of Advent that we could call “Shopping Season.” Unlike the church’s Advent, the Shopping Season is all about maximization. Act now! Don’t miss these deals! Get the perfect gift for every person on your list, make sure it’s unique, personal, and thoughtful, but also “no pressure!” This season ends with the Feast of the Presents which is observed from 7:00-7:15 on Christmas morning. The church is called into a season that is a bit less frantic and anxious. We are told to prepare, to “watch.” The economy of God’s kingdom is not like the economy of the world. “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.” Love God and love our neighbors. Repent. Practice silence. We are preparing for the Feast of the Incarnation and for the return of our Savior and King Jesus, who will bring about the restoration of all things in heaven and on earth. Anxiety, fear, grief, and sin will have no place in that kingdom.
Second, an invitation. My tendency, and perhaps the tendency of many of us, would be to add in spiritual content and practices to our already over-saturated lives and try to squeeze some meaning out of this season. But I think the most effective and counter-cultural thing we can do in Advent is to contract and think small. Don’t replace one kind of maximization with another. Subtract and focus on doable practices. Meditate on one verse for the week. Trade thirty minutes of online shopping for 30 minutes of silence and prayer. Find ways to show hospitality or serve the people you encounter in your day to day life. One season at a time, one small act at a time we can move from a people who are dominated by the oppressive and exacting force of the Shopping Season to the expectant and confident people of God who wait for another kind of world. We work to bring that world into our present reality knowing that it is God who works in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Peace,
Wilson