Advent is a special time of year in the Christian Church. It helps Christians think together the background and the setting of the events of the birth of our Lord. As we set aside time, we see the way the gospel of Jesus Christ is the setting, and we better understand the waiting for the Lord and, as we move toward Christmas, see how the gospel of Jesus Christ is the mending and restoration the world desperately yearns for.

        Everyone seems to be getting ready for Christmas. What we are about IS NOT the over-commercialized version that is chaotic and shallow. We focus on Advent; the coming of the Lord. We’re not very good at Advent. It involves things we don’t normally do.  It consists of slowing down our days. Of tuning out the rest of world, the distractions, and other things that crave our attention, and what a lot of us are used to doing. 

       Formed from a Latin word meaning “coming” or “arrival,” Advent is the traditional celebration of the first advent of Jesus in humility and the anxious awaiting of His second advent in glory. The season is a time for remembering and rejoicing, watching and waiting.

        In its simplest form, it marks the days remaining until Christmas Day. Its origin though is not totally known. The 4^th and 5^th centuries are when we have the first written history of it.  And it came to have the dual meanings of Christ’s first coming and his second. We focus on the celebration of his first advent, his birth and incarnation in the flesh. It’s the ushering in of what the world longs for.  And what it ultimately needs is his second coming. 

        In the season of Advent, we remember and rejoice at Jesus’ birth. It’s festive.  It’s a special time in the Church.  But it’s also a waiting.  A longing for his return.  Acknowledging that this world is still groaning for restoration. As we remember and enter the redemptive story of the coming of Jesus Christ, we pull apart and reject any of the false stories in life and about this holiday that we find ourselves caught up in, especially those connected to our culture’s concept of Christmas—the individualism and consumerism. Instead, we consider and embrace the gloriously true story of the gospel of Christ, and specifically the focuses and themes of Advent. 

        There is deep beauty and filling of the soul in Advent. It reminds us that we are not the end of God’s eternal plan.  God has included us, but his plan, his purposes, and his glory are so much bigger than us. 

• It reminds us that we are not alone in our longing for Christ and his redemption fully realized in the battle against our sin. There have been generations of God’s people who have cried out to God, who waited, and longed for his coming. 
• It’s part of a long Church tradition. We’re not deterring from orthodox belief, but are in fact continuing it. In Advent we are connected to saints who have gone before us.  Their struggles are our struggles.  And we find comfort connecting to their waiting as well. 
• We remember that we are in fact, a blessed people, even with all that we have to contend with.  We’re faced with a heightened sense of politics and hyper-polarizing issues.  What was once wrong in the culture is praised as right.  What’s right is often hated and viciously despised.  Our own sin wars against us. All of these, or any one of them, could overwhelm a person. Despite this, we are truly blessed.  I’m not talking about the cheap counterfeit use of blessing.  We are blessed not just in a physical, materialistic sense, but a spiritual, inward peace in the midst of storms.  This is what all the saints of old prayed for, what they wrote about, and understood as our comfort in Christ. 
• In Christ, his followers learn real patience and a slowing down in life. We don’t have to clamor for anything.  It’s called Christian contentment.  Christians have a peace that surpasses understanding, faith that leaps over mountains and survives valleys, love that endures the fiercest battles, and hope that fills us with joy.  All this secured for us in Christ. 

These blessings in Christ take us to new heights that others waste so much time and effort searching for in wrong places. Christians have a confidence that what lies ahead for us far outweighs afflictions and trials of the day. Advent reminds us of where this peaceful, contented, confidence comes from. Who it is that has the resurrection power of redemption and reconciliation and renewal.  This is a time of remembering how good we have it in Christ, and we lift our eyes up out of muck and mire of the day and see eternity waiting for us at his return.