Advent is upon us!
I love Advent. I love the sense of anticipation as Advent calendars are opened one door or window at a time. I love it at church each week as we light the next candle in our Advent wreath (there are four candles, one for each Sunday in Advent, with a fifth for Christmas day itself – this one I get to light at midnight on Christmas Eve as we wish each other Merry Christmas for the first time). A favourite moment for me, is turning on the Christmas lights that drape across the front of the church – now the mornings and evenings are dark, I love looking out of the window and seeing them twinkling in the gloom.
But what is Advent? The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means ‘coming’ or ‘arrival’. So what does this refer to in the church calendar, who or what is coming?
I guess the picture in the poster above gives the game away! There, between the kneeling Mary and Joseph, is a manger in which lies their newborn baby, Jesus. Advent is of course the season when we prepare ourselves to celebrate his birth, or incarnation (the theological term for God becoming human, being born as one of us). This is an astonishing act of love and humility, God in Jesus surrendering the comfort and glory of heaven to be with us, to share our joy but also to share in our suffering.
But there is more to Advent than that. Apparently, the word adventus was used to describe the coming of an emperor or king to a city. As Christians, we believe that Jesus will come to us again, but like that, not as a baby, but a king. Then he will put right every wrong, wipe away every tear, end suffering and make all things new – in other words, he’ll answer the Lord’s Prayer (‘may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’).
If we’re honest, between the cost of living, the threat of war, and the unfolding climate/biodiversity crisis, the headlines right now are full of grief and anxiety. The annual season of Advent stands as a reminder in such times that God is with us. He understands our pain, struggles and worries, he’s lived through them himself, and that, although we may have to be patient, one day it will end. It is a season of hope in the darkness.
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