My father phoned last week. He is a member of an Episcopal Church in Pennsylvania. The priest asked him to teach a class on the signs and symbols of Advent. He completed the power-point presentation for his class, and then called to run it by me.
“I have this beautiful presentation of all the elements of the nativity: the crèche, the shepherds, the wise men…How does it sound?”
“Terrible, Dad!”
“What, why??”
“Dad, did they ask you to teach on the signs and symbols of ADVENT or the signs and symbols of CHRISTMAS?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line, and then he asked, “Is there a difference?”
Advent is a lost season! Even my Dad, a faithful, active church member, doesn’t know about Advent. Why have we lost this season?
Advent is all about waiting and we Americans don’t like to wait. We march right out of Thanksgiving and parade right on into the Christmas celebration. The stores are stocked with Christmas gifts and Christmas carols blare just one day after Thanksgiving. By the time the day of Christ’s birth arrives, we are all sick of it.
Advent is a season in which we wait and watch for Christ, not just to remember the birth of Jesus two thousand years ago, but more importantly, to wait for the coming of Christ. You see, according to Scripture, this world will not last forever. And we must be ready when the end comes.
C.S. Lewis, in The Last Battle, has the end of the world coincide with the deaths of his characters. In other words, who can tell what the difference is between your death and the end of the world as you know it? Will there be a difference for you? Is there a difference for God? In God’s time, is there really a difference?
Whenever it happens, however it happens, we all need to be ready. When Christ comes for us, we need to look up, and welcome him. We need to say, “Oh! It’s You! I’ve been waiting for you!”
The purpose of this life is the purpose of Advent: to be ready to meet God. What could be more important than that? Shopping??
The loss of Advent is the loss of our perspective. We have forgotten who we are. We are children of God, waiting to come home.
