Sunday 30 November 2008
- Bible Book:
- Mark
"When you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you: this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." (v.29-31)
Background
Today is Advent Sunday, the Church's New Year's Day. Its namegives us a clue to its meaning. 'Advent' means 'coming'. Whosecoming? Well, not Father Christmas'!
Advent has become a time of Christmas preparations - writing cards,buying presents - and often is nothing more than a prematurecelebration of Christmas itself. Even some churches behave as ifthe Christmas season finishes on December 25, which is when itactually begins.
So what is Advent for? Time for a hard word - 'eschatology' - whichmeans 'the last things'. Advent is about God's purposes, judgement,heaven and hell, death, and the coming of Christ, past, present andfuture. Heavy or what? No wonder it's more comfortable to focus onChristmas instead!
The first Christians assumed that 'the end was nigh'. They expectedGod to draw all creation to a close in their own lifetimes and theywere sure that Christ would be involved: that he did not justbelong in the past as the baby in the manger and the Saviour on theCross, but that as Risen Lord he was in the present, and would bein the future. Christians today generally take a longer view, butsuch expectations are not time-limited.
The colour the Church uses in Advent is not the white of Christmasand Easter, or the red of Pentecost, or the green of 'ordinary'Sundays, but the same violet it uses in Lent. Just as those whoignore Lent and Holy Week miss out on the impact of Easter, sothose who don't keep Advent miss out on the meaning of Christmas.Advent, like Lent, is a time for penitence and a time for facingthe truth about our lives and the life of society. Much of the timesuch truths hurt, but Jesus promised that the truth will set peoplefree (John8:32).
So Advent Sunday holds two aspects of life together: pain and hope;suffering and salvation; judgement and joy. God does not want us towallow in self-despair, but to live in hope. To look no furtherforward than Christmas is, in Christian terms, to be remarkablyshort-sighted.
To Ponder
As an individual, how can you prepare yourselfduring Advent?
As a community, how can you 'keep Advent' ratherthan let it become simply a premature celebration of Christmas?