A Note from Rev. Paul McCabe
December Enewsletter
Advent is upon us once again where we enter into the sacred journey of the birth of Christ, marked by a spirit of expectation, of preparation, of anticipation, and of longing. And we also renew the long standing debate over Advent and Christmas and what it means to fully participate in Advent while holding off the retail vultures. The tension is very real for many of us as we all like the sights, sounds, and smells of the holiday season and all the warmth and cheer that come with holiday events. Who can forget all the great TV shows that come on like Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Little Drummer Boy, Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and many more titles. Many of these great Christmas things happen during Advent causing the “Advent Grinches”, or “Advent Scrooges” to come out in force. Who are such people? Why, they are the ones who have come out to protect the true meaning of Advent, this “coming” of our Lord and Savior who shines through the darkness with his precious birth and coming light into the world.
Just like the people of Israel , Mary and Joseph, and those before us, we embark on a journey during the season of Advent, we too long for the presence of God with us as found in Christ and the knowledge there is God’s salvation yet to come. It is in that movement from distant longing and crying out on the first Sunday of Advent, to hope and immediate expectation on the Second, to Joy and proclamation on the Third Sunday, that prepares us for praise and celebration on the Fourth Sunday as the year moves into the Christmas Season. If done well, the liturgical movement takes people along in the journey of our lives, as we enact our own experiences in worship. It gives us a structure in which to take the vagueness of our own distant longings as we identify with Israel ’s longings, and brings us to an expressed hope and faith that God is, indeed, "with us." It is this journey that gives us a context for celebration.
During the season of Advent we are invited to ponder the greatness of God’s gift to us, as the word becomes incarnate through the birth of Christ. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16). There are many different forms of prayer and meditation we can participate in to help us slow down during the hustle and bustle of the consumer holiday season.
Those “defenders of the Advent” only do so out of their desire for themselves and others to experience the true richness that comes with waiting patiently and longingly for the blessed event of Emmanuel, God with us. In our prayer book in the catechism section we are reminded that our Christian Hope is “to live with the confidence in newness and fullness of life, and to await the coming of Christ in glory, and the completion of God’s purpose for the world” (861). Christ will make all things new, not bright and shiny new, but a new creation, a transformed creation, a creation that is “wrapped up” in the glory of God.
This Advent we invite you to share in all the glory of the season, and not to jump to the end of the book, but to marvel at all the splendid stories in between. Then on Christmas day unwrap yourself of all the waiting and anticipating and bask in the warmth and glory of the light of Christ that shines through the darkness of our lives. At Christmas and always we affirm that Christ has come, that he is present in the world today, and that he will come again in power.
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