Just a catch phrase from a reflection by Episcopal priest Suzanne Guthrie published in the Christian Century caught my attention this week as I was looking forward to the First Sunday of Advent.
She noted that when she was growing up her mother and grandmother really went over the top with Christmas presents. But, and here I quote: “But because of Advent, the messages in the little doors of the calendar and the hymns that we sang, I knew this was not what I was waiting for.” Because of Advent, I knew the Christmas presents were not what I was waiting for.
When I carefully read the full reflection I discovered she is actually a strict Advent purist—absolutely nothing Christmas until Christmas Eve—and there’s a lot to be said for that position.
But when I first read just the snippet from her reflection, my own reflections went down a different path. The presents are OK. At least up to a point, the Christmas hype is OK, as long as we have Advent to tell us what we are really waiting for. It is popular for preachers this time of year to decry the commercialism and secularization of Christmas and so on and so on. But I’m not doing that. (It’s a losing battle!) I’m not sure that’s the main problem. Maybe the more significant problem is the absence of Advent. In the midst of Christmas preparations we need Advent to remind us what we are really waiting for.
Advent gives meaning to Christmas. “Because of Advent,” Guthrie wrote, “I knew what I was waiting for.”
As you know, Christmas is already “out there.” Christmas is in the malls and on the radio stations. The neighbors have their lights up. Christmas is all over the place, “out there,” outside these church walls. “In here” Advent is just beginning. And that separation is a problem. Advent should not be confined within the walls of the church. Let’s take Advent “out there.” We need Advent out there to tell us what we are really waiting for.
So my message is really very simple. Observe Advent. And observe it in the same places you celebrate Christmas. Observe Advent in your living room, in the byways of your daily lives. I’m not sure how to take Advent to the malls, but if we are living it and observing it and praying it in our lives, we will carry it with us where ever we go. Let’s take Advent to the streets. We need to observe Advent in the same places we observe Christmas.
Excessive materialism should always be a problem for Christians, not just at Christmas time. But giving and hoping for Christmas presents is not inherently unchristian. And, as I have said before, I decorate and put up my tree before Christmas Eve. Just DO Advent as well.
There are lots of ways to do Advent. The Advent wreath is my favorite. Make an Advent wreath for your home. Pray the Advent collect, read a passage from Scripture as you light the candles week by week. Each week the light of the wreath grows, reminding us that the Light of Christ is coming into the world. Advent teaches us what we are waiting for.
Advent calendars are good. Especially the old fashioned ones that feature the prophecies foretelling the birth of the Christ child, leading us day by day towards the reality of the incarnation. Advent shows us what we are waiting for.
A crèche, or nativity scene, at home is also good. Just remember, it is not just a holiday decoration. Don’t put Jesus in the manger until Christmas Eve! And the wise men don’t arrive on the scene until Epiphany. Have them start their journey as far away in the house as possible. The crèche tells the story. It tells the story of the wondrous divine birth at Christmas. And the story of the long and treacherous journey may of us make to come to the side of our savior. Advent tells the story of what we are waiting for.
I’ve made a list of a few online resources that provide ways to keep Advent in your lives. I particularly commend the daily reflections offered by the Cowley fathers, the Episcopal monks of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. We also have available pamphlets from Living Compass with daily Advent reflections.
Advent is not just something that happens in church. Advent teaches us what we are waiting for. Make Advent a part of your daily lives and take it out into the world.
Suzanne Guthrie concludes her reflection with these words:
I can’t help but wonder if part of the spiritual hunger of our time links somehow to a lack of respect for the season of longing, deep change and dark anticipation. Without Advent, without the soul’s journey in tandem with Mary and Joseph, will I even notice the Divine interrupting my ordinary life? How will I discern that gentle star rising upon the horizon obscured by premature holiday glitter? If I do not enter deeply into Advent, how shallow will my transformative journey be toward Galilee, Jerusalem, the cross, the empty tomb, Emmaus and “the ends of the earth”?
