Advent: Just Another Meaningless Tradition?
In previous years, Advent has easily slipped by without grabbing my attention. The Christmas period is often busy: busy with work, busy with holiday, busy with family and friends, busy buying presents, writing cards. Busy.
The significance of Advent is often eclipsed by the intensity of the season. Advent often blurs into one with all the other festivities of Christmas, so that it seems like just another meaningless tradition. Isn’t Advent that weird thing where you light a candle every Sunday?
The word Advent (from the Latin adventus) literally means "coming". The tradition of Advent is the remembrance of Jesus coming into the world.
Historically, this has been termed by theologians as the "Incarnation", and to me it is the most miraculous and baffling of Christian teachings. To an all-supreme God, the resurrection is totally achievable. But how can the God of the universe fully dwell in one man, whilst this man still remains fully human? Jesus, the God-Man, is the greatest miracle and wonder this world could ever know.
Advent is about reminding ourselves of the breath-taking wonder it is that God sent his Son into the world "to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10).
This year I have decided to take Advent more seriously. I would encourage anybody to join with me this Christmas to contemplate the significance of Jesus' advent into the world. Let’s take some time to reflect, to meditate and to ponder.
I have come across two places to go to help begin thinking about Advent. They are shared below.
The first is by 24-7 Prayer. They will be releasing video podcasts on most of the days leading up to Christmas, all exploring the central theme of “When God Comes Near". I would encourage you to check it out by following this link.
Secondly, John Piper has written “The Dawning of Indestructible Joy", a little book containing daily readings (roughly one page) for Advent. So far I have found these very helpful in reflecting on Jesus’ coming into the world. The great news is that this is totally free as a PDF, and you can download it here.