I love advent.
I love the lighting of the candles in the advent wreath each week. I love the liturgy, and the scriptures and the beauty of it all.
But what I love above all, is what Advent points to.
Advent means both “arrival” and “coming”.
How beautiful is that, dear friend, when we reflect on our Savior’s birth…and long for his return.
We observe advent in commemoration and remembrance, of course, of Jesus’ birth. The God-man who came to us, as a child, born to Mary, heralded by angels, visited by the lowliness of the shepherds, and the eliteness of the wise men. He, who is sovereign, became man, and truly was Emmanuel–God with us, in all our human-ness:
God with us in our joys–surely our Savior experienced joy as He walked with his friends, and as He delighted in Peter’s goofiness and Thomas’ cynicism and John’s adoration. Surely He experienced joy, as he ate with Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and as He raised the little girl who was dead. And we, today, gathered with our respective church families to light the Joy candle in the Advent wreath, lifting our voices together to loudly proclam “Joy to the World, the Lord is come
God with us in our griefs–surely our Savior experienced sorrow similar to that which we experience: betrayal by friends, death of those He loved, rejection by the people, loneliness in the garden, and forsaken-ness on the cross. He knew tremendous grief in his soul as he walked this earth, and He is with us as we, too, experience the grief this fallen world drives into our own souls.
God is with us in our temptations–as we are taught by scripture that He, too, was tempted and tried–yet sinned not. He experienced temptations and is with us when we, ourselves, are tempated to sin.
God with us in our weariness–surely our Savior was weary and tired and worn by the cares of this world, and by the physical demands placed upon Him. He knew that deep weariness that settles into the bones. And friend, He is with us when we, too, are aching in a weariness that shrouds our mind and soul like a heavy blanket. He is there, with us.
Truly, He was Emmanuel. He came as a child, born to Mary and Joseph, and was with us. Fully God and fully man – who died on a cross for our sins.
God with us, Emmanual.
But during Adment, my mind also often turns to the 400 years of silence that preceded His birth. The period of time, between the end of what we consider to be the “Old Testament” with Malachi, and the beginning of the “New Testament” with the announcement of His birth – the time in history that was shrouded in silence….no new prophets…no new revelations about who God is. Unnerving, seemingly unending silence.
Silence….and longing….and silence….and waiting.
You see, for Christ-followers, celebrating Advent is not solely about remembering the birth of our Savior.
It is also this: Our anticipation, and longing, and waiting for His return. For His coming.
It is the Now, and the Not Yet. He is with us, today, as our Emmanuel. And we worship Him as such. But there is also coming a day, when He will return; our Savior and Messiah; when we will see him face-to-face.
How I long for that day.
We recognize that in this Advent season. We raise our voices to sing “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”, but not just as a reflection of what Has come to pass, but also a plaintive soul cry heavy with both grief and hope: grief for the cares and sorrows of this world, and hope for what will come to pass, when these words of this time-stable hymn are fulfilled and we see our long-expected Jesus, the joy of our longing hearts, face-to-face.
Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne
(Charles Wesley, 1744)
