The Season of Advent
Anticipation and Hope
Anticipation and Hope
The Spirit of Advent
Advent is the beginning of the Church Year
for most churches in the Western tradition. It begins on the fourth Sunday
before Christmas Day, which is the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on
Christmas Eve (Dec 24). If Christmas Eve is a Sunday, it is counted as the
fourth Sunday of Advent, with Christmas Eve proper beginning at sundown.
Historically, the primary sanctuary color of
Advent is Purple. This is the color of penitence and fasting as well as
the color of royalty to welcome the Advent of the King. Purple is still
used in some traditions (for example Roman Catholic). The purple of
Advent is also the color of suffering used during Lent and Holy Week.
This points to an important connection between Jesus’ birth and death. The
nativity, the Incarnation, cannot be separated from the crucifixion. The
purpose of Jesus’ coming into the world, of the "Word made flesh" and
dwelling among us, is to reveal God and His grace to the world through Jesus’
life and teaching, but also through his suffering, death, and resurrection. To
reflect this emphasis, originally Advent was a time of penitence and fasting,
much as the Season of Lent and so shared the color of Lent.
In the four weeks of Advent the third Sunday
came to be a time of rejoicing that the fasting was almost over (in some
traditions it is called Gaudete Sunday, from the Latin word for
"rejoice"). The shift from the purple of the Season to pink or rose
for the third Sunday Advent candles reflected this lessening emphasis on
penitence as attention turned more to celebration of the season.
In recent times, however, Advent has
undergone a shift in emphasis, reflected in a change of colors used in many
churches. Except in the Eastern churches, the penitential aspect of the
Season has been almost totally replaced by an emphasis on hope and
anticipation.
In many churches the third Sunday remains the
Sunday of Joy marked by pink or rose. However, Royal Blue is sometimes used as a symbol of
royalty. Some churches use Bright Blue to symbolize the night sky, the
anticipation of the impending announcement of the King’s coming, or to
symbolize the waters of Genesis 1, the beginning of a new creation. Some
churches, including some Catholic churches, use blue violet to preserve the
traditional use of purple while providing a visual distinction between the
purple or red violet of Lent.
This does not eliminate any sense of
penitence from the Season. With the focus on the Advent or Coming of
Jesus, especially in anticipating His Second Advent, there remains a need for
preparation for that coming. Most liturgical churches incorporate confessional
prayers into the services of Advent that relate to a sense of unworthiness as
we anticipate His Coming. It is appropriate even in more traditional services
of worship to incorporate confessional prayers as part of the anticipation and
preparation of the Season.
With the shift to blue for Advent in most
non-Catholic churches, some churches retain pink among the Advent colors, but
use it on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. It still remains associated with
Joy, but is sometimes used as the climax of the Advent Season on the last
Sunday before Christmas.
Red and Green are more secular colors of
Christmas. Although they derive from older European praces of using evergreens
and holly to symbolize ongoing life and hope that Christ’s birth brings into a
co world, they are never used as liturgical colors during Advent since those
colors have other uses in other parts of the church year (see Colors of the Church Year).
The Meaning of
"Advent"
The word Advent means
"coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is
the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the
anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus,
Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is
celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of
creation might be reconciled to God. That is a process in which we now
participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate. Scripture reading for
Advent will reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent, including themes of
accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of
eternal life.
In this double focus on past and future,
Advent also symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and a congregation,
as they affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and
that He will come again in power. That acknowledgment provides a basis for
Kingdom ethics, for holy living arising from a profound sense that we live
"between the times" and are called to be faithful stewards of what is
entrusted to us as God’s people. So, as the church celebrates God’s inbreaking
into history in the Incarnation, and anticipates a future consummation to that
history for which "all creation is groaning awaiting its redemption,"
it also confesses its own responsibility as a people commissioned to "love
the Lord your God with all your heart" and to "love your neighbor as
yourself."
Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation,
of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning for
deliverance from the evils of the world, first expressed by Israelite slaves in
Egypt as they cried out from their bitter oppression. It is the cry of those
who have experienced the tyranny of injustice in a world under the curse of
sin, and yet who have hope of deliverance by a God who has heard the cries of
oppressed slaves and brought deliverance!
It is that hope, however faint at times, and
that God, however distant He sometimes seems, which brings to the world the
anticipation of a King who will rule with truth and justice and righteousness
over His people and in His creation. It is that hope that once anticipated, and
now anticipates anew, the reign of an Anointed One, a Messiah, who will bring
peace and justice and righteousness to the world.
Part of the expectation also anticipates a
judgment on sin and a calling of the world to accountability before God. We
long for God to come and set the world right! Yet, as the prophet Amos warned,
the expectation of a coming judgment at the "Day of the Lord" may not
be the day of light that we might want, because the penetrating light of God’s
judgment on sin will shine just as brightly on God’s people.
Because of this important truth, especially
in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Season of Advent has been a time of
fasting and penitence for sins similar to the Season of Lent. However, a
different emphasis for the season of Advent has gradually unfolded in much of
the rest of the church. The season of Advent has come to be celebrated more in
terms of expectation or anticipation. Yet, the anticipation of the Coming of
the Messiah throughout the Old Testament and Judaism was not in connection with
remembrance of sins. Rather, it was in the context of oppression and injustice,
the longing for redemption, not from personal guilt and sin but from the
systemic evil of the world expressed in evil empires and tyrants. It is in that
sense that all creation groans for its redemption as we witness the evil that
so dominates our world (Rom 8:18-25).
Of course, there is the problem of longing
for vindication from an evil world when we are contributors to that evil. This
is the power of the images of Amos when he warns about longing for the
"Day of the Lord" that will really be a day of darkness (Amos
5:18-20). Still, even with Amos’ warning the time of Advent is one of expectation
and anticipation, a longing for God's actions to restore all things and
vindicate the righteous. This is why during Advent we as Christians also
anticipate the Second Coming as a twin theme of the season. So, while some
church traditions focus on penitence during Advent, and there remains a place
for that, the spirit of that expectation from the Old Testament is better
captured with a joyous sense of expectancy. Rather than a time of mourning and
fasting, Advent is celebrated as a time of joy and happiness as we await the
coming of the King. (see Can We Sing Christmas Carols During
Advent?)
There will be time enough during the rest of
the journey through the Church Year to remember our sins. It begins in Epiphany
when we hear about the brotherhood of the Kingdom, and realize our failure to
effect it. Then as we move toward and through Lent we realize that the coming
of Jesus served more to lay bare our own sin than it did to vindicate our
righteousness. There will be time to shed Peter's bitter tears as we realize
that what started with such possibility and expectation has apparently ended in
such failure.
It is only as we experience that full cycle,
beginning with unbridled joy in Advent that slowly fades into the realization
of what we have done with and to the Christ, that the awful reality of Good
Friday can have its full impact. And in that realization we can finally be
ready to hear the Good News on Resurrection Sunday! That is the journey that
the disciples took. And so there is value in taking the same journey beginning
with the anticipation and joy of Advent!
So, we celebrate with gladness the great
promise in the Advent, yet knowing that there is also a somber tone as the
theme of threat is added to the theme of promise. This is reflected in some of
the Scripture readings for Advent, in which there is a strong prophetic tone of
accountability and judgment on sin. But this is also faithful to the role of
the Coming King who comes to rule, save, and judge the world.
Because of the dual themes of threat and
promise, Advent is a time of preparation that is marked by prayer. While Lent is characterized by fasting and a spirit of penitence,
Advent’s prayers are prayers of humble devotion and commitment, prayers of
submission, prayers for deliverance, prayers from those walking in darkness who
are awaiting and anticipating a great light (Isa 9)!
The spirit of Advent is expressed well in the
parable of the bridesmaids who are anxiously awaiting the coming of the
Bridegroom (Matt 25:1-13). There is profound joy at the Bridegroom’s expected
coming. And yet a warning of the need for preparation echoes through the
parable. But even then, the prayer of Advent is still:
Come, O Come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel!
And ransom captive Israel!
The beginning of Advent is a time for the hanging of the green, decoration of the church with evergreen
wreaths, boughs, or trees that help to symbolize the new and everlasting life
brought through Jesus the Christ. Some churches have a special weekday service,
or the first Sunday evening of Advent, or even the first Sunday morning of
Advent, in which the church is decorated and the Advent wreath put in place.
This service is most often primarily of music, especially choir and hand bells,
and Scripture reading, along with an explanation of the various symbols as they
are placed in the sanctuary.
The
Advent wreath is an increasingly
popular symbol of the beginning of the Church year in many churches as well as
homes. It is a circular evergreen wreath (real or artificial) with five
candles, four around the wreath and one in the center. Since the wreath is
symbolic and a vehicle to tell the Christmas story, there are various ways to
understand the symbolism. The exact meaning given to the various aspects of the
wreath is not as important as the story to which it invites us to listen, and
participate.
The circle
of the wreath reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy,
which has no beginning or end. The green of the wreath speaks of the
hope that we have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life. Candles
symbolize the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His son.
The four outer candles represent the period of waiting during the four
Sundays of Advent, which themselves symbolize the four centuries of waiting
between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ.
The colors
of the candles vary with different traditions, but there are usually three
purple or blue candles, corresponding to the sanctuary colors of Advent, and
one pink or rose candle. One of the purple candles is lighted the first Sunday
of Advent, a Scripture is read, a short devotional or reading is given, and a
prayer offered. On subsequent Sundays, previous candles are relighted with an
additional one lighted. The pink candle is usually lighted on the third Sunday
of Advent. However, different churches or traditions light the pink candle on
different Sundays depending on the symbolism used (see above on Colors of Advent). In
Churches that use a Service of the Nativity, it
is often lighted on the fourth Sunday of Advent, the final Sunday before
Christmas.
The light
of the candles itself becomes an important symbol of the season. The light
reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world that comes into the darkness of
our lives to bring newness, life, and hope. It also reminds us that we are
called to be a light to the world as we reflect the light of God's grace to
others (Isa 42:6). The progression in the lighting of the candles symbolizes
the various aspects of our waiting experience. As the candles are lighted over
the four week period, it also symbolizes the darkness of fear and hopelessness
receding and the shadows of sin falling away as more and more light is shed
into the world. The flame of each new candle reminds the worshippers that
something is happening, and that more is yet to come. Finally, the light that
has come into the world is plainly visible as the Christ candle is lighted at
Christmas, and worshippers rejoice over the fact that the promise of long ago
has been realized.
The first
candle is traditionally the candle of Expectation or Hope (or
in some traditions, Prophecy). This draws attention to the anticipation of the
coming of an Anointed One, a Messiah, that weaves its way like a golden thread
through Old Testament history. As God’s people were abused by power hungry
kings, led astray by self-centered prophets, and lulled into apathy by
half-hearted religious leaders, there arose a longing among some for God to
raise up a new king who could show them how to be God’s people. They yearned
for a return of God’s dynamic presence in their midst.
And so,
God revealed to some of the prophets that indeed He would not leave His people
without a true Shepherd. While they expected a new earthly king, their
expectations fell far short of God’s revelation of Himself in Christ. And yet,
the world is not yet fully redeemed. So, we again with expectation, with
hope, await God’s new work in history, the second Advent, in which He will
again reveal Himself to the world. And we understand in a profound sense that
the best, the highest of our expectations will fall far short of what our
Lord’s Second Advent will reveal!
The remaining
three candles of Advent may be associated with different aspects of the
Advent story in different churches, or even in different years. Usually they
are organized around characters or themes as a way to unfold the story and
direct attention to the celebrations and worship in the season. So, the
sequence for the remaining three Sundays might be Bethlehem, Shepherds, Angels.
Or Love, Joy, Peace. Or John the Baptist, Mary, the Magi. Or the
Annunciation, Proclamation, Fulfillment. Whatever sequence is used, the
Scripture readings, prayers, lighting of the candles, the participation of
worshipers in the service, all are geared to unfolding the story of redemption
through God’s grace in the Incarnation.
The third
candle, usually for the Third Sunday of Advent, is traditionally Pink or
Rose, and symbolizes Joy at the soon Advent of the Christ. It
marks a shift from the more solemn tone of the first two Sundays of Advent that
focus on Preparation and Hope, to a more joyous atmosphere of anticipation and
expectancy. Sometimes the colors of the sanctuary and vestments are also
changed to Rose for this Sunday. As noted above, in some churches the pink
Advent candle is used on the fourth Sunday to mark the joy at the impending
Nativity of Jesus.
Whatever
sequence is adopted for these Sundays, the theme of Joy can still be the focus
for the pink candle. For example, when using the third Sunday to commemorate
the visit of the Magi the focus can be on the Joy of worshipping the new found
King. Or the Shepherds as the symbol for the third Sunday brings to mind the
joy of the proclamation made to them in the fields, and the adoration expressed
as they knelt before the Child at the manager. If used on the fourth Sunday of
Advent, it can symbolize the Joy in fulfilled hope.
The center
candle is white and is called the Christ Candle. It is traditionally
lighted on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. However, since many Protestant
churches do not have services on those days, many light it on the Sunday
preceding Christmas, with all five candles continuing to be lighted in services
through Epiphany (Jan 6). The central location of
the Christ Candle reminds us that the incarnation is the heart of the
season, giving light to the world.
Celebrating Advent
Advent
is one of the few Christian festivals that can be observed in the home as well
as at church. In its association with Christmas, Advent is a natural time
to involve children in activities at home that directly connect with worship at
church. In the home an Advent wreath is often placed on the dining table
and the candles lighted at meals, with Scripture readings preceding the
lighting of the candles, especially on Sunday. A new candle is lighted each
Sunday during the four weeks, and then the same candles are lighted each meal
during the week. In this context, it provides the opportunity for family
devotion and prayer together, and helps teach the Faith to children, especially
if they are involved in reading the daily Scriptures.
It is
common in many homes to try to mark the beginning of Advent in other ways as
well, for the same purpose of instruction in the faith. Some families decorate
the house for the beginning of Advent, or bake special cookies or treats, or
simply begin to use table coverings for meals. An Advent Calendar is a
way to keep children involved in the entire season. There are a wide
variety of Advent calendars, but usually they are simply a card or poster with
windows that can be opened, one each day of Advent, to reveal some symbol or
picture associated with the Old Testament story leading up to the birth of
Jesus. One unique and specialized Advent calendar that can be used either
in the home or the sanctuary is a Jesse Tree. (We have
available an online Advent calendar with devotionals for each day of Advent as
well as Christmas through Epiphany Day: NazNet's Advent and Christmas Celebration).
All of these provide opportunities to teach children the significance of this sacred
time, and to remind ourselves of it as well.
In
congregational worship, the Advent wreath is the central teaching symbol of the
season, the focal point for drawing the congregation into the beginning of the
story of redemption that will unfold throughout the church year. For this
reason, members of the congregation are often involved in lighting the Advent
candles and reading the appropriate Scriptures each Sunday. While in some
churches it is customary for this to be done by families, it can also be an
especially good opportunity to demonstrate the unity of the entire community of
Faith by including those without families, such as those never married,
divorced, widowed, elderly who live by themselves, or college students away
from home.
Small Things and Possibility: An Advent Reflection
We live
in a world in which bigger and better define our expectations for much of life.
We have become so enamored by super size, super stars, and high definition that
we tend to view life through a lens that so magnifies what we expect out of the
world that we tend not to see potential in small things. But as the prophet
Zechariah reminds us (Zech 4:10), we should not "despise the day of small
things," because God does some of his best work with small beginnings and
impossible situations.
It is
truly a humbling experience to read back through the Old Testament and see how
frail and imperfect all the "heroes" actually are. Abraham, the
coward who cannot believe the promise. Jacob, the cheat who struggles with
everybody. Joseph, the immature and arrogant teen. Moses, the impatient
murderer who cannot wait for God. Gideon, the cowardly Baal-worshipper. Samson,
the womanizing drunk. David, the power abusing adulterer. Solomon, the unwise
wise man. Hezekiah, the reforming king who could not quite go far enough. And
finally, a very young Jewish girl from a small village in a remote corner of a
great empire.
It
never ceases to amaze me that God often begins with small things and inadequate
people. It certainly seems that God could have chosen "bigger"
things and "better" people to do His work in the world. Yet if God
can use them, and reveal Himself through them in such marvelous ways, it means
that He might be able to use me, inadequate, and unwise, and too often lacking
in faith that I am. And it means that I need to be careful that I do not in my
own self-righteousness put limits on what God can do with the smallest things,
the most unlikely of people, in the most hopeless of circumstances. I think
that is part of the wonder of the Advent Season.
I am
convinced that one of the main purposes of the incarnation of Jesus was to
provide hope. While most people today want to talk about the death of Jesus and
the Atonement of sins, the early Church celebrated the Resurrection and the
hope it embodied. It was a proclamation of a truth that rang throughout the Old
Testament, that endings are not always endings but are opportunities for God to
bring new beginnings. The Resurrection proclaimed that truth even about
humanity’s greatest fear, death itself.
Both
the season of Advent and the season of Lent are about
hope. It is not just hope for a better day or hope for the lessening of pain
and suffering, although that is certainly a significant part of it. It is more
about hope that human existence has meaning and possibility beyond our present
experiences, a hope that the limits of our lives are not nearly as narrow as we
experience them to be. It is not that we have possibility
in ourselves, but that God is a God of new things and so all
things are possible (Isa 42:9, Mt 19:26, Mk 14:36)
God's
people in the first century wanted Him to come and change their oppressive
circumstances, and were angry when those immediate circumstances did not change.
But that is a short sighted view of the nature of hope. Our hope cannot be in
circumstances, no matter how badly we want them or how important they are to
us. The reality of human existence, with which the Book of Job struggles, is that God's people
experience that physical existence in the same way that others do. Christians
get sick and die, Christians are victims of violent crimes, and Christians are
hurt and killed in traffic accidents, bombings, war, and in some parts of the
world, famine (see The Problem of Natural Evil).
If our
hope is only in our circumstances, as we define them to be good or as we want
them to be to make us happy, we will always be disappointed. That is why we
hope, not in circumstances, but in God. He has continually, over the span of
four thousand years, revealed himself to be a God of newness, of possibility,
of redemption, the recovery or transformation of possibility from endings that
goes beyond what we can think or even imagine (Eph 3:2). The best example of
that is the crucifixion itself, followed by the resurrection. That shadow of
the cross falls even over the manger.
Yet, it
all begins in the hope that God will come and come again into our world to
reveal himself as a God of newness, of possibility, a God of new things.
This time of year we contemplate that hope embodied, enfleshed, incarnated, in
a newborn baby, the perfect example of newness, potential, and possibility.
During Advent, we groan and long for that newness with the hope, the
expectation, indeed the faith, that God will once again be faithful to see our
circumstances, to hear our cries, to know our longings for a better world and a
whole life (Ex 3:7). And we hope that as he first came as an infant, so
he will come again as King! (See The Second Coming)
My
experience tells me that those who have suffered and still hope understand far
more about God and about life than those who have not. Maybe that is what hope
is about: a way to live, not just to survive, but to live authentically amidst
all the problems of life with a Faith that continues to see possibility when
there is no present evidence of it, just because God is God. That is also the
wonder of Advent.
Music
for Advent
Traditional Songs for Advent
(Full
lyrics for these can be found at various places online, such as The Cyber Hymnal™)
Christ,
whose glory fills the skies
Come,
thou long expected Jesus
Comfort,
comfort ye, my people
Creator
of the stars of night
Day
of wrath! O day of mourning, Part 1 (English translation of Dies Irae)
Go,
labor on! Spend and be spent
Hark!
A thrilling voice is sounding (English translation of Vox clara ecce intonat)
Hark!
The glad sound
Hark!
The voice eternal
High
o'er the lonely hills
Hosanna
to the living Lord (for the first Sunday of Advent)
Let
all mortal flesh keep silent (English translation of Σιγησάτο παρα σαρξ
βροτεία)
Lift
up your heads, ye mighty gates (for the first Sunday of Advent; two versions)
Lift
up your heads, rejoice (for the third Sunday of Advent)
Light
of those whose dreary dwelling
Little
children, Advent bids you (for the fourth Sunday of Advent; Second Advent)
Lo!
He comes, with clouds descending
Lord
Christ, when first thou came to men (two versions)
O
Come, Divine Messiah
O
come, O come, Emmanuel! (English translation of Veni, veni Emanuel)
O
Day of God, draw nigh
O
North, with all thy vales of green
O
very God of very God
O
Savior, rend the heavens wide
O
Word, that goest forth on high
On
Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
Rejoice,
rejoice, believers!
Savior
of the nations, come! (English translation of Veni Redemptor gentium)
Sleepers,
wake!
The
advent of our King
The
day is surely drawing near (for the fourth Sunday of Advent; Second Advent)
The
King shall come when morning dawns
The
Lord will come and not be slow
The
world is very evil (English Translation of Hora novissima)
Thy
kingdom come! on bended knee
Thy
kingdom come, O God
Wake,
awake, for night is flying
Watchman,
tell us of the night
When
shades of night around us close
Modern and Contemporary Songs for Advent
(Full
lyrics for some of these can be found at various places online, such as The Cyber Hymnal™;
others are fully copyrighted and can be obtained only from publishers)
At
the coming of the Lord
Be
Immanuel in me
Before
the starry universe
Breath
of heaven (for the fourth Sunday of Advent)
Child
of wondrous love
Come,
our Lord (also a song for Eucharist)
From
David's city
Have
mercy
Hear
the prophets talking
I
need a silent night (for the third or fourth Sunday of Advent)
Immanuel,
Immanuel
Light
a candle
People
look east
Prayer
for God's presence
Prepare
us
The
Advent candle shines with hope
There's
a voice in the wilderness crying
This
is my song (tune Finlandia; for the fourth Sunday of Advent)
To
a maid engaged to Joseph (for the third or fourth Sunday of Advent)
Veiled
in darkness Judah lay (for the fourth Sunday of Advent)
We
have a hope
Welcome
to our world (for the fourth Sunday of Advent)
When
will the Savior come?
Advent Songs Sung to Christmas Tunes
(Full
lyrics for these can be found at various places online, such as The Cyber Hymnal™)
The
King shall come when morning dawns (using tune Antioch, Joy to the
World)
Watchman,
tell us of the night (using tune Mendelssohn, Hark! The Herald Angels
Sing)
The
people that in darkness sat (using tune Christmas, While Shepherds
Watched Their Flocks)
Lo,
He comes with clouds descending (using tune Regent Square, Angels from
the Realms of Glory)
Of
the Father's love begotten (using tune W Zlobie Lezy, Infant Holy,
Infant Lowly)
Instrumental
(Music
and arrangement scores for these are fully copyrighted and can be obtained only
from publishers)
Gabriel's
Oboe