Advent: A Season of Waiting
Brian Tolle

Did you know that the Christian Church has a calendar? I recently just became aware of this in the past few years and have fallen deeply in love with the meaning of why it exists. I want to help teach you about it, celebrate it with you, and invite you to participate in it with me this Advent season. I believe it will change your spiritual life and deepen your spiritual growth as a result...

This past Sunday, November 20th marked the end of the Christian calendar for 2016 - and is known as Christ the King Sunday. We are now about to enter into the season of Advent. Our Christian new year!

As Christ followers, we are a people who live with two calendars. There is a secular calendar in our culture that we use to coordinate our life and use to get along with others around us. Here is a great description of what our secular calendar looks like:


But we also have a sacred calendar. Our sacred calendar is designed to tell the entire story of Jesus throughout the whole year. Why? Because the coming of Christ into the world is so radical that it actually gives us a new way of telling time! We may live in a secular world, but we belong to a sacred story. And the Gospel is a story. It enables us to re-tell, re-live, and re-enter the Jesus Story — from the crowded stable to the empty tomb.

For most of us, we believe the new year begins on January 1. But the Church calendar, the sacred calendar, says that the new year begins next weekend - the first Sunday of Advent. Before we talk about those details, here is how the sacred calendar is set up.

The Church calendar is divided into two "halves". The first half begins with the first Sunday of Advent and stretches out until Pentecost in May or June. This first half tells the story of the life of Jesus. The second half, from Pentecost until Christ the King Sunday in late November, tells about the story of the Church. I want to begin by talking about Advent.

Advent means "arrival". It comes from the Latin adventus - coming. To most of us, including the way I grew up, Advent was something that meant chocolate candies or some Santa Claus calendar to count the days to Christmas. That works from a secular standpoint, and was fun, but what if we were to really embrace the season of Advent for it's full meaning with Christ at the center?

Advent is traditionally reflected by the color of the season: purple - the color of repentance. What if this season you observed Advent as the season of thoughtful reflection and repentance? What if we were to realign our lives with God's desires for us, to seek forgiveness and start new?

This year my family is going to light the four candles each week for Advent. Each candle represents a different theme and character from the Bible. WAIT, PREPARE, REJOICE, LOVE. Each candle will be lit as we proclaim, "Jesus Christ is the light of the world, the Light no darkness can overcome." It reminds us to wait patiently through the darkness of December & that the Light who is coming already shines in the darkness.

WAIT
Is linked to the prophet Isaiah who prophesied for this Son, for whom we wait. We are to wait - which in the Hebrew is also the same word for hope.
PREPARE
Is linked to John the Baptist, the voice crying in the wilderness and preparing the way for Jesus. We are to be preparing a place for Christ to come into our physical space.
REJOICE
Is linked with Mary, Jesus' mother, who said "My soul magnifies the Lord" (Luke 1:46). It is marked with a pink candle representing joy. This time of preparation and waiting is a joyful time because as Mary sang - "God has done great things for us!" Like Mary we wait actively and joyfully for the new life that has been and will born into the world. We are called to bring the Light of the world into the world.
LOVE
Is linked to Joseph. Joseph loved Mary enough to make her his wife despite the circumstances. He then loved his son even though Jesus was not bone of his bone or flesh of his flesh. Joseph's love for Mary and Jesus shows self-sacrifice and gives us a glimpse of God's outpouring of himself in love for all of us.

To help you observe Advent in a richer, more meaningful way, I have put together an Advent Scripture Reading Guide for each Sunday from the Revised Common Lectionary in the Book of Common Prayer. So re-enter and re-live the mystery of the Gospel story through this Advent Scripture Reading:

November
27 — Isaiah 2:1-5 & Matthew 24:36-44

December
4 — Isaiah 11:1-10 & Matthew 3:1-12
11 —Isaiah 35:1-10 & Matthew 11:2-11
18 — Isaiah 7:10-16 & Matthew 1:18-25
Christmas Eve — Isaiah 9:1-7 & Luke 2:1-20
Christmas Day — Isaiah 11:1-9 & Matthew 2:1-12

*These are the readings for each of the four Sunday's in Advent. If you desire to do this everyday, you can click THIS LINK and you can study/pray the daily readings between Sundays.

Happy Advent,
Brian