Thoughts on Advent
Advent is a season which lasts for approximately one month leading up to the Celebration of Christmas. During this season, we simultaneously prepare for both Advents of our Lord. His first Advent, in the Ancient Mediterranean world in the First Century, and his second Advent, whose hour only the Father knows, when he will come to judge the world in righteousness. While we are out in a bit of a frenzy shopping for Christmas gifts, decorating houses, and going to parties, the church exhorts us to slow down and to think of this time primarily as one of spiritual preparation for the coming of Christ.
We call this season penitential, meaning that it is marked by increased prayer, fasting, and other spiritual disciplines, which help us to turn away from ourselves and turn towards God. Simply put: if our Lord is returning, then we have to get our house in order. What needs to be cleaned? What needs attending? What is it that I know that I need to do but I just keep setting it to the side? How do we hearken to the call of the Old Testament prophets: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!”? These are all questions for reflection during this season.
If you listen carefully to Jesus in the gospels, you’ll quickly find that many of his teachings and parables have to do with spiritual readiness. He tells stories about feasts, banquets, weddings, etc., with the clear message that people will fall into one of two camps: the unprepared or the prepared. Lest that sound a bit “doom and gloom,” remember what we are preparing for: a Royal wedding, A Great Banquet, the arrival of our King. Our preparations for all of these involve effort, but are fueled by expectant longing and joy. In this case, when all things will be revealed and we will meet our Lord face to face.
How, then, do we prepare? The passage that always comes to my mind in this regard is the Parable of the Faithful and Evil Servants in Matthew 24. Which of the servants is the blessed one when the master returns? The one whom “the master finds at work when he comes.” Preparation does not look like sitting on the front porch, looking out into the sky, arguing about when the rapture will take place. Neither does preparation look like self-flagellating penance. Preparation looks like faithfulness. It looks like stewardship with what has been entrusted to us. It looks like continued perseverance in seeking God and righteousness in all things, no matter what the circumstances.
So this Advent put your booze away, put your junk food in the trash, and put your phone in the drawer. Attend to your prayer and reflect on the reality that our Lord is returning. “Stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)