29 March, 2024

The Difference Advent Makes

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by | 30 November, 2008 | 0 comments

By Robert Hull

It is 7:00 a.m. on a Thursday in mid-December. A dozen people are sitting quietly, watching the morning come up outside the church windows. Dark clouds are scudding over Buffalo Mountain, backlit now by a rising, rosy glow. Two candles burn on the Advent wreath. 

The leader intones, “Our King and Savior now draws near. Come, let us adore him.”

Advent prayers have begun. During the 15 minutes before we all hustle off to work or school, we will confess our sins, hear a Psalm, a text from the prophets, and a Gospel reading; we will say together a portion of the Magnificat of Mary (Luke 1:46-55), and we will pray.

But what texts are these? They are hard readings to bear in a sanctuary full of red poinsettias and hung with garlands: “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil,” says the psalmist (37:8, English Standard Version), who goes on to remind that “Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked” (v. 16).

“Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!” thunders Amos. “Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness and not light” (Amos 5:18).

Jesus picks up the theme in the Gospel reading: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23).

 

A CALL TO REPENTANCE

No wonder Advent is sometimes referred to as “the winter Lent.” The purple candles on the wreath call us to repentance, a chastened preparation to receive again the gift of the Messiah. Advent is that cold dip in the Jordan, with John”s fiery sermon still ringing in our ears: “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. . . . Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise” (Luke 3:8, 11, ESV).

If all of this sounds unfamiliar, it is probably because “our” churches have traditionally been suspicious of the rites, rituals, and language of “liturgical” churches. In the circles where I grew up, if it was “high-churchy” it was bad. Aware of the pagan background of some Christmas traditions and unwilling to approve even religious observances not found in the New Testament, many churches in the Stone-Campbell Movement did not in earlier times embrace even the observance of Easter and Christmas, let alone Advent.

Many within the churches of Christ (a cappella) still do not. And I want firmly to emphasize that this is perfectly all right. Christians are not obligated to observe special days or seasons, with the exception of the Lord”s Day.

But there is a problem, isn”t there? However determined we may be to live by the ideals of earliest Christianity, the cultural elephant in the room wears a Santa Claus suit, begins playing Christmas music in the malls in October, and hypes the frantic search for “last-minute gifts” during the second week of December.

We”d have to be on an uncharted island not to be affected by all of this. So what are we to do?

C.S. Lewis pointed out 50 years ago that the word Christmas refers to three quite different things: a religious festival (which nobody except Christians should care about), a time of popular merry-making (what some call “the holidays”), and “the commercial racket” (which no one can escape). The unfortunate reality is that, in popular culture these three things have been crudely thrown together like the Christmas music in the mall, where “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” plays next to “O Holy Night.” All too often, they are also thrown together in our churches.

 

A BETTER WAY

Advent can point us to a better way, unless we just toss it into the cultural pot of “Christmas stew.”

I was not exposed to Advent until 1977. Having once been led through the season by a set of Scripture readings and worship practices illumined by the growing circle of light from the Advent wreath, I introduced these practices to my young family. During the 30 intervening years, I have been surprised to see how rapidly Christian churches and churches of Christ have adopted the Advent wreath.

But an Advent wreath does not an Advent make. It now appears to me that almost any of our churches will happily embrace an innovation that includes the warm and beautiful picture of a young family coming to the front of the church and lighting candles. What we have been mostly unwilling to embrace is the four-week season of penitent preparation leading up to the joyous celebration of Christmas. We are in such a hurry to sing “Joy to the world! the Lord is come,” that we put it into our “Hanging of the Greens” service on the first Sunday in December. But Advent is about waiting, not about having it all right now.

 

A WHOLE SYSTEM

Advent is an example of what sociologists call a “whole system,” that is, no part of it is very meaningful except in relation to the other parts. So Advent has its own songs, based on such scriptural themes as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (“Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying”), Isaiah”s herald in the wilderness (“There”s a Voice in the Wilderness Crying”), and salvation promised also to the Gentiles (“Savior of the Nations, Come”). In fact, one of the attractions of the great hymn literature of Advent is that most of these songs will not be found on a “Great Hits of Christmas” CD at Wal-Mart. Alvin and the Chipmunks do not sing “Comfort, Comfort Now My People.”

I am by no means sure that even the most earnest and well-intentioned Christians can buck the cultural tide that has so shaped the modern Christmas (and it really is a modern phenomenon: as late as 1855 the U.S. Congress still met on Christmas Day, and some public schools still held classes on Christmas in the 1870s). Many aspects of the secular Christmas have a special place in my own heart and in the life of our family. But I think most of us, and most of our churches, could do better than we do in incorporating the other practices of Advent, instead of just the Advent wreath.

But what happens to Christmas if we adopt Advent? One answer is that if we are patient enough, we can still enjoy the traditional “twelve days of Christmas” that begin on December 25th. It always surprises our children when we watch Christmas movies of the 1940s and they notice families actually waited until Christmas Eve to decorate their trees! No wonder they were not in a hurry to throw them out onto the curb on December 26th.

 

A SOFT DIFFERENCE

At the end of the day, I am not recommending a complete break with the culture of Christmas””a “hard difference”””but a “soft difference” (I borrow this distinction from Miroslav Volf). That is, take delight in the food, the festive atmosphere, the songs and decorations of the season. Indulge in thoughtful and enjoyable gift giving. But if you”re going to have an Advent wreath, why not also embrace the worship practices developed over hundreds of years to guide us during Advent to “that perfect light”?

Where can you find help in putting together Advent services? That”s easy. The Internet can take you to many sites that include the lectionary texts and other readings. Many religious bookstores, especially those catering to Catholic and mainline Protestant churches, will have resources. If your schedule permits, join a group of believers somewhere in your town who observe morning prayer during Advent.

It will make a difference, I promise.

 

 

Robert F. Hull Jr. is dean and professor of New Testament at Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee. 

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