What is Advent?
WHAT IS ADVENT?
Christmas has long since gone commercial, hasn’t it? When many people think of Advent, they think of plucking chocolates from behind the window of an Advent calendar that counts down the days to Christmas. We have the brilliant holiday marketing minds at Cadbury to thank for that. They created the first chocolate Advent calendar in 1958. The word advent actually comes from the Latin adventus, which simply means “arrival.” Advent is the coming, the arrival, of the presence of God Himself— God with us.
The advent season goes all the way back to the Catholic Liturgical Calendar. It was a season of fasting and prayer leading up to epiphany which was the beginning of the new year and when new believers were to be baptized. Liturgy was just a schedule of ways the catholic church worshipped during different parts of the year. Lent, which we protestants also observe at times, is a liturgical season as well. As time went on through the middle ages, advent changed from looking back to Christmas but to looking forward to the return of King Jesus. These were miserable times to be sure, the disease, the wars, their only hope was the thought that Jesus would return to end it all and take them to heaven. As the Renaissance came and enlightened thought began to enter the church, we found ourselves in the Reformation when guys like Luther and Calvin really began to think deeply about such things, and more deeply connect biblical themes to each other and create many of the doctrines and practices that the church still holds to today. In regards to advent this was really when it began to be tied more to Christ’s coming at Christmas. A time for celebration and reflection upon the coming of our Savior as the God Man, Christ Jesus, and not just his Second Coming as King.
For hundreds of years, followers of Jesus from a wide variety of church traditions around the world have set aside the four weeks leading up to Christmas as a meaningful season of celebration and anticipation. That’s what we’re up to here
In celebration, we remember the earnest expectations and fervent prayers of faithful saints of old who longed for the coming of their Messiah to rescue them from Sin and all its cronies. Humanity called upon the name of the Lord, and God answered. He arrived living and breathing and walking among us. Advent is a way to experience their joy as we put their ancient, Spirit-inspired words on our lips as a community.
ANTICIPATION
So Advent is something that really happened, but Advent will happen again. Jesus is coming back. At His first coming, the future kingdom of God burst into the present with Jesus’ incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Our spiritual enemies were disarmed. Yet our world is not what it will be as we await the reign of our good king. We live in the “already but not yet” of Jesus’ kingdom. At Advent, we give voice to “kingdom come” prayers of our own, looking expectantly for Jesus’ return. In that way, this is a season of both celebration and anticipation. For Christians, Christmas is less sentimental than we think. Advent allows us to be honest about what’s wrong with our world and to freely celebrate Christmas as good news—King Jesus has come; King Jesus will come again!
PARTICIPATION
Beginning on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, each of the four weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas Eve will focus on a different theme of celebration and anticipation—hope, peace, joy, and love. Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). Encountering God is not only possible this Christmas season, Jesus said it’s a matter of opening the door. Will you let Him into your home? He’s waiting.
For more on participating in Advent this season, check out our Advent Guide.
