Adventuring Into Advent
Sermon
Don't Forget The Child
Sermons For Advent And Christmas
Object:
About twenty miles northwest of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth, is the village of Linlithgow ("Linlithgo"), where the Stuarts maintained a palace. Mary, Queen of Scots, was born there.
Sometime around 1500, one of the Stuart Kings, James the IV, established a tradition. He, the king, plus his royal entourage, would leave London in time to arrive at Linlithgow by December 6. Then the king and his court would enjoy themselves hunting, fishing, and partying every single day from December 6 to Christmas Eve. After a brief break for worship on Christmas morning and again on Christmas afternoon, they would return to the business of feasting, which continued without a break until Epiphany on January 6. It was a solid month of celebration. Only then would the king return to London and the business of state.
Commenting on this custom, George Bass writes, "[This has] been the popular nature of Advent ever since ... Christians in America have been able, through opportunity and prosperity, to keep Advent as kings and queens once did, instead of keeping watch for the King of kings" (The Gift, the Glitter and the Glory).
Isn't that largely true? For many of us, this month between Thanksgiving and Christmas is primarily a time for parties, purchases, and presents. And of course some businesses would like us to begin our shopping even sooner. This year I was surprised to see artificial Christmas trees and Christmas decorations on display in some stores beginning November 1. It makes me wonder.
Earlier generations of Christians did not observe Advent in this manner! For 1,500 years, the weeks before Christmas were considered a solemn season, a holy time marked by prayer, penitence and -- get this! -- daily fasting. Many of us put on pounds during this season! Earlier generations of Christians took them off -- through fasting. Our "fasting" generally doesn't start until after January 1, when, as a New Year's resolution, we may go on a diet. Weddings were discouraged during Advent. Choir processions were generally silent. Christmas decorations weren't hung until Christmas Eve. Purple was the color of the season: a somber, serious color meant to remind us of sins. Most of the Advent hymns were written in a mournful, minor key. Advent was called "The Winter Lent," and, like Lent, for a while at least, Advent was six weeks long.
Quite a difference in Advent customs from earlier generations to today! For 1,500 years, Christians prepared for Christmas, not by filling their days and nights with more and more activities, but by slowing things down, "shutting things down," so they had time for spiritual reflection, for looking inward, for anticipating the coming of Christ.
It seems to me that, to some extent, that attitude of keeping Advent apart helped make Advent an "adventure." There are, after all, several definitions of the word "adventure." The most common is "a risky undertaking." But another definition of "adventure" is "a remarkable and exciting experience." Observing Advent in the right spirit can make these four weeks before Christmas a spiritual "adventure": a remarkable and exciting time of drawing nearer to God.
For Advent is, first of all, a time of anticipation. We look forward not only to the birth of the Christ Child at Christmas, but also to that great day when the Risen Christ shall come again, when the King, the "Lion King" of Judah, will return with majesty and power. (See Revelation 5:5.) Isn't it an adventure ... isn't it exciting to believe that Christ will come again -- and who knows, maybe this Advent! -- and overturn all the suffering and pain and evil that plagues us in this world?
Gregory Fisher is a missionary who teaches at a Bible college in West Africa. He writes about an incident that took place in one of his classes when he was helping his African students understand the Second Coming of Christ. The fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians is one place where Paul discusses the return of Christ. They were discussing that passage in class. Verses 16 and 17 read like this: "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet ... And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (RSV). Stirring, exciting imagery written by Paul.
His students read that passage and one of them wanted to know exactly what Christ would say when he returned. The student took the passage literally. Since it said Christ will return with a shout of command, the student asked, "Professor Fisher, please tell us what Jesus will shout."
Gregory Fisher, their teacher, had no answer for that question. Scripture doesn't tell us. No one could possibly know. But Fisher thought about the question for a moment. He thought about all the pain and suffering he saw daily in Africa: the lack of adequate medical care, the starvation, the filth, the beggars, the orphans, the lepers, the violence, the tribal wars. And he thought about all the evil there is in the rest of the world: wars, inhumanity, genocide, economic exploitation, pollution of the environment.
Gregory Fisher responded, "When Jesus returns, he will shout 'Enough!' " Seeing that his students were startled by his answer, the professor explained. "Enough! Enough suffering. Enough starvation. Enough terror. Enough death. Enough indignity. Enough lives trapped in hopelessness. Enough sickness and disease. Enough time. Enough!"
The old hymn says, "When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take us home, what joy shall fill our hearts." Advent is a time of anticipation. We look forward to Christ's return, the Second Coming, when God will say, "Enough!" and put an end to all the suffering and injustice in our world. I think that's something of an "adventure": to be watching and waiting expectantly for the return of the Risen Christ.
But, secondly, Advent is not only a time of anticipation. It's also a time of preparation. That same Holy Christ, the Mighty King who is coming, who will say "Enough!" to the evil out there in the world, has also seen quite enough of our sins. Your sins. My sins. Our sins. Advent calls for us to look hard at the ways we've been living, to question our values, to consider how we have been treating other people. Advent calls us to examine ourselves, to prepare ourselves. Then, when we see we've been going in the wrong direction, to repent. That's what "repentance" means. It simply means "turning around."
All of us have a choice: we can either live orientated toward sin, or live orientated toward God. Whichever part of ourselves that we feed more, with our time and energy and attention, will grow. Reminds me of the English cuckoo. That's a bird, the English cuckoo. In England it's a rather common bird. I am told that the cuckoo never builds a nest of its own. When it feels an egg coming on, the cuckoo finds another nest with eggs in it and no parent bird watching over it. Then the cuckoo flies into the nest, hurriedly lays its egg among the other bird's eggs, and flies off. That's all the cuckoo does in terms of parenting!
Say it's a thrush nest. The mother thrush returns and, not being very good at arithmetic, doesn't notice that there's an additional egg in her nest, even though the cuckoo's egg is much bigger than her own eggs. She sits on all the eggs until they hatch. Let's say four tiny thrushes and one huge cuckoo bird are hatched. The baby cuckoo will be three or four times the size of a baby thrush! But for Mother Thrush, it doesn't matter. If it's in her nest, she considers it hers.
Mother Thrush, being a good mother, flies off every morning, early, to get a worm. She flies back and sees four tiny thrush mouths opened up and peeping -- and one giant cuckoo mouth. Guess who gets the worm?
The cuckoo gets bigger and bigger, and the baby thrushes get smaller and smaller. I'm told that in England, it's fairly easy to find a baby cuckoo in a nest. Simply walk along the hedge row and look for little dead baby thrushes on the ground. The cuckoo, as it grows bigger, throws them out one by one. Mother Thrush will end up feeding a cuckoo that's three times as big as herself. (Reported by Stuart Briscoe, "Preaching Today" Tape 135.)
Sin, once it gets into our lives, has a way of taking over, growing larger, and sometimes consuming us. That which we feed will grow. If we nurse, "feed" our anger, bitterness, revenge-seeking pride, greed for power or possessions, self-destructive habits or behaviors, belittling another person, using another person, lust, self-pity, whatever, these things can begin to consume us and perhaps eventually destroy what is best within us. Advent is a time for preparation, for examining ourselves, before Christ returns. Self-examination, confronting old habits, changing patterns, turning back to God, feeding what is good and spiritually healthy in ourselves -- there can be "adventure" in that.
Anticipation and preparation are two of the themes of Advent. We can "comfort" ourselves, as Isaiah puts it ("Comfort my people") with the assurance that Christ is coming again. Human beings and this planet have suffered enough. Enough is enough! Christ is coming again to set things right.
But Advent is also a time of "preparing a way for the Lord," leveling the hills, lifting up the valleys, and smoothing out the rough places in our lives, so that when Christ does return, he will find us ready to come into his presence. Anticipation and preparation: part of the adventure of Advent.
Sometime around 1500, one of the Stuart Kings, James the IV, established a tradition. He, the king, plus his royal entourage, would leave London in time to arrive at Linlithgow by December 6. Then the king and his court would enjoy themselves hunting, fishing, and partying every single day from December 6 to Christmas Eve. After a brief break for worship on Christmas morning and again on Christmas afternoon, they would return to the business of feasting, which continued without a break until Epiphany on January 6. It was a solid month of celebration. Only then would the king return to London and the business of state.
Commenting on this custom, George Bass writes, "[This has] been the popular nature of Advent ever since ... Christians in America have been able, through opportunity and prosperity, to keep Advent as kings and queens once did, instead of keeping watch for the King of kings" (The Gift, the Glitter and the Glory).
Isn't that largely true? For many of us, this month between Thanksgiving and Christmas is primarily a time for parties, purchases, and presents. And of course some businesses would like us to begin our shopping even sooner. This year I was surprised to see artificial Christmas trees and Christmas decorations on display in some stores beginning November 1. It makes me wonder.
Earlier generations of Christians did not observe Advent in this manner! For 1,500 years, the weeks before Christmas were considered a solemn season, a holy time marked by prayer, penitence and -- get this! -- daily fasting. Many of us put on pounds during this season! Earlier generations of Christians took them off -- through fasting. Our "fasting" generally doesn't start until after January 1, when, as a New Year's resolution, we may go on a diet. Weddings were discouraged during Advent. Choir processions were generally silent. Christmas decorations weren't hung until Christmas Eve. Purple was the color of the season: a somber, serious color meant to remind us of sins. Most of the Advent hymns were written in a mournful, minor key. Advent was called "The Winter Lent," and, like Lent, for a while at least, Advent was six weeks long.
Quite a difference in Advent customs from earlier generations to today! For 1,500 years, Christians prepared for Christmas, not by filling their days and nights with more and more activities, but by slowing things down, "shutting things down," so they had time for spiritual reflection, for looking inward, for anticipating the coming of Christ.
It seems to me that, to some extent, that attitude of keeping Advent apart helped make Advent an "adventure." There are, after all, several definitions of the word "adventure." The most common is "a risky undertaking." But another definition of "adventure" is "a remarkable and exciting experience." Observing Advent in the right spirit can make these four weeks before Christmas a spiritual "adventure": a remarkable and exciting time of drawing nearer to God.
For Advent is, first of all, a time of anticipation. We look forward not only to the birth of the Christ Child at Christmas, but also to that great day when the Risen Christ shall come again, when the King, the "Lion King" of Judah, will return with majesty and power. (See Revelation 5:5.) Isn't it an adventure ... isn't it exciting to believe that Christ will come again -- and who knows, maybe this Advent! -- and overturn all the suffering and pain and evil that plagues us in this world?
Gregory Fisher is a missionary who teaches at a Bible college in West Africa. He writes about an incident that took place in one of his classes when he was helping his African students understand the Second Coming of Christ. The fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians is one place where Paul discusses the return of Christ. They were discussing that passage in class. Verses 16 and 17 read like this: "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet ... And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (RSV). Stirring, exciting imagery written by Paul.
His students read that passage and one of them wanted to know exactly what Christ would say when he returned. The student took the passage literally. Since it said Christ will return with a shout of command, the student asked, "Professor Fisher, please tell us what Jesus will shout."
Gregory Fisher, their teacher, had no answer for that question. Scripture doesn't tell us. No one could possibly know. But Fisher thought about the question for a moment. He thought about all the pain and suffering he saw daily in Africa: the lack of adequate medical care, the starvation, the filth, the beggars, the orphans, the lepers, the violence, the tribal wars. And he thought about all the evil there is in the rest of the world: wars, inhumanity, genocide, economic exploitation, pollution of the environment.
Gregory Fisher responded, "When Jesus returns, he will shout 'Enough!' " Seeing that his students were startled by his answer, the professor explained. "Enough! Enough suffering. Enough starvation. Enough terror. Enough death. Enough indignity. Enough lives trapped in hopelessness. Enough sickness and disease. Enough time. Enough!"
The old hymn says, "When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take us home, what joy shall fill our hearts." Advent is a time of anticipation. We look forward to Christ's return, the Second Coming, when God will say, "Enough!" and put an end to all the suffering and injustice in our world. I think that's something of an "adventure": to be watching and waiting expectantly for the return of the Risen Christ.
But, secondly, Advent is not only a time of anticipation. It's also a time of preparation. That same Holy Christ, the Mighty King who is coming, who will say "Enough!" to the evil out there in the world, has also seen quite enough of our sins. Your sins. My sins. Our sins. Advent calls for us to look hard at the ways we've been living, to question our values, to consider how we have been treating other people. Advent calls us to examine ourselves, to prepare ourselves. Then, when we see we've been going in the wrong direction, to repent. That's what "repentance" means. It simply means "turning around."
All of us have a choice: we can either live orientated toward sin, or live orientated toward God. Whichever part of ourselves that we feed more, with our time and energy and attention, will grow. Reminds me of the English cuckoo. That's a bird, the English cuckoo. In England it's a rather common bird. I am told that the cuckoo never builds a nest of its own. When it feels an egg coming on, the cuckoo finds another nest with eggs in it and no parent bird watching over it. Then the cuckoo flies into the nest, hurriedly lays its egg among the other bird's eggs, and flies off. That's all the cuckoo does in terms of parenting!
Say it's a thrush nest. The mother thrush returns and, not being very good at arithmetic, doesn't notice that there's an additional egg in her nest, even though the cuckoo's egg is much bigger than her own eggs. She sits on all the eggs until they hatch. Let's say four tiny thrushes and one huge cuckoo bird are hatched. The baby cuckoo will be three or four times the size of a baby thrush! But for Mother Thrush, it doesn't matter. If it's in her nest, she considers it hers.
Mother Thrush, being a good mother, flies off every morning, early, to get a worm. She flies back and sees four tiny thrush mouths opened up and peeping -- and one giant cuckoo mouth. Guess who gets the worm?
The cuckoo gets bigger and bigger, and the baby thrushes get smaller and smaller. I'm told that in England, it's fairly easy to find a baby cuckoo in a nest. Simply walk along the hedge row and look for little dead baby thrushes on the ground. The cuckoo, as it grows bigger, throws them out one by one. Mother Thrush will end up feeding a cuckoo that's three times as big as herself. (Reported by Stuart Briscoe, "Preaching Today" Tape 135.)
Sin, once it gets into our lives, has a way of taking over, growing larger, and sometimes consuming us. That which we feed will grow. If we nurse, "feed" our anger, bitterness, revenge-seeking pride, greed for power or possessions, self-destructive habits or behaviors, belittling another person, using another person, lust, self-pity, whatever, these things can begin to consume us and perhaps eventually destroy what is best within us. Advent is a time for preparation, for examining ourselves, before Christ returns. Self-examination, confronting old habits, changing patterns, turning back to God, feeding what is good and spiritually healthy in ourselves -- there can be "adventure" in that.
Anticipation and preparation are two of the themes of Advent. We can "comfort" ourselves, as Isaiah puts it ("Comfort my people") with the assurance that Christ is coming again. Human beings and this planet have suffered enough. Enough is enough! Christ is coming again to set things right.
But Advent is also a time of "preparing a way for the Lord," leveling the hills, lifting up the valleys, and smoothing out the rough places in our lives, so that when Christ does return, he will find us ready to come into his presence. Anticipation and preparation: part of the adventure of Advent.
