Every year at this time of the year, I attempt to meditate on the various Scripture passages that predict and demonstrate that the prophetic proclamations of a coming Messiah have been fulfilled. It has proven to be a very positive and uplifting study that has given me a new appreciation for the whole atmosphere and the real purpose of the season.
But this year, then came July. Approximately two weeks after the grand patriotic Fourth of July celebrations, I began to notice a very strange-at-the-time phenomenon. It seems that close to the middle of that month, several stores, at least in this area of central Florida, began to pull out their Christmas decorations and slowly started to decorate for the biggest sales time of the year. As well, in my email, I began to receive advertising proclaiming that “Black Friday” sales were coming soon!
In the past, when I have seen such blatant marketing ploys made primarily to attract more buyers and business activity, I have tended to ignore it or protest it as a cruel marketing scheme to “take Christ out of Christmas.” But this year, I have simply been observing this trend and the tendency to “start” Christmas earlier than ever.
Then I heard of a radio broadcast this past November in which, on NPR’s Morning Edition, Rev. Cameron Partridge shared an idea he developed during his years as a college chaplain. “You know, you’ve got the end of the semester. You’ve got finals. Preparation to leave for home. So, Advent barely got to be observed.”
In years past, when we have celebrated the whole season of Advent, we have followed the traditional church calendar and celebrated this wonderful season of Christmas preparation during the four weeks preceding Christmas, normally beginning after Thanksgiving and proceeding through Christmas Eve.
But Partridge decided to start it a few weeks sooner, in order to draw attention to the necessary, urgent themes of the season. He says the shift gave students “an opportunity to actually really be present together and to observe it together, which could be grounding in a time of great intensity.”
And this seems of upmost importance these days, especially given the current extended conflict in the Holy Land. “We can’t pretend that everything is fine,” he says. “There is tumult in the world, and it is real and it is hard and it is deeply affecting people.”
The current move to begin marking the Advent season earlier began in 2005, when the Rev. William Petersen got together a group of clergy, professors, and church musicians who formed something that came to be called the Advent Project.
Petersen believes that Advent for Christians is as much about hope for the Second Coming of Jesus—sometimes called the Second Advent—that will usher in the reign of God as much as it is about commemorating the first coming of God in the person of Jesus in first-century Palestine.
Petersen says that tension is where we all reside, which is why Advent is what we need. “In its dwelling in the already and the not-yet, Advent can ground and strengthen us in all of that uncertainty and help give us an ability to connect.”
The Apostle Paul, In Galatians 4:4-5, proclaimed, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
In other words, the good news is not just that God came to the earth as a baby, but that by doing so, he not only prepared us for eternity through his life and his death on the cross, but he also signaled hope for his Second Advent in which the heartache, injustice, and death of our fallen world will be overcome by goodness, truth, and life.
And all of this is appropriated by faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
By the time you read this, Christmas is only a few days away. So for each of us this year, let’s spend these next few days preparing our hearts for the birthday of the King!
And next year, is anybody up for starting Advent celebrations in July too?
Merry Christmas, everyone!
And God bless…
Chuck Tabor is a regular columnist for this newspaper and a former pastor in the area. He may be reached at [email protected].
