The Impossible Surprise Series

The definition of the word advent is the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. In the Christian church Advent is the first season of the church year that includes the four Sundays before Christmas Eve. Advent is a time for us to prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is also a time when we are reminded that we should be looking forward to the second coming of Christ. Thus, the season of advent is about the past, present, and the future. We remember the birth of Jesus that took place somewhere around the year 4 BC, we celebrate his birth that brought us salvation in the present, and we look forward to the day when Christ will return to establish a new Earth and a new Heaven where those of us who call Christ Lord will spend eternity with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Advent is not the Christmas season, as much as it pains to say that. It seems that the secular world starts celebrating earlier and earlier. In the Philippines they begin to celebrate Christmas in September. You can imagine how happy this made me when I arrived and saw Christmas decorations better. I love everything about Christmas, and usually cannot wait to decorate my home, and start listening to Christmas music. So, when I arrived in the Philippines on November 6th, and saw they were already celebrating Christmas I was in heaven. Of course, I was excited to finally hug my Cathlyn, but Christmas music and decorations were like the cherry on top of my favorite ice cream sundae. However, for the church the Christmas season is only 12 days long. The first day of Christmas is Christmas day on December 25th, and the last day of Christmas in January 6th. January 6rth is the Epiphany. This is the day when we celebrate the visit of the Magi. I will talk more about the wise men on January 6th, but the reason why we celebrate the visit of the wise men on the last day of the Christmas season is because most scholars believe that it would have taken these Magi at least two years to travel from the east to Nazareth. So, if your nativity scene is like this one and mine at home, it is historically inaccurate. The Magi were not there on the night of Jesus’ birth. My sister takes this so seriously that when she sets up her nativity scene she places the wise men on the other side of the room, and then periodically moves them closer to the baby Jesus as the day of Epiphany draws near. I want to just say one more thing about the wise men before I move on. Well, actually I just want to ask a question. How many wise men visited Jesus? I will tell you on January 6th.

The most frustrating part about Advent for me is the music. I am ready to start singing Christmas hymns, but technically the Christmas hymns like Joy to the World and Hark the Herald Angles sing are only to be sung during the Christmas seasonor perhaps on Christmas Eve. The music during advent should go along with the theme of waiting. That is why we sang O Come O Come Emanuel this morning. As a pastor planning worship I try to pick hymns that go along with the Advent season, but you can be sure that we will sing a lot of the Christmas hymns. It actually becomes more appropriate to sing the Christmas hymns as we get closer and closer to Christmas day, and I will be taking advantage of that fact as we go through this season of preparation and waiting.

As I looked at the Scriptures in the Revised Common Lectionary for the next for weeks, I was not happy with what I saw. They just did not speak to me, and trust me you do not want to listen to me preach on Scriptures that don’t speak to my heart. Therefore, I have decided that I wanted to take a closer look at some of the people who played pivotal parts in the birth story of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So, on the first Sunday of Advent when we light the Hope candle, I want to take a close look at the parents of John the Baptist; Zechariah and Elizabeth. Next week we will light the peace candle, and I will preach on John the Baptist. The theme on the third Sunday of Advent is joy. I will preach on Joseph that Sunday. On the fourth Sunday we will light the candle that represents love, and I will preach on Mary. And, then, of course, I will bring advent to a close and bring in the Christmas season on Christmas Eve when we will light the Christ candle, and I will preach on the birth story of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.