Advent Happy New Liturgical Year

The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the first season of the Christian year. In some churches, on this Sunday you may be greeted with a resounding, “Happy New Year!” For Advent is the first of the focused liturgical seasons, in which the Church commemorates and celebrates specific acts of God in earthly history as He personally intervenes to bring about the salvation of creatures and all of the created order. During Advent, the attention and contemplation of the Church turn to the coming of Christ.

And so, the season of Advent is a time of waiting and anticipation – of expectant longing, hope, and preparation for the coming of the Lord. We often say that Advent bends, or folds, time, bringing together the transcendent reality and redemptive work of the past and future. In this four-week season, we remember that Jesus became incarnate over 2,000 years ago, and we joyfully look forward to the Christmas celebration of the first coming of the Word made flesh. At the same time, we watch and wait expectantly for His second Advent, when He will come again in all His glory and triumphant power at the end of the age. And while we watch and wait, we meditate on what Bernard of Clairvaux called the third advent of Christ, His coming into our own lives, as we gratefully remember the day He was formed in our hearts by faith (Galatians 4:19), and thank Him for calling us into His story. Theologian Robert Webber put it this way: “In Advent we celebrate the beginning and ending of Christ's victory over the powers of evil, and we call upon God to accomplish that victory in our own lives, to break in on us, to be born in our hearts, and to create us anew."

Advent worship reflects our constant watchful expectation that God will indeed break through – in countless marvelous and wondrous ways. (And so, this is “the most wonderful time of the year!”) As we journey through the four Sundays of the season – Hope, Love, Joy, Peace – the readings, prayers, professions, and music woven into the liturgies direct out hearts and minds to this threefold longing for His coming, and we experience the mystery of Christ anew. In worship spaces, you may notice the use of the traditional Advent color purple, which calls to mind the royalty of Christ. You’ll likely find an Advent wreath, with each candle lit in turn, and perhaps a tree decorated with Chrismon (“Christ monogram”) ornaments. And, because we are expectantly awaiting “the Coming One,” we reserve the familiar Christmas carols for the season of Christmas, and our songs and hymns during Advent echo the cry of our hearts: “O Come, O come, Emmanuel!"

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Copyright ©2018 Ellen Koehler.  All Rights Reserved.