See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. – Isaiah 43:19
Things never happen the same way twice. – C.S. Lewis
Are you ready for an Advent Adventure?
If you are like me, part of what you love about the season of Advent is bringing out all of the old heirloom treasures as part of decorating for Christmas, both at home and at church. At home we have ornaments that were on my grandma’s tree and on Mom’s tree – as well as ornaments that have been on our tree for decades, including some handmade ornaments that Shayne made. Here at church, I love bringing the life-sized nativity figures out of storage and displaying them just as has been done for over 60 years.
Aa we prepare for Christmas we take comfort in singing the old carols and popular secular music from the good old days. We look forward to gathering on Christmas eve and retelling the dearly loved ancient story. We want to take part in the rituals we have shared since our youth; we want to gather in the dimly lit sanctuary, sing Silent Night, and hold small candles that unite to form a warm and comforting glow.
The season of Advent is a season of preparations for Christmas, and many of those preparations are centered on re-creating the old and the familiar, the time-honored and the comfortable. But we should probably also leave some room for the surprising and the new!
The Oxford English Dictionary gives the definition of “Advent” as ‘The arrival of a notable person or thing’. It stems from the Latin root, Adventus, which means ‘arrival’ through its root from the word advenire whereby ad – ‘to’ and venire – ‘come’. Christians simultaneously celebrate and retell the ancient story of God’s arrival in human form by way of the babe in the manger, and the expectancy of Christ’s second coming. The story of that first arrival and the traditions that have built up across the centuries around its celebration are at the heart of the old, familiar, and comfortable patterns that we look forward to.
But what about that second coming? What about that new thing that God is always bringing about?
A website dedicated to Europe Language Jobs examines the shared Latin roots of Advent and adventure; “The word “Advent” comes from Adventus and “adventure” from Adventurus, the latter signifying something that is ‘about to happen’ and also happens to come from the root advenire. From this, we could conclude that the period of Advent concerns the arrival of a new adventure, in whatever form this may end up taking.”
Did you ever have an Advent calendar as a child? Do you remember eagerly opening each little door, day-by-day? What made it so exciting was the fact that you never knew just what was going to be behind the door. It may have always been chocolate, but it was never in the same form. It may have always been a treat or a toy, but you could never know just what treat or toy. It was all about surprise and the eager expectancy of something new and different.
My hope for us all this Advent season is that in the midst of the comfortable traditions and time-worn patterns, we make room for the new, the unexpected, the adventure that God has in store for us this Christmas.
Christ has come, Christ is here, Christ will come again! Let’s not be so focused on the way God chose to be revealed 2,000 years ago that we miss the new ways God reveals Godself now.
Peace,
Pastor Layne