We wait for the One

I heard from a friend yesterday. In and amongst other things, he shared with me the news that someone we both know has been moved to hospice care – he probably won’t make Christmas. This morning I’ve been praying for him and his family as he closes out his earthly journey.

We all know such stories.

And the closer to home they hit, the more painful they are.

Seeing people succumb to disease and illness and failing physicality.

Inwardly we groan.

And it’s not just people dying.

It’s the brokenness we see all around us. Everywhere.

War. Conflict. Injustice. People trafficking. Corporate greed. Poverty. The climate emergency.

And I’m not even scratching the surface.

We groan.

Two weeks ago I read a short book to help prepare me for Advent. I don’t usually cry when I read but the words of this book stirred me in several places as I was reminded of the beautiful hope that is ours’ in Jesus…

Advent, ultimately is a season of hope. We celebrate that Jesus came in his incarnation and find comfort in how he comes to us in our daily lives, but all of our deepest longings meet their end in Christ coming again, bringing healing, peace, joy, and an unimaginable wholeness in his wake. The final return of Christ is the undoing of cancer. It is the utter dismantling of white supremacy and racism. It is the delivery of justice for the victimized, for the weakest and the most vulnerable whom the powerful have brutalized with seeming impunity. It is the regeneration of dead coral reefs. It is the end of global pandemics. It is the vindication of those falsely imprisoned. It is the weeping of children giving way to their eternal laughter. It is the death of death. (Tish Harrison Warren)

The death of death.

I love that.

We talk about it often at Neighbourhood. How Scripture tells the true story of how in Christ, God is at work making all things new. The great reversal of sin and death and darkness began with the death and resurrection of Jesus. We will see it in all its fullness when He returns, but we get to taste it in places now, and are invited to lean into it and live in anticipation.

The season of Advent begins on 30th November. And for those who don’t know (and no shame if you don’t), actually marks the beginning of the church year. The start is not marked by Easter. Or Pentecost. Or even the birth of Jesus. But Advent.

And throughout church history Advent is a season where Christians have waited.

Let me quote from Tish Harrison Warren again.

We begin our Christian year in waiting. We do not begin with our own frenetic effort or energy. We do not begin with the merriment of Christmas or the triumph of Easter. We do not begin with the work of the church or the mandate of the Great Commission. Instead, we begin in a place of yearning. We wait for our king to come.

She goes on…

The word advent derives from the Latin adventus, which means “coming”. The liturgical season of Advent is the time in which we prepare for and look forward to the coming of Christ.

Christian, of course, believe that Christ has already come. Jesus has already brough the kingdom of God near. He has already stretched out his hands to heal and to bless. He has already been broken on the cross and defeated death. He has already poured out his Spirit. So why do we re-enter a season of waiting each year? What are we waiting for?

We Christians believe, however, not just in once coming of Christ but in three: the coming of Christ in the incarnation (theologians have sometimes called this the adventus redemptionis—the coming of redemption), the coming of Christ in what Scripture terms the “last days” (the adventus glorificamus—the coming in glory), and the coming of Christ in our present moment, through the Holy Spirit’s work and through Word and sacrament (the adventus sanctificationis—the coming of holy things or holiness). Advent celebrates and holds together all three “comings” of Christ.

So as you begin your Christmas preparations (and maybe you have already started!) can I encourage you to be intentional about how you will journey through Advent. Don’t be in a hurry to get to Christmas. Enter into the waiting. Allow yourself to groan at the brokenness you see all around. Inside of you. In the world. In creation. And allow your groans to lead you to the One we long for.

One more quote from Tish Harrison Warren. She says,

To practice Advent is to lean into a cosmic ache: our deep, wordless desire for things to be made right.

In our Sunday gatherings through Advent, we are going to be in the book of Ruth. It’s a story set in Bethlehem, it involves a woman, who has a baby…and is all about God’s redemption. It sounds a little bit like the Christmas story we celebrate each year. But it’s not THE Christmas story…just part of the back-story to Christmas. And more than that, it’s a story of tragedy, of yearning, and of God’s provision. As we look back at the story of Ruth, we will be pointed forward to the One whom the carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem speaks of…the One in whom…

…The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.‘

As we journey through Advent, let us prepare for the One who is the answer to all our groanings.

The One in whom God is at work making all things new.