Waiting is a strange phenomenon. If we are waiting for a bus or train time seems to stand still and the waiting seemingly takes for ever. If we have a deadline to meet such as an exam that we have to sit or an essay to write, then time seems to go far too quickly and, before we know it, the time of the deadline is upon us. I'm sure that we can all remember the excitement that we as children felt as Christmas was approaching, the excitement being almost too much to bear. Similarly we look forward to holidays and special occasions, and then, all too quickly they have passed and we settle back into the ordinary events of daily life. In my experience there is nothing more daunting than the waiting room at a dentist's surgery!
The themes of Advent include watching, waiting and expectation. We are urged as Christians to be watchful and alert and on the look out for Christ.
The word 'Advent' comes to us from the Latin 'adventus' meaning 'coming' and the season of Advent in the Church's liturgical year comes immediately before Christmas when we celebrate the coming to earth of Christ, the Incarnate Son of God.
In the West, the First Sunday in Advent occurs on the Sunday closest to St Andrew's Day, which is the 30th November. For the Orthodox in the East however, Advent is a much longer season and begins in the middle of November. The season of Advent has its origins in the ancient practices of the Church and we find the earliest references to it in the 6th century, the Gelasian Sacramentary of the 8th century providing special prayers known as collects not only for the Sundays during Advent, but also for the corresponding Wednesdays and Fridays.
In former times Advent was kept as a penitential season in the same way as Lent, but with less strictness. In the West fasting is not formally observed, although the liturgical colour that is used is purple, that of penitence. Penitence is indeed an important aspect of Advent as indeed is anticipation and looking forward. Advent is traditionally divided into two parts. In the first past of Advent it is traditional to pray for and to look forward to the time when Christ will return in glory as the Righteous Judge. The second part of Advent begins on the 17th, the day known as 'O Saptientia' when the focus changes to looking forward to the festivities of Christmas.
In the film 'Far from the Madding Crowd' there is a beautifully evocative scene in which a young boy is spied as he crosses the fields, perhaps on his way to a confirmation class or Sunday School, reciting the Collect for the First Sunday in Advent:
Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever. Amen.
In the Book of Common Prayer, the collect is required to be said daily at Mattins and Evensong. It speaks evocatively of Christ coming again to banish darkness and sin through his illuminating light. I'm not sure that many Christians in contemporary times take belief in the imminent expectation of the Parousia, the Second Coming very seriously. The fact that Jesus himself is quoted as saying that 'this generation will not pass away' (Matt 24:34, Mark 13:30 and Luke 21:32) before predictions concerning the Parousia have taken place have led scholars to believe that either Jesus was mistaken in these words, or that the authors of the Gospels mistook the meaning of his words. One thing certainly seems to be true however, and that is that the amount of times that predictions concerning the Parousia are mentioned both within the Gospels and the Epistles would seem to indicate that belief in the imminent Second Coming of Christ was a belief that was prevalent in the Early Christian community.
Perhaps at error here is the very nature of time itself. We live within time and space, and yet God exists outside of time and space. If Jesus' nature was divine, then there must have been something outside of time and space about the knowledge he possessed as a result of his divine nature.
Many Christians may pay little regard to believing that Christ will come again tomorrow, and yet what cannot be denied from the Gospels is a certain imminence; that we may not know the day or the hour, but that there is an imminence in the promise of His return. We are urged therefore to live as though He were coming at any moment. This of course entails making necessary preparations to put our lives in order and to live according the principles of the Kingdom, because if we don't make those preparations the day will come upon us as a thief in the night (Matt 24:43) or as the unexpected arrival of the awaited bridegroom (Matt 25:1 ff).
Christmas is a busy time and there are many preparations to be made. To celebrate Christmas properly we will have to buy, write and send cards and buy presents and food, because if we don't make the necessary preparations it will be just like any other day and our celebration of the Feast will be somewhat lessened.
If it is true that for Christmas celebrations to be observed there has to be adequate preparation, then it must also be true that, according to Our Lord's promise of His imminent Second Coming, that there are also spiritual preparations to be made. Advent then is a time of preparation and we are called to use this time wisely to 'cast away the works of darkness and to put on the armour light'. May you have a blessed time of preparation in Advent and a joyful Christmas and Happy New Year.
Fr Simon
