Advent is the season on the liturgical calendar that teaches us about waiting—living in what-is as we wait for what-is-not-yet.
The
season reflects on and uses the nation of Israel’s experience of looking
forward to the coming of the promised Messiah and his peaceable kingdom—what-is-not-yet—as
they lived under the rule of foreign nations (Babylon, Persia, the Seleucids,
Rome) —i.e., what-is. The Advent hymn O Come, O Come,
Emmanuel captures the sentiment of the season.
O come, O come,
Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,
who mourns in
lonely exile here, until the Son of God appears.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.
The
liturgical readings for the season always begin with the ministry of John the
Baptizer. John was the forerunner—the one who came before
the Messiah to prepare the people for his coming. The gospel writers portrayed John as
the fulfillment of the prophesy in Isaiah:
A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness, prepare the way
of the LORD.
make straight in the desert the
highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill shall be
made low;
the uneven ground shall become
level,
and the rough places a plain. (Isaiah 40:3—4)
John’s message spoke to the deep longing of the people—a longing for the long-awaited Messiah, a longing for his rule of righteousness and justice, a longing to escape the pain and struggle of their current situation. In other words, John spoke to the longing to move beyond what-is to what-is-not-yet-but-will-be.
In the same way, the season of Advent speaks to a longing deep within us—often an unrecognized, unexpressed longing—for what-is-not as we deal with what-is.
The account of John’s ministry in the gospel of Luke (Luke 3:1—15) describes his ministry with more detail than the other gospels. His ministry centered in a baptism that expressed repentance. In defiance of the Temple, it promised forgiveness apart from sacrifices and the priests’ authority. His baptism, denoting repentance, brought forgiveness.
His preaching explained what that repentance would look like—“fruits worthy of repentance” (Luke 3:8). Each group that came out to him—the crowds in general, tax collectors, soldiers—were instructed in what repentance looked like for them. The average person was to share what they had with those who had none—“Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise” (Luke 3:11). Tax collectors were to not abuse their position, collecting only what was prescribed by Rome (Luke 3:12—13). Likewise, soldiers were not to abuse their power by extorting money from the people through threaten and false accusations (Luke 3:14).
John instructed the people to live the ways of that for which they longed. He taught them to put into practice the ways of the kingdom—sharing with a spirit of generosity, trusting God’s abundant provision; using power on behalf of others rather than over, down against them for personal benefit at their expense (the way power is commonly used in the world—see Mark 10:41—45). John instructed them to live the ways of what-is-not-yet-but-will-be in the midst of what-is. By living the ways of what-will-be-but-is-not-yet in the midst of what-is, the people would help to bring the what-will-be-into reality. They would escape the power of what-is.
The season of Advent speaks to our deep-seated longing for what-will-be-but-is-not-yet. It speaks to our desire to move beyond what-is. In addition, it instructs us to put into practice in our own lives that for which we long—the ways of the kingdom that Jesus taught.
The season of Advent is a season that teaches us about waiting in the midst of what-is as we long for what-will-be-but-is-not-yet. Our waiting is not a passive waiting. It is an active waiting as we work to bring what-will-be-but-is-not-yet into reality in the midst of what-is.
May this Advent season
be filled with the ways of the kingdom—what-will-be-but-is-not-yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment