(Image credit: Jo Christian Oterhals)
I fear I’ve been a bit of a misery in recent years when it comes to Advent.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas itself – not so much for the gifts, the parties, the Christmas meals and the fuss, but rather for the deep and mysterious truth of the incarnation. And it’s because I love the real significance of Christmas that I’ve allowed myself to become a bit of a humbug about the season that precedes it.
It’s mostly the naked commercialism of it all that gets to me. I start to get irritated when the “seasonal goods” aisle appears in the supermarket as early as September. Then, as soon as the first day of December rolls around, the airwaves are full of Christmas music and every other house is festooned with flashing, twinkling lights. Then there’s the inevitable rush to send or give Christmas cards to the world and his wife, buy presents for everyone, plan meals and get-togethers, respond to invitations, attend church rehearsals for sundry Christmas events… and so it goes on.
What bugs me even more is how the church so often fails to appropriately recognise and mark the earth-shattering importance of Christmas. I’m not talking about events: some churches have events galore and still manage to largely miss the point. Yes, carols are sung, Christmas plays or pageants are presented, and mention is made of the fact that baby Jesus came to be the light of the world. But the underlying subtext is often this: the only reason he came as a baby was so he could grow up, do some cool miracles, teach some nice but frankly slightly weird stuff about loving our enemies, then be crucified and resurrected so you and I could get our sins forgiven and secure a place in heaven after we die.
And so the “deep magic” of Christmas is glossed over in a flurry of activity and quickly forgotten again until the following year.
I’m glad to say that this year, I’m finding things a little different. I’ll admit that I was mildly irritated when my wife and daughter insisted on setting up and decorating the Christmas tree before December had even arrived. But since then, something has happened: I’ve found that I’m actually enjoying listening to carols and Christmas music on the radio and contemplating seasonal activities. I’m actually beginning to feel festive, almost in spite of myself. I’m feeling an excitement about Christmas that I haven’t felt for a while, and it has nothing to do with gifts or parties or turkey.
So what’s different? I can only put it down to this: I’ve been on a journey over the past few years – a journey of discovering the gospel in a new and fresh way, almost as it for the first time. That journey has gained momentum with each passing year, and this year I feel that some things have begun to click into place in ways they never have before – things about the gospel, the kingdom of God, God’s eternal purpose for His people, and the life that Jesus died and rose again to make possible. And Christmas is where it all began – where the immutable God, the One who is from eternity to eternity, pulled back the curtain and sneaked onto the stage almost unnoticed in a backwater of the Roman empire, as angels looked on in amazement and the whole of creation held its breath. This birth that we celebrate at Christmas was the moment when God finally stepped out of the shadows and revealed Himself in all His glory and magnificence – and He looked just like a baby.
So I’m getting into Advent this year. I went to an Advent service on Sunday, I’m doing daily Advent readings, I’m listening and humming and even singing along to carols, and I’m looking forward to Christmas services. And I make no apologies for putting up a good number of Advent- and Christmas-themed posts.
If Christians and the church can’t get excited and make a fuss about Christmas and Easter, which mark the two most momentous events in the history of the world, there’s something seriously wrong. So this year, I’m making a determined effort to carry the light of God in my heart and to be amazed and inspired anew by the glorious incongruity of the baby who is King of the world.
