This is a follow up to an earlier facebook status update. Thanks to Rev. Jim Groome for prompting further reflection. This may or may not be coherent:
The season of Advent is upon us. American consumer culture refers to Advent as "the holidays", or in some cases, "the Christmas season". One of the challenges of being a disciple in our culture is to differentiate the cultural kudzu that has grown up around the Advent and Christmas seasons. I am learning that it need not be an either/or necessarily, but that there are aspects of the cultural celebration of the 'holidays' that are worth retaining: time with family, decorating the house/yard, watching classic movies, etc. I am not going to argue against these things, because I plan on doing all that as well. We're going to watch It's a Wonderful Life, starting on the Friday after Thanksgiving we'll be listening to Christmas music, we're to decorate our house, etc. I enjoy all of these things and above all I enjoy the time spent with family.
The truth of the matter is that the things that I've listed have nothing to do with Advent or Jesus. That does not make them bad, but it can distract us from the attention and patience asked of us during the season of Advent. The first Sunday in Advent, at least the lectionary texts for this coming Sunday, might serve to jar us out of our consumeristic stupor just in time to save us from making the month of December exclusively about presents, over-crowded schedules, and piles of junk food. I've often complained about how 'Christmas' starts earlier and earlier every year and I think that's because of three reasons: (1) It's supposed to be fun; (2) There's a lot to do in a relatively short time (church stuff, school stuff, work stuff, time with friends, time with family, and on and on); and (3) we are a very impatient people. If it's fun, we want it now and in abundance. So, the holidays start the day after Halloween, if you go by the seasonal changes in our stores and the cues from commercials (both of which are hugely important in our culture). I'm going to stop complaining about this, though. It's a bit like standing in the river and demanding that it stop.
Here's why I love Advent - it grinds all this "Christmas starts after Halloween" stuff to a halt. And I'm not a Scrooge or a killjoy - I simply believe that (as far as the church is concerned) we need much less instant gratification and much more intentional cultivation. Advent is about patience, waiting, holding one's breath in anticipation. It's about looking for the signs, it's about anticipating the unexpected, it's about marking the time and letting the Spirit of God do a slow work in the midst of a busy time. In an important sense, Advent is concerned with the work of discipleship.
Perhaps that's why the readings for this Sunday are unsettling to me. The readings for this week (at least the two I'm using) are Isaiah 64:1-9 and Mark 13:24-37 - these are explicitly apocalyptic, eschatological Scriptures. And they do not fit in our cultural views of what Christmas is about, at least in my experience. If 'Christmas' is about family, It's a Wonderful Life, and parties (all of which are in my immediate future), then there's probably not a lot of attention paid to Scriptures that talk about the heavens being torn open or the sun being darkened or the return of Jesus.
There's a part of me that wants to retreat into the familiar. The reds and greens, the lights and decorations, hot chocolate and Christmas candies. Some part of me wants to pretend that that's the meaning of Christmas -that it's not about the God Who intrudes unannounced into our world and my life. The wild God Who bursts on the scene when we're not paying attention. Perhaps we're busy wrapping presents (horridly so, in my case) or shuttling kids to and fro or rushing to some store somewhere with some coupon. Jesus tells us in Mark to keep awake. Wonderful advice this time of year, as the dulcet tones of Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole lull us into peaceful sleep.
There's another word for us at this time of year:
Keep awake! Stay alert! The King is on His way!
