Joyful Anticipation
Advent, for the believer, is the assurance we are “those with whom he is pleased!”
By: David goodrich, middle school principal
Advent is a season of joyful anticipation, crowned in glorious light, wonder, and majesty!
Recounting my memories of the Advent season as a young lad in Michigan conjures up a host of emotions and memories. Christmas was indeed a "wintry wonderland," where one could enjoy the sounds, smells, sights, activities, and tastes of the season.
December, as I remember it, ushered in the arctic blitz, bone-chilling winds, snow, and a coolness to the air that transformed every breath into a misty cloud of liquid and every lake into a frozen sea of endless possibility.
From hunting to ice fishing, snowmobiling, ice skating, neighborhood games of hockey, visiting outdoor Christmas villages, houses adorned in light, snuggling up next to the wood-burning fireplace while watching Christmas movies with cousins, sips of hot chocolate, fudge, candy canes, Christmas dinner, and the joy of communing with family at the grandparents’ house, Advent was a time of joyous celebration!
The Good Old Days
Today, we find ourselves looking back, remembering and longing to revisit the "good old days." Life was simple; the world was vast, technology was invisible, the family was connected, friends were closer than brothers, politics were obsolete, and pandemics were historical fiction … an idyllic world!
Yet, when faced with reality, the "good old days" might merely be an illusion when one confronts history and scripture. Throughout the biblical and historical narrative, Advent was a season of waiting and longing for the promised Messiah and the hope of deliverance from bondage and oppression.
As many of our seventh and eighth grade students are learning in Western-Civilization, human history has been wrought with sin and its far-reaching consequences.
Every period in history is filled with darkness, a darkness that gives birth to human oppression, slavery, and man-centric ideals … a period that suppresses the church, diminishes our need for God, and establishes man as life's ultimate authority.
The True Advent
However, as the Church, we can look back and realize that the stain of sin and its eternal consequences have already been conquered …
“And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’”
Luke 2:6-10
Our Redeemer, Creator, Light in the darkness, and true Advent has come.
Advent offers us great hope. The incarnate Christ humbled himself, taking on the form of His creation, becoming the perfect sacrifice for our sin.
Suddenly, we can understand the author’s meaning in Luke 2:11, “There was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’"
Advent, for the believer, is the assurance that we are “those with whom he is pleased!”
The Future Promise
And there is a chapter of Advent that is still unfinished … the promise of the conquering King, returning to receive His bride, destroy His enemies, and restore all things. “The good old days” that yielded fond memories of family and fun are now hopeful longings of the future promise.
Advent is a time to look back with joyful exuberance to the Messiah who purchased our freedom and finished our work. Moreover, it is a time to look ahead with gleeful anticipation that our King will reconcile all things and bring us HOME.
God’s message to the powerless? “I am with you.”