Back in the old days, you know, when I was the pastor of a church, I wanted to give my congregation a little lesson in Advent theology. I had our props person make me a five foot tall “1” and a matching “2.” I had them placed on the stage before church started and more than one person had questions. I ignored them. Our praise team even worked around the numbers during the singing portion of worship. When the message time arrived, you could see the anticipation on the faces of the crowd as they wondered, “Why is there a giant one and two on the stage?”
Here is why. Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” This time of year we are more than familiar with the first Advent, the arrival of the baby Jesus in the manger of Bethlehem. That arrival signals the ages-long anticipation of a people awaiting the Messiah, the Savior. For centuries God’s people longed for the “coming” or the “arrival” of their Messiah. It really is no wonder that the angels sang, and the star pointed the way.
Perhaps you’ve done a little reading around the season of Advent in preparation for Sunday or you’ve googled, “Advent Scriptures.” What I’m sure you’ve noticed is that there is a bit of “Day of the Lord” language and end times kinds of imagery with these texts. That’s because Advent not only looks back at Bethlehem but also forward to Christ’s return. For many Christians Advent passages feel a little confusing because we associate Jesus’ birth with “the beginning” and so many Advent passages seem to deal with “the end.”
May I offer you a way forward? On that Sunday as I took my preaching position between the giant “1” and “2,” I explained what I’ve just explained to you and then tried to teach our folks that we live in between the two Advents. As the people of God anticipated their Messiah’s arrival, so the Christian anticipates his return. We live and practice our faith “in between the Advents.”
The obvious question for me is, “So, what should I do here in between the Advents?”
