I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
The Darkness Before the Dawn
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness -
on them light has shined.
Isaiah 9:2 (NRSV)
Glory to God in the highest
Peace on Earth, good will to all men
Let all of the world sing the chorus of joy
Because hope was born this night
From "Hope Was Born This Night" by Sidewalk Prophets
It has been said that Christmas starts earlier and earlier each year. This year, as I was walked around the local shopping mall on the day before Halloween, I noticed that Santa's workshop had already been set up. In mid-November, soft rock radio stations started playing Christmas songs all day every day. Perhaps I am letting my cynicism speak for me, but I cannot help but think that all the early Christmas ambiance is intended to get people in the mood to spend money by subconsciously appealing to their previous experiences of shopping for Christmas presents.
Along with "Christmas Creep," as some have named it, there is another phenomenon that has been observed in recent years: many people, particularly those who work for retailers, have been greeting people with "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Outraged by a supposed "War on Christmas," many Christians have been fighting to "keep Christ in Christmas." Though I fully understand that Jesus is "the reason for the season," hearing people say "Happy Holidays" doesn't really bother me, because I feel that what the prevailing culture has been calling Christmas and what the Church observes as Christmas are actually two very different things. I believe that what many call Christmas is actually a hijacking of a sacred celebration for economic purposes, so I don't really mind if people don't call it "Christmas."
On the Church calendar, there are two high holidays, Christmas and Easter, both of which are preceded by more somber seasons of preparation. The Church and the prevailing culture celebrates this time of year in very different ways. For many, the holiday season is the end of the year, but, for the Church, it is the beginning of the year. For many, December 25 marks the end of the Christmas season, but, for the Church, December 25 is only the first of the twelve days of Christmas. In the midst of the the Christmas shopping season, the Church is observing the season of Advent.
Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas. While many of us prepare for Christmas by shopping for presents for our loved ones and by attending potlucks with our friends and coworkers, many also prepare for Christmas by looking inward. Many think of Advent as a season of repentance, not unlike the season of Lent which precedes Easter. The Scripture passages typically read in Churches during this season tell of the ministry of John the Baptist who called people to repentance in preparation for the coming of their long-awaited Savior.
Ever since I was a child, what has stood out to me the most about the season of Advent is the lighting of the candles on the Advent wreath. On each of the four Sundays preceding Christmas, churches that observe Advent light a candle, the first for hope, the second for peace, the third for joy, and the fourth for love. On Christmas Eve, a fifth candle is lighted for Christ Himself.
Two years ago, at my home church's Christmas Eve service, my pastor did something I had never seen before: she extinguished the candles for hope, peace, joy, and love before lighting the candle for Christ. At that time, Advent took on a whole new meaning for me.
We light a candle for hope, yet the lives of many are marked by despair. Many people in the world are stuck in situations from which they cannot find any means of escape. To borrow a phrase from Henry David Thoreau, many "lead lives of quiet desperation."
We light a candle for peace, yet many live in the midst of conflict. Many people in the world live in war zones. Such an area of conflict might be an embattled region on the other side of the globe, a violent household down the street, or a person's own troubled mind.
We light a candle for joy, yet the experience of many is one of sorrow. Ten percent of the population of my country need antidepressants just to get through the day,1 and for many people, the holiday season is a time that evokes deep sadness.
We light a candle for love, yet many are afflicted by hatred. Many people in the world suffer because they are hated by other people, and many people in the world are poisoned by the hatred they harbor for others.
Nowadays, I like to think of Advent as a season of longing. We light candles for hope, peace, joy, and love, not because we possess such things, but because, in the depths of our souls, we yearn for them. After all, a person has no need to light candles unless it's dark. In our longing for hope, peace, joy, and love, we are forced to confront the despair, conflict, sorrow, and hatred in the world and in our own hearts. We seek hope, peace, joy, and love in the world, but what the world has to offer is often empty and shallow. Time and time again, the world lets us down.
On one occasion, Jesus warns His audience about a time of great suffering, a time so dire that the sun, moon, and stars will cease to shine. He says that, in this dark time, people "will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory" to gather up His people.2 One writer records Jesus as saying, "Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."3 Many think that Jesus is speaking about His return to the earth, a "Second Coming" as some people call it, but I think these words have something to say about the way Christ meets the world. The world can be a very dark place, but it is in the midst of such circumstances that Christ breaks into the world, a single light in the darkness.
Jesus once said, "I am the light of the world."4 On another occasion, Jesus announced to His audience, "You are the light of the world."5 So is Christ the "light of the world," or are we? The answer is, of course, "Yes." Christ is like the sun, the source of light, and we are like the moon which catches the light of the sun and reflects it into places of darkness. When we draw near to the light of Christ, our own hearts ignite, and we carry that light with us. Hope, peace, joy, and love are results of the presence of God in a person's life.6
Advent is like the darkness before the dawn. Amid the frenzy of the season, we remember that the world is desperate for hope, peace, joy, and love. On Christmas, we remember the Good News that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to bring light into a dark world. We are all called to carry that light with us throughout the world, sharing with others the hope, peace, joy, and love we've found.
May we not forget those who yearn to see the light.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Notes:
- http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/a-glut-of-antidepressants/
- Mark 13:1-27 (NSRV)
- Luke 21:28 (NRSV)
- John 9:5
- Matt 5:14
- Love, joy, and peace are among what St. Paul calls the "Fruit of the Spirit." See Galatians 5:22-23. I believe that hope could be considered a fruit of the Spirit as well.
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