An Advent Primer

The following is from material I prepared for our church community. It is comprised of a short homily regarding Advent, followed by a community prayer, followed by a devotional to help people go deeper in the experience of Advent and the Christmas season. I will be posting similar weekly reflections on the four words of Advent (hope, peace, joy, love) in the ensuing weeks.

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We're entering into a season of Advent as we approach Christmas. This week I want to give you a bit of a primer of what Advent is, a short overview, so that as we enter into the four weeks of Advent starting next Sunday, you will have a framework or roadmap to help you understand what we're doing.

Advent is a season in the church calendar that has been celebrated for at least 1500 years. The word Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus which means "coming or arrival." The coming of Jesus is linked with human longing. His coming can be thought about in three ways. First, and the most obvious, is that Jesus has come in the form of a baby in a manger, God taking on human flesh and entering into our world. This is the Advent or coming of Jesus that we celebrate at Christmas. The longing for this appearance of Jesus was experienced and expressed by the Jewish people in the words of the Old Testament. It was prophesied about and longed for for centuries.

As well as this, there is a second sense of Advent which relates to our longing for his second coming or, if we die first, when we meet him in heaven. We anticipate and look forward to a day when will be in the unmitigated, unmediated presence of the Trinity forever, where Jesus will come to us, and be with us, where his words will be audible and his embrace tangible.

The final sense of Advent is Jesus’ coming to us in the here and now. He comes to us when we invite him in. Initially, that coming of Jesus into our lives is when we become Christians. However, there is also this sense that Jesus is here in our lives but not fully. We live our lives on earth longing for more of his presence, more of his embrace, more of his voice. There are many things that can interfere with his fully-felt presence. In the midst of this, we say "Come Lord Jesus - come in your fullness today!”

And so, Advent is about Jesus coming in these three times and places. It is about the overarching emotional posture of longing as we ponder Jesus’s coming in these three ways. It is a wonderful on-ramp that we have for leaning into this Christmas season with anticipation and longing for more of Jesus.

In many church traditions we do this by focusing on four words, one assigned to each of the four Sundays before Christmas. The four words are hope, peace, joy and love. When Jesus arrives, he brings with him these four gifts and, in a sense, he is their full embodiment – he is our only true and sure Hope, he is the Prince of Peace, he is our Joy, and he is Love, pure Love.

At Advent we light candles which represent these words. The candles remind us that Jesus is the light of the world, the light that came into the darkness. Each week we will light another candle, a visual representation of the growing light, our growing anticipation towards Jesus's Advent, in Bethlehem, and in our lives, and eventually in his fullness when we meet him face to face in heaven. The other component of the candles is the visual, embodied reminder that we are gathering as a community around our sense of longing and hope in our coming Lord.

Community Prayer: Longing

Oh God, we long for you.

As the people of Israel and the prophets deeply longed for your coming millennia ago, Lord Jesus,

Oh God, we long for you.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. (Psalm 42:1)

You Lord Jesus are the one and only living water that quenches our thirst

Oh God, we long for you.

As the people of Israel longed for their daily bread from heaven called manna, we long for you.

You Lord Jesus are the bread from heaven, our daily bread. Only you can satisfy.

Oh God, we long for you.

Oh God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Oh God, we long for you.

One thing I ask of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his Temple.

Oh God, we long for you.

The one who testifies to these things says, "surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Oh God we long for you.

Come Lord Jesus!

Come Lord Jesus!

Come Lord Jesus!

Going Deeper During Advent: a journey with God in hope, peace, joy and love

(The PDF for the full Advent devotional booklet can be found here: https://pentictonvineyard.com/devotional/)

Introduction:

Advent is a time of longing, anticipation of, and reflection on the coming of Jesus - his coming in the flesh on the first Christmas, his anticipated second coming, and is coming into our lives when we become Christians and in greater fullness as we follow him.

The intent of this book is to have a full experience with God during this Advent season, to spend some time each week (approximately 10 minutes is suggested but feel free to do more!) reflecting on the theme of the week. As well as doing the reading and answering the questions, it may be helpful to Journal about your experience. Also, feel free to adapt this to do with friends, family, or life group.

Introduction Week: November 27-December 3: Longing

Just as the Hebrew people and the prophets intensely longed for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, we too long for Jesus’s return. We also long for him to come in his fullness to us in our lives right here and now.

Read: Psalm 63:1

Set aside 10 minutes this week to sit in quiet prayerful meditation around the following:

1. Sit in silence for a minute settling into the space, taking some deep breaths, allowing yourself to become aware of God’s presence with you

2. Think back to a time when you experienced intense longing. Maybe this was for an upcoming vacation, a hoped-for job or for a new relationship, or something else. Imagine yourself in that place and sit in that feeling of longing for a minute or two. What are you experiencing in your body as you “long”? What does it feel like?

3. When you think about your longing for Jesus what comes to mind? If he were to ask you, as he did blind Bartimaeus, “what do you want me to do for you?” How would you answer? What are you longing for? Speak to Jesus about this now.