December Letter 2006

The Christmas Season is upon us! It seems the years move past us with increasing haste, and here we are again at yet another joy-filled holiday. As I was reflecting these past few weeks, my mind was drawn toward the beauty of the Advent season. Yes, I was drawn to the Advent season, in part because it highlights a forgotten aspect of our Christmas holiday. But also because the meanings surrounding much of the Advent tradition was, and in some ways still is, a mystery to me.

As a child growing up in the church, I always knew what Christmas was “all about.” I knew that Santa was a wonderful compliment to the Christmas season, but that Jesus' birth was the central component. I recognized that Christmas was distinctly meaningful to me as a Christian because it commemorated the past arrival of Jesus. However, the only future arrival that I looked towards was that of the particular holiday: the Christmas event. I spent very little time, if any, recognizing that the very Christmas holiday I yearned for actually reminds us of a more splendid arrival. An arrival that is not limited to the past, but that is joyously longed for in our future. It is the arrival of God's Kingdom.

It seems so easy to narrowly focus our attention on the Christmas event, and leave behind the power and meaning of the Christ-event. In fact, this is directly a result of our commercialization of the Christmas season and our own forgetfulness of the past. But none of us go unscathed in the battle of remembrance; we all forget the Christ-event meaning of Christmas. Sure, we may not forget that Christmas reminds us of Jesus' birth, and we may aptly remember the stories of the wise-men, angels, and shepherds. But that is all part of the Christmas event, a commemoration of Jesus. What the Christ-event points toward is the eternal in-breaking love of God through Christ which established the beginning of a new Kingdom; a Kingdom yet completed. Thus, the arrival we truly celebrate is not as much the past reality of God's love in Christ, but the future realization of that love in our world.

The Christmas holiday means the future realization of that once established Kingdom of God in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. So although we commemorate Jesus' birth, we also celebrate the coming Kingdom. The Christmas holiday has been turned into an event focused squarely on the past and has lost all touch with the powerful message for our future. But the future Kingdom is the very focus of the Advent spirit. It captures that lost component of our Christmas holiday. Advent embraces the fullness of the Christ-event during the Christmas season; the past, present, and future.

Advent originally was a time of fasting. Its intent was to use hunger to constantly remind the Christian that the meaning of Christ resides in the future realization of a past event, carried with us in each moment of the present. Advent has evolved many new meanings while losing certain rituals. But the season still embraces the idea of “Arrival.” The past arrival of Jesus and the future arrival of the Kingdom. Both these arrivals are so intimately related that we fail to fully understand the “true” meaning of Christmas when we leave one of these arrivals out of our thoughts and reflection.

As you celebrate this Christmas, remember the beauty, power, and depth of the entire Christ-event. Do not fall prey to the Christmas event and only await the gifts, family, and feasting while “faithfully” commemorating Jesus' birth. Do not remember just the past. Remember the future. Do not forget the coming Kingdom and the focus of the Advent season. For this is our hope, this is our Arrival!