Dear
Peace family,
I
got a kick out of the advertising come-on from Target stores for their
post-Thanksgiving sale. Did you see it? "Doors open at 6 a.m. for two
days," they proclaimed—and then offered to provide a wake-up call for
anyone who needed help getting there that early!
I
don’t know about you, but I really hate wake-up calls. There are few things in
the world more obnoxious than being awakened by a ringing telephone. (Most of
the things that are more obnoxious have to do with cellular phones.)
Obnoxious,
yes, but also terrifying. When the phone wakes me from a sound sleep—even on
the rare occasion of being awakened from an afternoon nap—my first thought is
that there is bad news.
Every
year as Advent begins, we get a wake-up call. One familiar Advent lesson from
St. Paul has it this way: "It is now time for you to wake from sleep . . .
The night is far gone, the day is at hand." But this wake-up call is
actually good news: "Now our salvation is nearer than when we first
believed."
We
need this wake-up call. It is so easy for us to become drowsy in our faith.
Interesting image: when we are drowsy, we stop paying attention, we let
ourselves drift away, we soon lose consciousness altogether. That happens to
our faith. Sometimes it is strong and alert; but sometimes—well, often—we
become weary. It’s not that we decide to give it up; it’s more like becoming
drowsy, slowing drifting away.
And
so to us drowsy Christians, the word of the season is a welcome one. "Wake
up! Stay alert! See what God is doing!"
Well,
maybe not "welcome," exactly, because the old Adam in us, that thing
we call human nature, would really rather sleep. But let’s say the wake-up call
is "necessary"—and for that reason, it is welcome. We need to be
reminded to watch and pray; we need to have the "eyes of our heart
enlightened" so that we can be ready to embrace the newborn King!
One
of my favorite Advent hymns is the great chorale by Philip Nicolai:
Wake,
awake, for night is flying,
The
watchmen on the heights are crying,
Awake,
Jerusalem, at last!
I
don’t plan to ask for a wake-up call from Target for their sale; but I do ask
for, and earnestly seek, a wake-up call from the watchmen in this season,
calling me from sleep and alerting me to the Lord’s coming. May he find us all
awake and alert!
Peace
to you,
Pastor
Richard O. Johnson
Classic Prayers
Grant us, our Father, your grace, that, seeing
ourselves in the light of your holiness, we may be cleansed of the pride and
vain glory which obscures your truth; and knowing that from you no secrets are
hid, we may perceive and confront those deceits and disguises by which we
deceive ourselves and our fellowmen. So may we worship you in spirit and in
truth and in your light. Amen.
--Reinhold
Niebuhr (1892-1971)
American theologian
Liturgy Notes:
Advent
Last Sunday was the beginning of Advent, the first
season in the new church year. Advent
is a very special time in the year, a time when we prepare for the coming of
Christ. The themes are hope and
expectation, mingled with increasing joy as the celebration of the Nativity –
Christmas Day-approaches.
Christmas was a festival well established in the
church by the fifth century, and it wasn’t much later that we see the
beginnings of Advent. Its development
is interesting, because it had two distinct origins. The earliest record of Advent is found in France, where Advent
was a penitential time of fasting. This
tradition spread to Spain and Germany, where pre-Christmas fasts were common
(sometimes starting as early as late September!). In Rome, a shorter season of preparation had a more festive mood;
there was no fast, and the emphasis was on preparing for Christmas. As a desire for more uniformity brought
these different customs into conflict, the Advent season took on its present
form: a shorter celebration (four weeks), but with a somewhat sober and
reflective mood. To this day, our
season of Advent combines the themes of penitence and reflection with those of
hope and joy.
The word "Advent" means "coming",
and that word points out another way that Advent has a dual character. During this season we remember and rejoice
in Christ’s coming to us in Bethlehem, but we also prepare for his coming again
in glory. The Scripture lessons and
hymns, especially during the early part of the season, focus on our expectation
of Christ’s return. Then, as we come
closer to Christmas, the lessons and hymns lead us back to the time of John the
Baptist, the "forerunner of Christ."
And we hear again the story of the annunciation, the angel telling Mary
(according to Luke) and Joseph (according to Matthew) about the coming birth.
One of the most beloved Advent traditions is the
Advent wreath. This is a specifically
Lutheran tradition, though it has now been adopted by many other churches. It developed in eastern Germany a few
hundred years ago as a way of observing Advent in the home, but soon spread to
the churches themselves. There are two
basic symbols involved in the wreath.
The wreath itself, of course, is made of evergreen boughs, a symbol of
eternal life. And the form of the
wreath, an ancient symbol of victory and glory, also reminds us of the
"fulfillment of time" in the coming of Christ.
Then there is further symbolism in the candles. There are four of them representing the four
Sundays in Advent. They remind us of
the Old Testament time when humanity was "sitting in darkness and in the
shadow of death" (Luke 2:79), as well as our own time, when darkness is
still with us in so many forms. But as
each week passes, an additional candle is lit so that the darkness seems less
and less overbearing. In the original
Advent wreath tradition, the candles were all the same color—often red. When the wreath was adapted for liturgical
use, candles of the liturgical colors began to be used. Often the candle for the third week is a
different, lighter color; this reflects the tradition that on that third
Sunday, the note of joy in the season sounds a little more insistently.
For many years, purple was the ordinary color for
Advent because purple is regarded as a penitential color. There were some churches, however, that used
blue, and this has become quite common today.
It is probably a better choice, because purple is the color for Lent,
and the moods of Lent and Advent are quite different. Blue moves the emphasis of the season away from the strongly
penitential, and more toward expectation and hope.
This Advent, let our prayer be that of Charles
Wesley’s great hymn: "Come, thou
long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins
release us; let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art, dear
desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart."