December 16, 2022
Transitioning from Advent to Christmas
This Sunday is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent. The Sunday after this one is Christmas Day. Advent was originally a penitential season of preparation. In part it was preparation for a “High Holy Day,” in part because some people in Advent, as in Lent, were preparing for baptism. In the Western (Protestant and Catholic) churches, the day for Baptism was primarily Easter. In the Eastern (Orthodox) churches, the principal day for baptism is their Christmas (January 6) or the Sunday after, which celebrates the baptism of Jesus. Our Orthodox friends in Russia and Ukraine still baptize by immersion on those days. It makes baptism in Puget Sound look balmy by comparison!
Also, like Lent, Advent has a Sunday break from penitential austerity. In Lent it is the Fourth Sunday whose opening prayer began with “Rejoice Jerusalem” that gave people a less penitential Sunday. In Advent it is the third Sunday, “Gaudete Sunday,” whose opening prayer traditionally began with “Rejoice” or “gaudete” in Latin. That is why we light a rose-colored candle on the third Sunday in Advent, even though it is seldom seen as a penitential season any longer. Many churches now have four blue candles representing the royalty of the Coming King instead.
Sometimes we assume the meaning of things around Christmas time. Advent becomes anticipation of Christ’s birth, while the texts that are chosen for this season are only secondarily about the preparation for the nativity. Primarily they invite us to prepare for Christ’s return, for the fulfillment of Christ’s reign on earth and God’s redemption of the universe. These themes don’t mesh nicely with cultural themes of the Christmas season, so sometimes we assume things of Advent, missing some of the richness of the season.For me the biggest example is the hymn “Joy to the World.” This was written by Isaac Watts, a Congregational pastor in England around 1800, a peer of the Wesleys. The Reformed tradition, of which Watts was a part, privileged the singing of scripture, primarily the psalms, in worship over other texts. Watts, who wrote some of the most famous and beloved hymns, wrote many of them as reimagined psalms. “Joy to the world” is based on Psalm 98, a psalm which celebrates the reign of God on earth and all people subjecting themselves to God’s authority with joy. Watts reimagined this as Christ’s triumphal return, the second coming. This psalm is traditionally a text on Christmas Day, and this hymn probably replaced that psalm in his church originally. Though we think of this as a Christmas carol, there is nothing about nativity or incarnation in it. In our hymnal it is listed as an Advent hymn for this reason. When singing it we often think of it like “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing,” giving “glory to the newborn king.” And this is not wrong or inappropriate. There is just more to it—and to Advent and Christmas—than we sometimes see.
So as we move from Advent into Christmas, we may think of it as moving from anticipation to birth. But as we do, I invite us also to think of moving from promise to fulfillment. Think of the years of yearning for God’s Anointed One, God’s Messiah or Christ, to come and redeem Israel— or in the vision of Isaiah, to redeem the world. And think of the surprise, and at times violent disappointment, at how Jesus differed from what they expected. Then think of us now, anticipating the final coming of God in Christ, bringing God’s reign on earth to completion. How might we allow the seasons of Advent and Christmas to inform, maybe even correct, our expectation of life today, and our expectations for the future?
In the end we hold onto the promise to which Advent points, and which Christmas declares: Immanuel, God is with us. This is the ancient promise we continue to proclaim to the world today, and we pray, until Christ’s second advent.
Blessings on you all these last days of Advent.
– Pastor Todd