A few years ago we began celebrating Advent at home. My wife makes a beautiful wreath with the requisite three purple candles, one rose candle and the white Christmas candle. We gather together as a family, sing some hymns, recite a liturgy, pray, and talk about the real meaning of the Christmas season. It has made a remarkable change in our focus at that time of year and it has changed the way we experience Christmas.
Each week we explore a particular topic. The first week concerns waiting. This year my daughter expressed one of my own questions about this phase of Advent remembrance—what are we waiting for? It’s a good question. Unlike the people of God before Christ, for us the Messiah has already come. Sure, we do still wait for the revelation of the sons of God and the receipt of our full adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:19,23). But in a liturgical sense, we need no longer wait for Messiah to come.
It is so important that we remember this, whether at Christmas or at any other time of year. Christ has come; He is risen! Sometimes it feels as though we slip into a mindset similar to that of the first century Jews. Christians look to the eastern sky, waiting, praying for Christ to return to deliver us. And yet He has ascended to the Father, and they have sent us the Holy Spirit to live in us, with us, and upon us. Are we aware of the Spirit’s presence? Or are we waiting for something else…?
Now I know that when the fullness of time comes and the day of the Lord is revealed, we Christians will enter in to a new life that exceeds anything that we can imagine. To live in an age where there is no more death, no more tears, where Christ governs all of our affairs and the heavens are lit by the glory of God—well, the anticipation of that should be enough to make all of us shout marana tha! But are we guilty of despising the richness of our blessings now, in the misguided hope that all will be better if only we were somewhere else?
Even now Christ should be governing all of our affairs. Even now the power of death has been neutralized and its sting removed (1 Cor. 15:55). We still suffer the ravages of sin in this world—sickness, disease, and tragedy. We are bombarded by the dehumanizing onslaughts of sin, wickedness, and the world. Yet the power of God is present always with us, to deliver us from evil and/or to empower us to persevere. Praise God!
It is a good thing to reflect on the time past when the people of God waited on God to enter in to their history and effect a change. And it is a good thing that we live in ready expectation for the imminent return of Christ. But as we do, let us not lose sight of the truth that Immanuel is no longer a promise to be fulfilled—God is with us right now, right here. Stir up the gift of God within you; stay conscious of the presence of the Spirit in your life. Lean on Him. Speak with Him. Trust Him. Christ has come. The Spirit of Christ is here. We need not wait any longer, but live.
