Discovering the Meaning of Advent
December 3, 2008 at 12:55 pm 4 comments
We always had the Hanging of the Green at church when I was growing up. Then we would have the wreath with the candles up front and various families from the church would go light one of the candles during the service. I don’t remember if we had banners or not. Regardless, it was all just a fun show to watch for me as a young boy.
Over the years as I’ve been a part of various churches it seems that all churches have the Hanging of the Green or some other time of decorating the building at the beginning of December. All churches have the wreath with candles. It’s still fun to watch and participate. The services are a little different than our Sunday morning services the other eleven months of the year. And all in all it has become more or less a habit…I just expect that we will include each of the traditional elements that I was first introduced to as a young boy during December at church.
This year I decided to dig a little deeper and discover why it is we do these things at church in December. I’m really glad I did. “Advent” literally means “coming” or “arrival.” That seems right, as we are celebrating the arrival of the birth of Jesus.
But historically, Advent was not just a time of celebration. Originally it was a time of preparation for Epiphany (the early-January celebration of early events in Jesus’ life). Epiphany was a time for new Christians to be baptized and welcomed into the church. So Advent was the 40 days before Epiphany during which believers examined their heart, fasting, and doing penance.
After the date for celebrating Jesus’ birth was declared to be December 25 by Julius, bishop of Rome in the mid 300s, Advent became a time of reflection as Christians await the coming of the Messiah. This was still very much a time of fasting and penance as the birth of Jesus was so closely connected with the crucifixion of Jesus in the liturgical church calendar. The first part of Advent was to be a time for this personal reflection and confession (as symbolized even today with the 3 purple candles in the Advent wreath). In the fourth week there was a shift towards celebrating the coming of the Messiah (as symbolized by the rose colored candle).
In modern times Advent has become primarily a season of celebration awaiting the coming King. This does not eliminate the need for examining our hearts and confessing our sins during this season. With the focus on the Advent, or coming, of Jesus we remember that we are awaiting His Second Advent and we need to be prepared for that coming.
If you think about it, as Christians we should always prepare for, anticipate, and celebrate the Advent of Christ…His birth and redemptive work on the cross and His Second Coming. For me, this makes our congregational celebration of Advent much more meaningful to me. I hope Advent means more to you and your family than decorations and candles.
I’ll be teaching on Advent tonight at Escape. Yikes!!! I get the task of turning this historical lecture into an exciting and relevant discussion for a room full of students. I better get to work.
The Advent Candles
Entry filed under: Bible lessons, Devotional Thought, Youth Ministry. Tags: Advent, Youth Ministry.
1. Sharon | December 9, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Hey Sam and everyone!
I have a question, and I didn’t know where else to post it, but it is related to Christmas, or at least Christmas gifts . . . Anyway, I’m just wanting some feedback. I hear from Matthew that the Twilight book series is all the rage and EVERYONE is reading it at high school, and even middle school. So Matthew has asked for the series for Christmas. Now, I don’t know just a whole lot about the series, but I do know that it involves vampires and it is basically a love story. First, vampires creep me out, but I don’t know that I have any biblical objection to Matthew reading a book that includes vampires. I’ve heard that the first couple of books are pretty innocent as far as the love relationship goes, but that perhaps the third or fourth books may involve the couple’s relationship becoming illicit. So I’m just wondering . . . has anyone read it and could let me know whether there is some objectionable content for a 14-year old? Sam, have you had any conversations with fellow ministers about the book and whether it’s something parents should be concerned about or talk to their kids about . . .? It sounds to me like the Twilight series is for teens what Harry Potter is for preteens. In other words, it’s something they’re finding highly interesting to read. So . . . does anyone have any thoughts on the subject? Thanks!
2. Sam | December 9, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Sharon-I don’t know much about the series. I know it has recently been made into a movie. I found a review of the movie and a review of the first book at the planet wisdom website. I’ll try to get more information and pass it along.
3. Stacy | December 9, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Well, I have ready the whole Twlight series. It is about vampires but not in a creepy way. The series is about a girl who falls in love with a vampire, and he wants to protect her from all harm. The main vampires are “friendly” and live among humans. It is well written with a good amount of suspense.
Books one, two, and three are all about how these two main characters fight to be together given their differences. By the fourth book they get married, I do give kuddos to the author for the fact that the couple refrains from pre-martial sex. By book four, now that they are married they do have sex, but the author has left it pretty clean and not too graphic.
I did enjoy the series b/c I love unrealistic fiction. If you are thinking about getting it for you kiddo I would recomend reading it along with them. (You can borrow my copies so you don’t have to share or buy 2 sets!)
It will give you plenty to discuss with the kiddies and you will know exactly what they are reading and what you as a parent feel like you might want to discuss with you teen.
The main girl is drawn to this beauty that the vampires have. Beauty is a worldly view that is thrown in our faces everyday, you could discuss how God sees beauty and then you can get out the ol’ bible and show some scripture to back up your point. By reading it together you might be given a opportunity to have a biblical conversation that you might not have had otherwise with your teen.
Just throwing it out there!:-)
4. Sharon | December 12, 2008 at 8:23 am
Sam, thanks for the review sites, and Stacy, thanks SO much for your detailed overview and response to my questions. It really helps. I appreciate the offer to borrow your copies and read along with him. I think I’ll take you up on that! You guys are the best–we appreciate you both so much. Stacy, you’re doing just an amazing job in the play. See you this weekend–ALL weekend!