Faith Works 11-28-2025
Jeff Gill
Advent themes past and present
___
Here we are on the doorstep of Advent, the weeks of preparation before Christmas Day.
For those who make use of the liturgical calendar of the Christian year, this Sunday is New Year's Day, sort of. The cycle of lectionary readings reset, and churches around the world in worship live out the story of Jesus in texts and themes.
That cycle begins with Advent, a time whose name reminds us of the coming of the Messiah in ages past, and a promise to come (or "ad venio" in Latin) at the end of days.
You may be getting the sense here that Advent is not intended as just a countdown for Christmas. To be fair, I loved the old custom on the front page of the local paper of a small block with cartoon figures telling us how many "shopping days 'til Xmas" (especially the Peanuts gang taking over the job one year). You don't see those anymore, of course, because when shopping is increasingly online and 24/7, what do "shopping days" mean? Reverse spoiler alert: it was a device to help us recall how many days minus Sundays were left to Dec. 25, because stores used to be (ahem) closed on Sundays. Anyhow.
In worship, one common pattern for many years has been to use an Advent wreath, candles, and themes of "Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love" for the four Sundays before the day of Christmas itself, and a Christ candle in the center. The third, Gaudete Sunday, marks joy with a pink candle in some chancels.
Why a break for "joy" and pink in the middle of Advent's purple or royal blue? Because the older tradition was for Advent to echo Lent as a time for prayer and reflection, even a bit of penitence. Gaudete was joy breaking out of deeper season of contemplation.
In that spirit, I don't want to get too Lenten, but would offer an intention to look back into an older Advent pattern. Not hope, peace, joy, and love as the themes, delightful as they are.
An ancient discipline of Advent is to use each week to reflect on what the church has called the "four last things." Yes, those. Death, judgment, hell, and heaven. The "quattuor novissima" which come for us all.
If you're saying "Jeff, that's not very Christmas-y," you have my point precisely. The purpose of Advent is to prepare us for a joyful arrival, but the clearing out of heart, soul, and mind for the coming guest may take some gritty work. I'm not an Advent absolutist, where some say "no Christmas carols until late on the 24th!" But how about calling on an ancient tradition to guide us in complicated times?
Which means we would start, on the first Sunday of Advent, in due consideration of… death. Let me clue folks in who don't already know: one of the great challenges of Christmas for many is how they fit together death that has come with the happiness we're socially obligated to feel. Death arrives whether we're ready or not, near us, if not in the midst of life as we know it.
As a pastor, I've done a few hundred funerals, to where they blur a bit, I'll admit, but those I've helped do right around Christmastime? They stick with me. A funeral a few days before or after Christmas? They happen all the time. Most of us tend to overlook them.
So let's consider death as a landmark of life, a monument to navigate by. How many Christmas seasons do we have to work with? And how does that knowledge mark what we want to have happen in the Advent we're in, right now?
If that's not bracing enough, next week is judgment! Like so much in life, it will get harder before it gets better. But it will get better, in due time.
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's thinking just four last things at least keeps the list manageable. Tell him how you prepare for Advent at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads or Bluesky.
Jeff Gill
Advent themes past and present
___
Here we are on the doorstep of Advent, the weeks of preparation before Christmas Day.
For those who make use of the liturgical calendar of the Christian year, this Sunday is New Year's Day, sort of. The cycle of lectionary readings reset, and churches around the world in worship live out the story of Jesus in texts and themes.
That cycle begins with Advent, a time whose name reminds us of the coming of the Messiah in ages past, and a promise to come (or "ad venio" in Latin) at the end of days.
You may be getting the sense here that Advent is not intended as just a countdown for Christmas. To be fair, I loved the old custom on the front page of the local paper of a small block with cartoon figures telling us how many "shopping days 'til Xmas" (especially the Peanuts gang taking over the job one year). You don't see those anymore, of course, because when shopping is increasingly online and 24/7, what do "shopping days" mean? Reverse spoiler alert: it was a device to help us recall how many days minus Sundays were left to Dec. 25, because stores used to be (ahem) closed on Sundays. Anyhow.
In worship, one common pattern for many years has been to use an Advent wreath, candles, and themes of "Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love" for the four Sundays before the day of Christmas itself, and a Christ candle in the center. The third, Gaudete Sunday, marks joy with a pink candle in some chancels.
Why a break for "joy" and pink in the middle of Advent's purple or royal blue? Because the older tradition was for Advent to echo Lent as a time for prayer and reflection, even a bit of penitence. Gaudete was joy breaking out of deeper season of contemplation.
In that spirit, I don't want to get too Lenten, but would offer an intention to look back into an older Advent pattern. Not hope, peace, joy, and love as the themes, delightful as they are.
An ancient discipline of Advent is to use each week to reflect on what the church has called the "four last things." Yes, those. Death, judgment, hell, and heaven. The "quattuor novissima" which come for us all.
If you're saying "Jeff, that's not very Christmas-y," you have my point precisely. The purpose of Advent is to prepare us for a joyful arrival, but the clearing out of heart, soul, and mind for the coming guest may take some gritty work. I'm not an Advent absolutist, where some say "no Christmas carols until late on the 24th!" But how about calling on an ancient tradition to guide us in complicated times?
Which means we would start, on the first Sunday of Advent, in due consideration of… death. Let me clue folks in who don't already know: one of the great challenges of Christmas for many is how they fit together death that has come with the happiness we're socially obligated to feel. Death arrives whether we're ready or not, near us, if not in the midst of life as we know it.
As a pastor, I've done a few hundred funerals, to where they blur a bit, I'll admit, but those I've helped do right around Christmastime? They stick with me. A funeral a few days before or after Christmas? They happen all the time. Most of us tend to overlook them.
So let's consider death as a landmark of life, a monument to navigate by. How many Christmas seasons do we have to work with? And how does that knowledge mark what we want to have happen in the Advent we're in, right now?
If that's not bracing enough, next week is judgment! Like so much in life, it will get harder before it gets better. But it will get better, in due time.
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's thinking just four last things at least keeps the list manageable. Tell him how you prepare for Advent at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads or Bluesky.
No comments:
Post a Comment