Advent: Longing & Limitation
The Christmas Holiday growing up always held so much wonder for me, as I hope that it did for you. As I have grown older the season has lost its magic a bit, I hate to confess. The innocence of childhood likely kept me from seeing the painful realities that many around me experienced. I’m sure there were many family tensions, I just didn’t know about them. Likely my parents felt the stress of making all of my dreams come true on Christmas morning, I just didn’t know about it! I hadn’t experienced the death and absence of anyone very close to me.
As I have grown into adulthood I’m more aware of the pains associated with the season, the grief of longings not realized, and the stress of trying to fit everything in and keep up with the hustle that the Holiday season inevitably brings. Few things, expose the longings of my soul and my limitations in fulfilling these longings like the Holiday season. I long for broken relationships to be restored. I long to be able to sit down at the table with my Grandma who has been gone for fifteen years now. I’ve got a teenager with a limitless list of wants and “needs” and recognize I do not have the resources necessary to make this Christmas morning as magical as I always rembember them being as a child. Honestly, I’m just hoping Christmas morning happens without a major meltdown from him or our newborn!
The beauty of the Incarnation of Jesus isn’t that everything is perfect, all longing is fulfilled, and that everything during this season happens without a big mess. The fullness of God takes on a human body and enters the land of longing and limitation. He shows up to a mess, a world not yet ready to receive Him. In many ways a world hostile to Him, seeking to destroy Him from the very beginning. Advent, each year is a little reprieve from the cut-throat reality of chasing the American dream to pause, reflect, wonder, and consider Christ, the beauty of His divinity, and the brokenness of the humanity he enters!
God in Christ, shows up to the mess in a body. He shows up to my mess, and offers hope, peace, joy, and love. He offers a pathway to experience these things in the real pain, the real longings, and the real limitations that I experience each day in my body. Advent is a beautiful reminder of the ways God in Christ Jesus holds the tension between the brokenness of this life and the beauty of the next, both embodied and experienced in the day-to-day realities that you and I live. It’s miraculous and magical. The magic of this season is being renewed year in and year out, not through the absence of pain, because life is still painful. It’s not coming through my ability to live without limits because they still exist. It’s not coming through perfect relationships that are fully restored because many remain broken. The magic of this season is being renewed as I look at the person of Jesus, His coming to earth in a Human body, and the countless implications this has on my real life and my real pains. Jesus shows up to the mess, He shows up to my mess, and He wants to show up to your mess, and I pray you experience the warmth of His presence in a special way this Advent!
WHAT IS ADVENT?
Advent is a season within the liturgical calendar of the Church and has been celebrated throughout history within many faith backgrounds. It begins the Sunday following Thanksgiving Day and ends on Christmas Eve, although for us at Missio Dei, Advent culminates at our beloved Eve of the Eve Family Hymn Sing. I love this description of Advent contained within Tsh Oxenrider’s book, “Shadow and Light: A journey into Advent:
“The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means coming or visit. Advent is the season of preparation before Christmas, when we celebrate the human incarnation of Christ. As we prepare, we remember history’s longing for a Messiah before Jesus’s birth and what it would have been like to wait and wonder. Advent is also a reminder of our anticipation of the return of Christ, when He will restore the earth to its original state and make right all wrongs. This season is a recognition of the current state of life here on earth, acknowledging the fraught tension of living between the time of the already of the first Advent of God and the not yet of its full redemptive completion. Advent is about remembering that Christ has already come to save the world while recognizing that the work of redemption will not be finished until He comes again. Advent is also a realization of our daily, ongoing preparation—the work of inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives and making room for Christ to do a good work in us. We lean into the reality that though we are saved from death because of the cross, we are still a work in progress. Much like the way we ready our homes for guests when company is coming, we prepare ourselves. We prepare our homes, yes, by slowly decorating for the great feast of the Nativity on December 25, but we also prepare our hearts, minds and souls. Advent is the season of expectancy, preparation, and longing.”
Advent is a season where our longings meet our limitations and they’re met in the person of Jesus. We look within ourselves for the hope, peace, joy, and love that our soul longs for and we are met with our limitations. So often my impulse during this season is to dig deeper, to spend more, or do more in service of not having to confront the deepest longings of my soul. I do not enjoy being reminded of my own limitations, so I have a choice, I can keep digging deeper, and trying harder or I can surrender. I can embrace my limitations, and come to the feet of Jesus holding my hands up where my longings are met with fulfillment, and my limitations are welcomed in the embrace of Christ’s grace that knows no limitation.
The first Advent of Jesus changed everything and we wait in hopeful anticipation for His second Advent where the renewal of all things is finished once and for all! I long for this day, and Advent is a reminder of this longing for me and for you!
HOW CAN WE CELEBRATE ADVENT?
As a Church family, we’ll pause together each Sunday and reflect upon Advent. Each week of Advent is marked by a specific focus on God’s faithfulness. We’ll focus on these specific weeks during our pastoral prayer and preparatory times of silence. We’ll light the specific candle within our Advent wreath in our gathering space that corresponds with our weekly focus. Additionally, we’ll open up the Gospel according to John each Sunday of Advent and hear a sermon on the Incarnation of Jesus and the implications it has on our lives. Our lobby and gathering space will be beautifully decorated and we’ll enjoy some of our favorite Advent hymns together during the response times of our gathering. Our hope is that each Sunday would be an invitation to slow down amidst the hustle and bustle that this season can bring and be reminded of God’s goodness to us in Christ Jesus.
This year we are also delighted to offer Scott Erickson’s Honest Advent Show in our Gallery spaces inside of Essex Studios for your reflection. The artwork will be on display each Sunday during our gathering times and open each Sunday evening of Advent, November 27, December 5, December 11, and December 18 from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm. During these evenings of reflection, a member of the Missio Dei Staff will be opening up the lobby, turning on some reflective music, and have some instructions on how to get the most out of the time spent reflecting on the embodiment of God with us, our Emmanual!
Additionally, we encourage you to seek out an advent plan for you and your friends and family. There are so many options available. One of these that I have really enjoyed comes from my friend and fellow Harbor Network Pastor, Ronnie Martin. Ronnie has a love for the Christmas season that I have seen unrivaled. His book is called, “The Best Gift Ever Given, a 25-Day Journey Through Advent from God’s good Gifts to God's Great Son.” Many of our families use and have used the Jessie’s Tree materials to celebrate Advent. This year our Pastors will be using some resources to celebrate with their families.
Pastor Kurt and his family will be using “O Come Let us Adore Him: A Daily Advent Devotional” by Paul David Tripp. My family and I will be using “The God Who is With Us” by Ronnie Martin. Pastor Mikey and his family will be using “Heaven and Nature Sing” by Hannah Anderson.
Submitted By: Matt Korte