Yesterday in church, as we gathered to receive God’s good gifts and hear His Word preached, we marked the beginning of the new liturgical year: Advent. The green paraments, occasionally changed during this longest season of the church calendar, gave way to the blue (our church marks this change with blue rather than the more traditional purple that historically was the color of the season). And, as it did, we sang two hymns, Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus and O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
Both hymns are favorites for me, but as we sang O Come, O Come Emmanuel the emotion hit me, as it does every year as we sing it, because this isn’t just a hymn: it’s a prayer set to music. It’s a prayer of longing, a plea to God to come and dwell among us, to bring light into our darkness, and to fulfill the deep yearning of our hearts for redemption, peace, and His abiding presence.
As we prepare for the Christmas season, and look to the significance of Christ’s birth, it’s easy to lose sight of the significance of the season leading up to it. But it’s important because Advent is a time that marks something much deeper than our holiday preparations. It is a time for reflection, anticipation, and hope as we look to our Savior’s coming and we are struck by the reality of what it is, what it means and what it points us to.
Christ Has Come: Breaking Through Time
Advent begins with the powerful proclamation that an event of immeasurable importance has happened: Christ has come into the world, that God breaks through time and enters into this world. Everything rests on this fact, and it is one of the most significant events in all of human history.
This isn’t a sentimental story or a vague metaphor, as some might suggest. It’s not some mythology that arises from the merging of various stories together to come up with some new religion. It is a historic event. It is a historic event that splits time. The eternal God stepped into human history, taking on flesh and blood, born of a woman, and divides time by either before His coming or after it. As the Apostle John writes, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” (Jn 1:14) This moment, the one we call The Incarnation, is the ultimate act of God breaking into our broken world to redeem and restore.
Advent invites us to pause and remember that Jesus’ arrival was not an accident, nor was it insignificant. It was the fulfillment of centuries of longing, of waiting and pleading, centuries of tears shed and voices raised, crying out “How long O Lord?” Prophets like Isaiah spoke of His coming: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6)
His coming was light piercing the darkness, hope shattering despair, not just for a time, but for all time. And this tells us that Advent isn’t just about ancient history. It is about a defining event that changes everything.
Christ Is Present: Calling Us Now
And this defining event that changes history is one that calls to us even now, because Christ hasn’t just come. Christ is coming even still, even now. He is still present in the world today. Even as He ascended He assured us of this truth, declaring, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20)
He has never left us. He is present through the Spirit and His Word, in His Church and in the sacraments. When we gather to hear His Word proclaimed, when water and the promise of forgiveness are poured out in baptism, when bread and wine are given for us to taste and see, Christ is here, and He is seeking us, calling to us, drawing us closer to Himself. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28) That is His invitation to us as He moves through our lives.
If His coming into the World through The Incarnation is to show us Emmanuel – that God is with us – then we can rest in the truth that He never leaves us. He is the God who draws near to us, and He is always drawing us near to Him that we may find our hope and our peace, our salvation and our redemption in Him.
Advent asks us to slow down and hear the voice of the Savior calling, to recognize it amidst the noise of life. It is a time to reflect on His nearness, to prepare our hearts to receive Him, and to be reminded that He is actively working in the world around us.
Christ Will Come Again: The Fulfillment of Hope
And that active working will culminate in the final movement of Advent points us towards: that day when Christ will come again in power and glory.
The promises of His return are woven throughout Scripture: “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God” (1 Thess. 4:16). On that day, He will judge the living and the dead, setting all things right. Every tear will be wiped away, every wrong undone, and all things are made new again and His Kingdom will have no end.
Advent teaches us to live in joyful expectation of that day, to long for it with hope and confidence in the God who is faithful and fulfils His promises.
Just as the people of Israel awaited the Messiah, we now wait for the fullness of His return and His reign. But this waiting is not idle. Scripture warns us against that idleness. (2 Thess. 3:6-15) It is an active discipleship and obedience, preparing our heart and life. We prepare by seeking Him, by aligning our lives with His Word, by having our will broken by Him, and dying to ourselves that He may live in us. We prepare by sharing His light with a world that desperately needs it, seeking to share the joy of His return with all people in all places.
A Season of Anticipation and Preparation
Advent is a season marked by longing and hope. It is a time to look back in gratitude for the gift of Christ’s first coming, to recognize His presence among us now, and to look forward with eager anticipation to His return. The word “Advent” simply means “coming,” and its theme is clear: Christ has come, Christ is present, and Christ will come again.
This season then calls us to prepare, not in the way the world does, with decorations and gift lists and a mad rush to find the perfect present, but with hearts ready to meet our blessed Savior. It is a season of slowing down, a time of reflection, of grounding ourselves in the promises of God. It is a season to light candles to watch for our Messiah, praying, singing songs of hope and longing, and to prepare room in our hearts for the God who changes everything.
As we journey through Advent, remember words of the prophet Micah on our lips: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2) The Christ who has come, who is present, and who will come again is worthy of our hope, our praise, our preparation, and our anticipation.
This is Advent. Embrace it fully
