The Gift of Advent
Do you know what Advent means?
It comes from the Latin adventus, which means “arrival.”
Advent is a season when we contemplate the arrival of Jesus Christ. It’s the only event on the Church calendar that is celebrated by the world around us. It’s the most festive time of the year, not just for Christians but for everyone.
It’s strange to walk into Walmart or Safeway and hear Joy to the World or Silent Night playing, and no one is complaining or protesting; everyone expects these carols to play this time of year.
The world celebrates Easter with bunnies and eggs, but I’ve never heard Because He Lives playing anywhere outside of churches.
This presents us with a unique, once-a-year opportunity to use our culture’s infatuation with Christmas to share our faith; to share how Christmas started.
How did Christmas start?
With a newborn baby.
There’s a song called A Strange Way to Save the World and it’s true, who would have ever imagined that God would send His son into the world in such a vulnerable and risky way?
Over the past 2,000 years, we have lost the wonder of Christmas; we are no longer shocked at what happened that first Christmas.
The sacred has become ordinary.
Take some extra time over the next month to meditate not just on what God did, but on how He chose to do it.
Think about Jesus—the eternally preexistent Jesus—voluntarily leaving unimaginable glory and showing up on earth as a fetus in a peasant teenager’s womb.
Think about the scandal this created.
Think about not just who God chose to use but where God chose to have His son born—not just in Bethlehem but in a room designated for animals.
Jesus leaves a place where he is surrounded by the eternal adoration of heavenly creatures; Revelation 4 describes the scene:
“Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honour and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
He voluntarily steps off His throne and chooses to become human; He chooses to become human in our most vulnerable and helpless form; He chooses to be helpless; He chooses to wear diapers; He chooses to experience cold and heat and hunger and pain.
He goes from being surrounded by angels to being surrounded by animals.
He exchanges the indescribable aroma of heaven for the aroma of animals.
He exchanges eternal, celestial light for the darkness of earth, going from light that emanates from the very nature of God to the flickering light of a lamp in a stable.
This is how Christmas started.
This is where Advent began.
What does it say about God that He would do things in such a way?
What does it say about Jesus that he would voluntarily exchange His glory and become a fetus—a baby?
How should these things shape our theology?
The life-changing stuff is found in the why of Christmas.
Why did God send His son?
Why did Jesus choose to come?
Not just who God chose to be the mother of his son, and not just where God chose to have His son born, but who did God send to welcome His son into this world?
Kings?
Priests?
Prophets?
No.
Shepherds.
Simply, ordinary, anonymous shepherds.
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:8-15
Again, what does this teach us about who God is and how He works?
Advent should be more than nostalgia and tradition.
Christmas should be more than family and food.
Advent should be more than gifts and parties.
It should shape our theology.
In this season of gift-giving, view Advent as a gift—one that must be received and opened.
To receive this gift, we must slow down and refuse to get sucked into the Christmas chaos swirling around us.
To open this gift, we must pause and prioritize.
Advent is a gift, one that I hope you open this year.
This is a gift that we can share with others—the gift of Christmas is for everyone, with our names written on the gift with the blood of God’s son.
This baby grew up to be a man, a man who claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God who came to take away the sins of the world.
This man voluntarily laid down his life and was crucified—He chose to be crucified.
This crucified man was buried and then raised to life on the third day.
And now we celebrate the birth of Christ while experiencing the presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit.
It’s all a part of the same gift.
One that we receive and then give away.
This Christmas, as we shop for those we love, think about giving them the ultimate gift—the only gift that never becomes obsolete; the only gift that brings more than temporary enjoyment; the only gift that lasts forever.
Jesus was God’s gift to the world 2,000 years ago, and He is still God’s gift to the world.
He is God’s gift to you.
“Now thanks be to God for His indescribable gift [which is precious beyond words]!” 2 Corinthians 9:15
Written by
John Schaffner
