Monday, December 8, 2008

The Unlit Candles of Advent

This is naturally a difficult time of year for me. The onset of winter. Shorter days, longer nights. The season of Advent- waiting for the promise of God to be birthed into the world, into my life. It's easy to feel the darkness and cold setting into my soul. Easy to feel that the light of the world is but a dim flicker in an all too distant future.


This is the first year I’ve been part of a Christian community who actually observes Advent in any way. The season of Advent is meant to draw us toward hope, anticipation and promise. For four weeks we center ourselves around the promises of God. Promises of the birth of our Savior. The light of the world. The true light that gives light to every man (John 1:9, NIV).


Four candles represent the four weeks of Advent. Each week we light a new candle, representing the onset of the dawn of a new era in the history of God and his people. As the illumination intensifies, so should our awareness of the deliverance that is to come through the promised child of God.


This week at Journey the second of the four candles was lit. As I reflect upon the image of the candles, I can’t help but remember the two that remained unlit. I don’t take much pride in being the “glass half empty” guy, but I do feel that some of the most important lessons I’ve learned in life have come at times when I’ve examined the other side of the equation, when I’ve allowed paradox to play its role in my life and considered that the God of spring and summer is also the God of fall and winter, that the God who rules over life is also the God who rules over death.


In reflecting upon the antagonistic darkness of the Advent season, I’ve come to realize that for my entire life I’ve been celebrating Christmas wrongly. Traditionally, Christmas has represented nothing more to me than an anniversary of the birth of Christ. As such, it has signified a single event in the history of mankind. It has pointed me back in time, roughly two thousand years, to the village of Bethlehem, the manger, the single day in history when Jesus was born. Yet with a new focus on Advent as a season, rather than Christmas as a day, I am learning to view the promise of the birth of Jesus in a fresh way.


The celebration of Christmas as a single day of the year representing a single day in our past history suggests to me that the story of the light of God coming into the world is over. The chapter is written. The plot has built, the climax has occurred and we are left to simply revel in the resolution. Yet, hardly a day goes by when I don’t feel enormously void of resolution. Say what we may about the birth of a Savior, the darkness of the world remains at odds with the light. Evil remains. Despair still haunts me. Spring and summer inevitably run their course. Colors fade. Leaves drop to the ground. Fall and winter cannot be held back. Apart from one day prior to the celebration of the birth of hope, one or more candles always remain cold, unlit.


The wisdom of God’s people in all ages reminds us that life is marked by constant intervals of light and darkness, hope and despair, life and death. Next spring we will celebrate the death of the one whose birth we now anticipate, followed quickly by the celebration of his resurrection. Time will forge ahead, and before any of us are ready the Advent candles will be set before us once again. Darkness will prevail. Slowly, one by one, the flames of promise will illumine us as we await the fullness of the light. Once again the glow of one, then two and three, will cast shadows about us. And finally, as with every year, the day will arrive. The birth of Jesus will be remembered. The light of the world will drive away the darkness once again.


This year’s celebration of Advent is teaching me that the story of God’s people isn’t linear, that Christmas is more than simply a commemoration of static historical fact, that the narrative of God casting light over darkness is spoken over His people time and time again. The nativity of Jesus is with us continuously.


Wherever there is evil, let us overcome with good. Wherever there is despair, let us offer hope. Wherever there is pain, let us bring comfort. Where violence, peace. Where wrongdoing, justice. Where hate, love. In so doing, we will accomplish the reward of Advent, the light of the world dissipating the darkness that threatens to engulf us, our attention no longer diverted by unlit candles.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

thank you for sharing...insightful as well as beautiful..excuse my cheesiness ;-) kim j

Dianne said...

i think this is the only thing i've read or heard or discussed the entire Christmas season that really reflects the reality of Christmas. it's great. thanks.

Anonymous said...

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