Yesterday marked the beginning of the advent season. Each Sunday until Christmas Day, we will light a new candle to anticipate the celebration of the coming of Christ. The purple candles represent hope, love, and peace, the pink represents joy, and the white candle at the center is traditionally lit on Christmas Day, when the "light of the world" became Emmanuel, God with us. Here are seven reasons to love the anticipation of advent season -- despite its busyness, advent is a lovely time of reflection.
1. Advent is a month-long celebration.
God invites us to celebrate, and who's to say that laughter over some peppermint hot chocolate isn't what he had in mind?
2. Advent reinstates confidence in God's promises.
"O Come O Come Emmanuel" is one of my all-time favorites. It reminds me of the despair that the Jewish people must have felt "mourning in lonely exile." How great their joy must have felt after waiting so long for God to fulfill his promises. He gave them what they needed and not what they wanted. They wanted a powerful king on a throne with a sword, and he gave them a baby. But what he gave them was far greater than what they had hoped for. That baby did not free the Israelites from their subordination to the Romans. But that baby freed all people of all tribes in all places from their bondage to self-righteousness and prodigal living all the same. "Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!", Elizabeth said to Mary when she learned that her cousin was pregnant. Blessed indeed are we, who do not trust in our own small hands but in the omnipotent hands of our God.
3. Advent reminds us that God is with us.
Emmanuel means God is with us. I have often felt that it is not comforting to know that God has a plan for me. But I find great comfort in knowing that God is with me.
4. Advent can make us remember why we believe.
Christmas gives me chills and makes me cry. It reminds me of the amazing way that an all-powerful God could fill the tiny body of a baby boy.
5. Advent unites God's people.
The tradition of lighting the candle reminds me of centuries of church tradition. I see people in medieval Europe and modern Jerusalem all anticipating the day when we celebrate Christ's birth. I see centuries of the weary world longing for its Savior. I see neighbors whom I didn't know went to church lighting a candle during Silent Night on Christmas Eve. I see my family, who always has its own bouts during the tense Christmas season, all singing one verse. Advent has a way of bringing people together. We all, with our own struggles and our own joys, join together to celebrate what we all have in common -- our need for Christ.
6. Advent invites the weary world to rejoice.
No matter where we are in the world, the coming of Christ is a reason for all to rejoice. It is a thrill of hope for all who need to be saved from themselves. The message of Christmas is a message of joy, a sure reason to rejoice.
7. Advent celebrates hope, peace, love, joy, the light of the world.
Advent is an invitation to celebrate Jesus, to cast aside our worries about gift wrapping on Pinterest, to rest from family conflicts, and to find the fulfillment for which our souls yearn.
