Twas the Week Before Christmas . . .

One week until Christmas. Now, things calm down a bit for me! Is that backwards? I don't know. Yes, I still have Christmas shopping to do, but I don't worry about that too much. Most of the extra stuff I have to do is now done: annual report, annual meeting, open house, newsletter, cards, decorating, bulletins . . .  From Thanksgiving through the first half of Advent it is quite hectic. But now, things slow down and I really enjoy this part of Advent. A few sermons to write, but mostly, for me the stress is now off. Now, time to enjoy. :-)

A couple of other comments . . .

My prayer list is getting rather long! It always varies in size as people are added and removed, but it seems as if these days there is an unusual amount of people with troubles to pray for. I am glad to do so, but my heart breaks for them.

And two verses that jumped out at me this morning in Morning Prayer, both from Isaiah:

The fear of the Lord is Zion treasure. (Isaiah 33:6b)

For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us. (Isaiah 33:22)

That first one is just plain cool. But that second one, think about it. We usually connect judge and lawgiving with condemnation, but here Isaiah is connecting them with saving. Hmmm . . .

What Advent Is All About

The season of Advent is usually the time we also receive Christmas cards - although not as many any more. Just as email has replaced snail mail, so too has Facebook (though I'm not on it) replaced the Christmas letters that come in Christmas cards as the preferred method of updating folks on what's happened this past year. But we still get some and yesterday we received the card that is almost

always the first one each year, from some friends in Philadelphia. Opening the card and the letter, I immediately remarked to Laurie that the letter was shorter than usual. Well, turns out that was because it was all this now widow could manage to write as she told us of her husband's stroke and then death two days later . . . just one month ago. Sadness. I had even thought to myself last week that something must be wrong since we hadn't received their card yet!

Christmas letters have often been called brag letters, telling folks how great the kids are and all the accomplishments of the year. But a sad Christmas letter in Advent . . . well, it seems to me, that's what Advent is all about. Jesus coming for us. To save us from sin and the wages of sin, death. So a letter like this . . . it's why we celebrate Christmas. And it's the greatest gift this grieving widow will receive this year - the gift of knowing that her dear husband is celebrating this Christmas with Christ. And knowing that she will, too, someday. With him again.

So yeah, letters like this - this is what Advent is all about.

Don't Let Christmas Ruin Your Advent

This is one of my favorite phrases that I have coined (at least I don't recall hearing it from anyone else!): Don't let Christmas ruin your Advent.

I like that because most people tend to think the other way around - that the Church, with the season of Advent and its focus on repentance and holding off singing Christmas hymns until Christmas, ruins the Christmas season. Its a giant downer when the rest of the world is merry and bright.

But perhaps there's another way to look at it . . . That if we let the merry and bright of the world's Christmas overshadow Advent and make us miss out on it, that we are missing out on something beautiful in its own right. For Advent is a beautiful season. A season of yes, repentance, but also of waiting and rejoicing in the gifts of God, especially the gift of His Son who came, is coming, and will come again.

And then there's this, too: this holiday season with all its demands can make the month of December a quite busy, hectic, and difficult time - a time people just try to get "done." But Advent helps us stop and rest and take a breather in the midst of it all; a time to hear the Word of God speak to us in the midst of busy life; a time to pray and focus on more than just merry and bright. So that when Christmas does come, our joy is not ending but just beginning!

So don't let Christmas ruin your Advent. Enjoy Advent and Christmas both this year. :-)

Updates

So things are moving forward. The first few weeks of December are always the busiest for me. Lots of folks think Lent is the busiest time of year for Pastors, but I think this time of year is busier because it has nearly as many services plus all the extra stuff the holidays brings - family stuff, school concerts, church caroling and annual meeting, open house, gifts, decorations, cards. During Lent and especially during Holy Week, I can kind of hole myself up and spend a lot of time in the Word. That is harder to do at this time of year. I enjoy it, though!

So now we are approaching the time I can relax a bit and enjoy Christmas. Most of the busyness will be over this weekend. Plus, my son is coming home from college today (on the train) and I am going to pick-up my daughter, so the whole family will be home tonight. :-)  My brother and sister will be here the week after Christmas, so a full house! It will be fun.

A couple pictures for you . . .

Everyday either my wife or I or both of us (together or separately) go to see Grandpa Peasant and we have devotions with him. Sometimes the cat, Danny Boy, joins us. On this day, he jumped up on the bed and as you can see, closed his eyes and folded his paws. :-)

Yesterday was a special treat for my father as one of his former pastors, Charles St-Onge, was in town and got to visit a bit. Pastor St-Onge will always have a special place in our hearts as he was the pastor who escorted my mother from this world to the next. 

A blessed remainder of Advent to you all!

O King of the Nations

The Great "O" Antiphons of Advent are historic liturgical passages used the final seven days of the Advent season, dating back to probably around the 10th century. There were a number of these written, but finally seven coalesced in use and became the tradition.

I mention all this because today's seemed particularly apt in the midst of the political campaign season and the eve of the primaries that will begin early next year. It read:

O King of the nations, the ruler they long for, the cornerstone uniting all people, Come and save us all, whom You formed out of clay.

Yes, He is the ruler we long for, and the one who can unite all people.

It also reminds me of Psalm 146:

Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God (vs. 3, 5).

That hope is fulfilled for us and the ruler we long for come in the birth of Jesus. Yes, a cause for great rejoicing . . . as well as faith and hope, no matter who is elected.  :-)

A Very Busy Week

Well, one of the busiest weeks of the year is again past for me. Many people think that Holy Week is the hardest week of the year for Pastors with all the extra services, but I actually think this time of the year is tougher. During Lent and Holy Week there are lots of services, but not as many outside activities and obligations. I can focus on the services and sermons and its actually quite enjoyable. But during Advent, there are not only some extra services, but a great many other things that demand attention - from Christmas concerts, Annual Voters Meetings, Caroling, Open House, Decorating, Neighborhood events, Christmas Letters, and more. This past week in particular always seems to be the worst of it. So now, while I still need to buy presents for the family, I can breathe a little easier and focus on the last days until Christmas.

O Come, O Come, Immanuel!

Today, the 7 "O Antiphons" begin.

O come, O come, Immanuel!

How?

Looking around the internet and my fellow bloggers, there have been the usual posts that pop up this time of year - the hand-wringing over how the season of Advent has been neutered and is really no longer Advent at all; how the agenda of the world has taken over the church and Advent is now just preparation for Christmas, as all December is in the world, and the emphases on repentance and the coming of Christ in glory and judgment have been lost.

I agree with much of their analysis of what has happened. This post is not to argue about that, but to ask: what are we to do about it? And how?

Some say: ignore the world! Keep Advent, Advent! Blue paraments are evil (yes, I am overstating here), they must remain purple! Join the resistance! I sympathize with this view, and am even partial to it. But I don't think it does much good. I remember when I was little, having a pastor that did this. I asked him one day why we didn't sing Christmas carols in church before Christmas. He told me: Because it's not Christmas! It's Advent. You know what? That didn't help. I had an answer, but was still confused.

Others have given in to the world and do not see the point in fighting for Advent. Times have changed, they say, and people don't understand. People want Christmas, so give 'em Christmas. I do not agree with this approach, and believe the church year is good, right, and salutary in teaching our people.

So what to do? And how? How do you take a culture heading full steam for Christmas and put the breaks on it? How do you preach to people who are inundated with the cultural Christmas since Thanksgiving (if not before!) and preach Advent to them? And preach it without sounding like a grumpy, old, puritanical man that doesn't want them to have any fun?

That's the challenge I, and all preachers, face every year. I don't think it does any good to ignore Christmas and just preach Advent - that just leaves your people confused and a bit schizophrenic. The challenge is to help them see the reason for Advent. And not just tell them that there is one, but preach it so they realize it. It's the same difference between talking about the Gospel and preaching the Gospel. The first is easy; the second more challenging. For to preach is to penetrate not just the ears, but the heart. Yes, this is the work of the Holy Spirit, and for that I am most grateful, because if it were up to me, no one would ever believe! And yet it has been given to me - with whatever talents and abilities God has given me - to preach the Word.

And so I often agonize - how do you preach John the Baptist to people at this time of year? How do you help them understand not just Christmas joy but, as our liturgy says, repentant joy? How do you teach them to love our Advent hymns as much as our Christmas carols? As much as I love Advent, for me, it is one of the most challenging times of the year.

Advent is Too Short

I love the Advent season. I love the midweek services (although attendance is usually not that great), and the break they give for prayer and meditation in the midst of a busy season. I love looking to the end through the manger and the cross. I love the hymns. I love the anticipation. I just wish it would last longer. Every year it seems like it has hardly come before it is gone . . .