The Christian church starts its calendar with Advent. It will last four weeks and we have already passed the second Sunday.

Despite Christmas being 100% Christian, marking the birth of Jesus Christ, the churches start their celebrations well after the commercial enterprises have begun theirs, even here in Cayman. Most now start in October!

The retailers used to wait until at least the American celebration of Thanksgiving was over before blasting us out with music, lights, decorations, cards and, of course, expensive gifts. None of which is free, except perhaps the music.

The majority of the retailers, and I suspect most of the public, do not even realise it is the Season of Advent.

One of the best explanations of Advent I have found is from the website Patheos and is written by Dr Mark D. Roberts. Please go to his website: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/ to read the full version.

This is only an excerpt:

What is Advent?

The Christian season of Christmas actually begins on Christmas Eve and lasts for twelve days, ending on January 6. (No, the twelve-day season of Christmas did not start with the song. It was the other way around.) The time before Christmas is Advent, a season of preparation for Christmas. Christians prepare for celebrating the birth of Jesus by remembering the longing of the Jews for a Messiah. In Advent, we’re reminded of how much we ourselves also need a Saviour, and we look forward to our Saviour’s second coming even as we prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas. The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or “visit.” In the season with this name, we keep in mind both “advents” of Christ, the first in Bethlehem and the second yet to come.

If you’re unfamiliar with Advent, I expect it might feel odd to think of the weeks before Christmas as something more than Christmastime. For most of my life, Advent played very little role in my pre-Christmas consciousness. As a child, I did have Advent calendars: sturdy, decorative paper displays with 25 little “windows,” one of which I would open each day of December leading up to Christmas. Sometimes Advent calendars are made of wood and feature twenty-five little boxes, each containing some little treasure (see photo). My Advent calendar was a way to whet my appetite for Christmas, not that I needed much help to get ready for my favourite day of the year, mind you.

I loved Christmas when I was young, partly because it celebrated the birth of Jesus, but mostly because it was a giant party in which I received lots of presents. In a sense, the Christian observance is a bit like my boyhood Advent calendars, though it has a much more serious purpose. It’s meant to get us ready, not for a present-opening party, but for a transformational celebration of the birth of Jesus.

What Colours Are Used in Advent?

My Advent wreath at home, after the fourth Sunday of Advent and before Christmas. combines purple and pink candles for Advent, with a white candle for Christmas, with the greenery we associate with secular Christmas celebrations.

There are a few other things about Advent, besides its themes, that you might find odd if you’re unfamiliar with the season. The strangest might be the Advent colour scheme. We associate Christmas and the weeks leading up to it with typical Christmas colours: red, green, white, silver, and gold. Advent, on the other hand, features purple (or dark blue) and pink. The purple/blue color signifies seriousness, repentance, and royalty. Pink points to the minor theme of Advent, which is joy. For many observers of Advent, the first, second, and fourth Sundays of Advent are “purple/blue” Sundays. Only the third is a “pink” Sunday. The pink, joyful colour reminds us that, even as Advent helps us get in touch with our sober yearning for God to come to us, we know that he did in fact come in the person of Jesus.

Thus, our major-theme of waiting has a grace note of joy mixed in. If you’ve seen a traditionally-coloured Advent wreath, you will recognise the purple and pink colors of this season (with the central, white, Christ-candle for Christmas Eve/Day). But if you’re unfamiliar with Advent and happen to attend a church service in early December in a church that recognises Advent, you might be startled to see lots of purple, a bit of pink, and no red or green. (Many churches combine the colours of Advent and Christmas, however, so visitors won’t be completely perplexed. Advent purists don’t approve of such a mix, but I think we need to be gracious in our response to the Advent traditions of others. )

Advent’s Growing Popularity

Advent doesn’t get much attention compared to Christmas, though interest in Advent is growing steadily in many churches and in many Christian homes. That’s not to say everybody is an “Adventophile,” a lover of Advent, however. Some Protestants ignore Advent because it isn’t taught in Scripture and because they associate it with Roman Catholicism. Secular culture ignores Advent because there isn’t much money to be made here. I suppose you might be able to make a few bucks selling purple and pink candles, but this isn’t going to thrill most retailers.

Why did Advent matter so much to me? Why had I come to love this season that was generally ignored? Among many reasons, two stand out. First, I found that observing Advent enriched my celebration of Christmas. Taking four weeks to focus on the hope of Christ’s coming made me much more joyful when I finally got to celebrate it. The more I got in touch with my need for a Saviour, the more I rejoiced at the Saviour’s birth.

Second, I found in Advent a solution to the age-old problem of secular Christmas vs. spiritual Christmas. If you’re a Christian, you know what I mean. We recognise that Christmas is, most of all, a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It’s a holiday that focuses on the meaning of the Incarnation. Yet, given the secular traditions of Christmas, we spend most of our time preparing, not for a celebration of the birth of Jesus, but for fulfilling the demands of the season. We have to buy lots of presents for lots of people and make sure they are all wrapped and delivered. We have parties to attend and parties to host. We have relatives who come to visit or, alternatively, we are the relatives who go elsewhere to visit. This requires lots of planning, not to mention the energy required for holiday travel. We have to send out Christmas cards, making sure our addresses are right and that they get on all the envelopes. If we have younger children, we may very well spend hours trying to assemble gifts that come with sketchy instructions written by someone for whom English is, at best, a third language. And so on, and so on, and so on.

Is Advent Biblical?

…….. it’s correct to say that Advent itself is not taught in Scripture, and therefore Christians are free to observe it or not, it is equally correct to say that the emphases of Advent are thoroughly biblical. If the traditions of Advent help us to focus more on the Lord, to get in touch with our need for him, to replenish our hope, and to celebrate Christmas with greater meaning and depth, then I’m all fer it, as we say in Texas.

END

At my Anglican church, and I know this takes place at other denominations, family members from the congregation are selected each year to light the candles on the Advent wreath. To date two of the three purple candles have been lit – the Candle of Hope and the Candle of Peace. Next Sunday we light the pink candle – the Candle of Joy and finally the Sunday before Christmas we light the last purple candle – the Candle of Love.

I cannot think of anything better to start my Christmas preparations off. And like Rev. Roberts I too enjoy the Season of Advent.

I hope you all do, too.