The Long Advent
FROM THE RECTOR
In the Monday-morning Bible study, we have been studying the Book of Revelation for the last three months. I have never taught a series on Revelation before, and, although I always expected to teach one, I never imagined I would enjoy it this much. The Revelation to John has always seemed to be a scary, threatening text that preachers and Bible-thumpers like to quote whenever they want to frighten someone into agreeing with them. What I have found, however, is that Revelation is a deeply pastoral, compassionate letter that seeks to wrestle with some of the most difficult theological problems that plagued first-century Christians and that plague us still.
If Jesus’ death and resurrection were God’s ultimate victory over sin and death, why does evil still exist in the world? If God really loves us, why does God allow terrible things to happen? If God’s promise to save us from all that threatens us is sure and certain, why does God take so long to show up and take care of it all? If God has already established Jesus Christ as the ruler of all things, why do unholy, tyrannical earthly powers seem to be in charge of our every day lives?
These are the kind of deep longings that the first Christians felt as they faced the threat of persecution and death at the hands of the imperial authorities, but they are also questions we face in our own lives today. Many of us feel secure from physical and economic reprisals that might come our way because of our faith, but there are plenty of Christians among us whose livelihood and personhood are at risk because of people in power. Our study of Revelation has helped me understand both the nature of God’s promise to make all things new and the challenges that many people of faith deal with on a daily basis. In large part, the words of Revelation were written as much about today as about the ancient world or the world’s end.
The most important takeaway I have from our Bible study so far is a deeper appreciation for the inter-advent time in which we live. The death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, along with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, inaugurated the age of the church. It is the age in which we live, and it is the age in which we continue to wait for the coming of Christ. This time in between Christ’s two advents is marked by both the certainty of God’s victory, as it was accomplished through Christ, and the certainty that that victory has yet to be fully realized on earth. Instead of attempting to explain away the struggles we face as a product of our own limitations, the Book of Revelation—and the traditional, orthodox Christian theology it reflects—faces them head on as evidence that God’s work of renewal, though assured, is still taking place. There are no easy answers in either the book or in life, but there is hope in encountering them with the confidence of faith.
This Sunday, we begin again the liturgical season of Advent. Over the next four weeks in church, you will notice that far less is being said about the birth of Jesus of Nazareth and far more about the final coming of Christ as redeemer and judge of all things. In part, that is because the church does not struggle to believe that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that he lived among us, that he died and was raised again to set us free from sin and death. That part of the Christian story comes fairly naturally to us. It is the other part—the part on which we still wait—that we need more help believing. The season of Advent is designed to help us look forward to the second coming because we already believe in the first.
As we endure generation after generation of struggle and hardship, we need help remembering that what Jesus accomplished in the first century assures us of God’s ultimate salvation. And, if we have a hard time believing that one day God will set all things right, imagine what that has felt like for Christians in every age who fear for their lives. How do people of faith manage in times of great difficulty? We lean on the faith we share across the centuries. Even when our own confidence is flagging, we borrow from the faith of those who rested secure in God’s unshakable promises even when the world itself is shaking.
This year, as you light the candles on your Advent wreath and prepare for the coming of Christmas, remember that this season is about more than buying gifts and decorating trees. Indeed, it is about even more than preparing for the birth of Jesus. The season of Advent is the season in which the church carries on, day after day, year after year, as it awaits the consummation of all things in the glorious coming of Christ. It is the season in which we always live and have lived for two thousand years. It is a season of hope and renewal, of confidence and expectation. It is a season to look forward in faith.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan