The Two Seasons

Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

  --John 14:27

There are two seasons taking place right now.  Both are filled with hope and expectation.  Both have music and candles and sparkling lights.  Both seasons are building up to December 25th.  One is the Holy Season of Advent, the other is the Christmas Shopping Season.   

We live in both seasons at once, but they are not the same.  

The Christmas Shopping Season is an anxious place.  It is anxious because everything about it all depends on you.  You have to buy the presents.  You have to go to the party.  You have to send the cards.  You have to cook the food and hang the lights. You have to pay the bills.  You have to make sure not to forget anyone.  If you mess up, people will get their feelings hurt.  Will you have enough time, enough energy, enough money? 

Advent, on the other hand, is a peaceful place.  It is peaceful because none of it depends on you.  Christ came, and you can’t change that.  Christ is coming again no matter what you do or don't do.  You can participate by choosing to pray for his grace, by choosing to keep your eyes open.  But whether choose to stay alert or not he is likely to interrupt your life.

You and I experience two seasons at once.  We live in Advent and the Christmas Shopping Season.  By God’s grace, we can focus on one more than another.  We can set aside a little anxiety today and ask for a little more peace.  We can choose to turn our attention to the coming Christ rather than the coming crisis, even just for a moment.  Perhaps, a little at a time, we may find ourselves living for a minute or an hour or even a full day completely in the Holy Season.  



Henri Nouwen, one of my personal heroes, wrote a prayer that I would like to share with you.  I commend it to your use in midst of these seasons.



An Advent Prayer

by Henri Nouwen

Lord Jesus,

Master of both the light and the darkness,
send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do, seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy, seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking light.

To you we say,
Come Lord Jesus....
Amen.

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My Favorite Collect

A "collect" (pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable) is a short form of Christian prayer.  It is written to be used in public worship, and has several traditional elements.  In the Anglican Church, we are given a collect for each Sunday of the Church year.  These are called the "Collect of the Day."

Since I was a child, my favorite has always been the Collect for the First Sunday in Advent.  (And yes, I was the kind of kid who had a favorite Collect).  It was written by the great Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer.  It first appeared in the 1549 edition of the Book of Common Prayer.  Here it is:

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

Advent is the first season of the Christian Year.  It is the time in which the Church prepares for both the First Coming of Christ (the Incarnation) and also for the Second Coming (the End of the Age).  Both Advents are written into this prayer.  'This mortal life in which Christ came to visit us in great humility" is his Incarnation.  "The last day, when he shall come again" is his second coming.

The poetry of the prayer is based in part on the New Testament reading that was appointed for this day back in 1549.  Romans 13:12 reads "The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light."

The prayer weaves together the reading, as well as the meaning of the season.  More importantly, it asks God for a two fold grace.  We pray to put away the works of darkness.  Without the power of the Holy Spirit, we have no hope of leaving our bad behavior behind.  We are naturally inclined toward darkness, toward hiding, toward dishonesty.  Advent is a time of repentance, of turning aside from darkness.

We pray to put on the armor of light.  Leaving aside darkness is crucial, but so is battling against evil.  Christ calls us to join the struggle against the powers of this dark world (Ephesians 6:12)  This requires the whole armor of God. 

Both the First and Second Coming are about light coming into the world.  So the prayer uses the imagery of light and darkness, as well as other poetic use of the English language like "this mortal life" vs "the life immortal."  It is a beautiful, poetic prayer.  It is a prayer that is centered in the Bible.  It is also a prayer that opens us up to God's grace during this holy season.  In the midst of all the shopping and driving and football and everything else that these last few days have been about, it is a door to the Reality of the season.  I commend it to your use.

Familiar as the Moon

Left His seamless robe behind
Woke up in a stable and cried

Lived and died and rose again
Savior for a guilty land

It's a story like a children's tune
It's grown familiar as the moon

(There’s Only One, written by Randall Goodgame, performed by Caedmon’s Call)

A few nights ago I was driving up Franklin Road with the top down.  It was a clear, unseasonably warm November night.  The moon, high and bright, seemed to chase me over the hilltops.   My car stereo was cranked up loud; my iPod shuffled to Caedmon’s Call performing “There’s Only One Holy One.”

The story of Christ, summed up so beautifully in word and music, unearthed a surge of emotion.  It started in my gut and welled up through my throat into my eyes..  Those true words “it’s a story like a children’s tune; it’s grown familiar as the moon” seemed to flow in me.

That moon--the one the band sang about, the one that chased me--is as ancient as anything I know.  But the One who crafted it and set it spinning is more ancient still.  His story was the first of stories, the one that started them all.  All our stories, even the story of the moon, will culminate in his great ending.  That great ending will be Christ’s Second Advent.

As far as I can tell, the Church has told the story of Advent for 1631 years.  Surely we have told it for longer, since the earliest days of the Church.  I mean that by about 380 A.D. the Latin speaking Church had begun to observe this time of preparation before the Christmas Festival.  

Consider that for a moment.  1631 years.  More than eighty generations of Christians gathering on Sundays, and throughout the week, telling again and again the story of the Second Coming of Christ.

Yes, I meant to say “the Second Coming.”  For that is what Advent is about, at least in part, certainly in these early days of the season.  But it’s Christmas time, why tell that terrifying story?  When you’ve been waiting for something for a long time, it can be easy to forget what you are waiting for, or that you are waiting at all.  When you’ve been waiting for Someone to come back for 380 years?  2000 years?  It may be that you need to set aside some time to remind yourself.

The story we tell every Advent, like the story we tell every Sunday, is an old one.  It is familiar like a children’s tune, like the moon.  But it must be told again.  We share the story of Advent every year at this time.  We share it with the older generations as well as our children and grandchildren.  We share it to remember Whom we are waiting for.  We share it to remind one another to wait with hope.  We share it because it is worth sharing, worth repeating, worth telling.  As familiar as the story is, it is still true.  And one day, one of these Advents will be the last one.

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