I know this is a recurring debate. Every year, stores pull out Christmas decorations and run Christmas sales earlier and earlier. We all know this and pass around the jokes about how Halloween and Thanksgiving were skipped. Of course, it makes sense that commercial industries want to get a head start on others, pushing sales earlier and hopefully generating a bigger profit.
However, this year, I noticed it wasn't just the businesses trying to get a head start. I can think of at least three Christmas events/parties I was invited to in the month of November. Two of them before Thanksgiving! This doesn't have anything to do with generating money. So why the rush? Perhaps it is because there are so many Christmas events that people feel the only option to fit them in is to start earlier. For some reason, no one seems to think of pushing events later even though the 12 days between December 25 and January 6th are designated as Christmas!
Just ten years ago, I remember that Christmas events held in the first week of December were "early" if you wanted to beat the rush. Most parties were in the second and third week of December. Now, the "early" parties/events on my calendar are in the third and fourth week of November and late ones in the first or second week of December. There is nothing in the week before Christmas and the week after Christmas will be totally silent as usual.
The most ironic thing about the rush is that Christmas, a Christian holiday on the church calendar, is preceded by an intentional season of waiting for four weeks. This season of waiting is called Advent. It started today!
So why does it matter? After all, I've heard that people who decorate for Christmas earlier are happier. And many Christians do not feel bound to the church calendar.
There are good reasons to wait. Even though I would not say that the church calendar is authoritative, there is intentionality and wisdom in its design. Waiting is hard and humans universally must wrestle with how to handle times of waiting (though for Western people today, very few things test our ability to wait). Waiting is also central to the Christian faith. For thousands of years, God's people Israel were waiting for God to fulfill His promise to send a Messiah. Then, he did. In an extraordinary, unlooked for way! He came down himself! Yet, even after the Messiah had come in the flesh and offered himself as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins, that was not the end of our waiting. Now, we wait for his return and for the end of suffering and completion of the kingdom he started by the Spirit.
And so, it is fitting for us to practice the discipline of waiting in small things as a strengthening of our character to wait for the big things. In James, one Jesus' disciples writes, "the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience complete its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing." Waiting will have a perfecting effect on us.
When we cannot wait to celebrate (whether through certain kinds of holiday foods, decorating, shopping, activities, etc.) until the appointed time, are we not being driven by our appetites? Of course, it is not sinful to decorate for Christmas before Advent. However, a small denial of self (especially considering the symbols of the season) can strengthen us for when we do face bigger dilemmas involving waiting.
When we have to wait to fulfill sexual desires when a spouse is unable to fulfill them (whether because of singleness, divorce, temporary separation from spouse for travel or business, or the illness or physical limitations of a spouse). When we want to get ahead quickly in our career. When we want to let someone know exactly how angry we are on social media. When we are despairing from the pain and suffering of life and wonder if it will really be worth the wait for the Messiah's return.
The good news though is that Advent does not mean "waiting." Advent means "coming." The season of Advent can train us in waiting, but it also teaches us that our waiting is not in vain. Just as surely as he came to save us from our sins, Messiah Jesus is coming again to make everything right. That is worth waiting for.
If you're interested in some advent music, this album has great advent songs for kids (and adults). =)
No comments:
Post a Comment