2020 has made it to the homestretch! As we get ready to enter into the final month of a year that will probably cause a lot of groans and eye rolling whenever it is brought up in the future, many people are likely just ready for the year to come to an end. While many of the world’s current problems will certainly spill over into 2021, count me among those who will be glad to kick the 2020 dust off of my feet. And that’s why I think it’s more important than ever to celebrate Advent this year.
Most Christians are pretty good at celebrating Christmas. It’s kind of our thing. We find rest in reading Luke’s birth narrative. We look on candle light services as sweet memory-making moments. We have a deep history of decrying the commercialism and the hurry our culture has piled on top of it all. And if you’re like me, you have probably stated that “Jesus is the reason for the season” more often than you’re proud of. But it’s been my experience that Christians don’t often do a great job of emphasizing the “season” part of that refrain. We tend to focus our efforts on the buildup towards the singular event of celebrating the birth of Christ (Obviously a wonderful thing to celebrate), and we fail to dive deeply into the hope-filled longing that God’s people were forced to wade through before He showed up. We can call it American impatience or just simply wanting to skip to the good news, but the reality is that there were generations of frustration and confusion that had to play out before the fulfillment of the best promise to ever be uttered finally came to pass. And I think our failure to embrace that expectant longing before we get to the celebration of Christmas robs us of how deeply significant Christmas is actually supposed to be.
Like our spiritual ancestors, we live in the middle of a great waiting. There are certainly seasons when we aren’t aware of it, but then there are also seasons when it’s all we can think about. The chaos of the last calendar year is perfect fodder to point people towards our long expected hope. We are culturally hungry for the coming of a King whose government and peace will know no end, but if we’re not intentional about it, we will often settle for nothing more than hot chocolate and the escape of a Hallmark movie. Whether you lead your family or you’re privileged to lead your church, let me encourage you to take advantage of a season specifically designed to focus God’s people on the longing. Take advantage of your last opportunity in a frustrating year to focus yourself (and anybody else you can drag with you), on a more hopeful future than whatever we naively think 2021 is going to turn out to be.
I have bad news for you; next year might be far less chaotic, but it will not be any more fulfilling. If our present cultural hopes are realized and we see a year with fewer crazy headlines, it will only serve to lull us into a false since of security that our hopes and dreams can be fulfilled this side of King Jesus’ return. Your opportunity to point to something better and eternal will not be easier. It will be harder. Do not miss this unique ministerial moment. Put in the work and swim against the current. Lovingly and earnestly call those around you to lift the level of their eyes as they hold out for the cosmic fulfillments of Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace. And in doing so, perhaps the chaos and frustration that is the year 2020 will end up being seen as a God-given opportunity our good King used to prepare us for what He has to come.
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