what is advent?

the season of expectation

Nov 29, 2024

Advent Wreath - Photo by Joe Schlabotnik

The season between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day has a very distinct feeling. There’s an extra something in the air as we put up decorations, listen to different music,1 and prepare for the peak of the holiday season.

And when it comes to this season, there’s a particular feeling that every child experiences and every adult remembers. Do you remember what it is?

Expectation. Anticipation. Waiting.

Sometimes that feeling of waiting for Christmas morning was almost agonizing! What is waiting for me under the tree? Is it what I’ve been dreaming of? Yeah, you remember.

So, what do we call this season of anticipation leading up to Christmas Day? Well, we call it the “Christmas season.”

But that’s not what it used to be called.

In the traditional church calendar, the season leading up to Christmas Day is called Advent, and it is a season of expectation, anticipation, and waiting. But not for anything you’ll find under the tree.

so, what are we waiting for?

The season of Advent is about waiting and preparing, but not for a holiday. It’s about waiting and preparing for the reason for the holiday.

It’s about the story of Israel. Do you remember how the story of the Old Testament ends? The Jewish people have been allowed to return to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem and their temple. But they’re not truly free. They’re still under the control of the Persian Empire.

God had made them a promise that the throne of David would last forever. But that throne was metaphorically empty. Sure, they had a “king,” but he was a vassal to a pagan emperor. The king of God’s chosen people should answer only to God.

Still, God continued to remind them of his promise. The prophet Isaiah declared that the line of David would be renewed: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”2 Zechariah said that their king would come humbly riding on a donkey.3

Four hundred years after the last Old Testament prophet, they were still waiting. Can you imagine what it must have felt like as they waited for their messiah, trying to prepare their hearts and keep themselves pure?

That’s what Advent is about.

But that’s not all that it’s about. Yes, we can and should look back and imagine what it was like to long for the messiah’s first coming. But we also need to remind ourselves that he is coming again, and so, just like the people of God two thousand years ago, we are waiting and longing. Jesus told his disciples that he would come to “take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”4 And his Apostles wrote of him returning. Paul, James, and Peter all write of the coming of the Lord.5

the themes of advent

So, while the world around it is celebrating the Christmas season, the church is in a season of waiting and preparation, both of remembering what it was like to wait for the messiah’s first coming, but also reminding ourselves that we are waiting for his return. We remember when he rescued his people not from earthly, political subjugation but from slavery to sin, but we also remember that he promised us that he would come back to wipe away every tear.

The core ideas, then, are his first coming, and his second coming.

Advent also focuses on John the Baptist, who was called to prepare the way for Jesus’ first coming. He fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi, who said that God’s messenger would “prepare the way” before him,6 that Elijah himself would be sent “before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”7 Jesus himself declared that John was Elijah, come to prepare the way for him.8

Since Advent is about waiting and preparing, it is not a time of feasting, but of fasting and prayer. It’s about preparing our hearts for Jesus.

We also often see a set of four themes of Advent. They vary slightly from church to church, but they are usually Hope/Faith, Peace, Joy, and Love. These are the spiritual fruit that we should center our hearts on.

why should we observe advent?

I think the best way to understand the difference between the celebration of Christmas and the expectation of Advent is to feel the difference. Think of a Christmas Carol like “Joy to the World”: it’s an upbeat, triumphant song of celebration.

But contrast that with “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” which has a sense of waiting, even pleading for something. Even the refrain, which has a hint of celebration in it (“Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel shall ransom captive Israel”) talks about something that will happen in the future, not something that has already happened.

The Advent season goes back to at least the fourth or fifth century, when Christians observed a season of fasting and penitence in preparation for the Feast of the Nativity, or what we call Christmas.9

Today, though — even within the modern church — we don’t go in much for fasting, penitence, or — Heaven forbid — WAITING! We want to celebrate, feast, or if you want to put it in Christian terms: rejoice, without ever bothering about those less savory ideas. We want to read the Psalms of rejoicing; we’re not so comfortable with the Psalms of lamentation.

I think we can all admit that this is not a spiritually-driven shift. It’s a reflection of the culture around us that seeks always to minimize pain and maximize pleasure. That’s not what God has called his church to, at least not yet.

That’s where the theme of hope especially comes in. We are waiting, we are in a time of fasting and repentance, but it is also a time of expectation, because we know that God’s promises do not return void. A time of feasting is coming!

Some, therefore, advocate a radical shifting away from the modern, secular idea of the Christmas season, to a traditional observance of Advent. One Anglican pastor invites us to a “quieter, older path,”10 and I will admit that I find it very appealing. But I know that is a big change.

So, I’m not advocating that you eschew all Christmas cookies and stuff a sock in Bing Crosby’s mouth until the 25th. What I recommend is that we reassess how we observe this season personally. What changes can we make that center our hearts on Advent, rather than the world’s idea of Christmas that surrounds us?

so, how do we observe advent?

First of all, what does Advent look like on the calendar? Advent consists of the last four Sundays before Christmas, and the Advent season ends with sundown on Christmas Eve (which is traditionally when Christmas begins).

The weird thing about this is that it means the Advent season can vary from 22 to 28 days. If Christmas Day falls on a Monday, the fourth week of Advent will only include the Fourth Sunday, which will be Christmas Eve. But if Christmas falls on a Sunday, the fourth week of Advent will be a full week long. That makes it a little hard on devotional writers, so they often choose to just start on December 1.

A common Advent decoration you’ll see both in churches and homes is the Advent Wreath, usually decorated with evergreen foliage, with four or five candles set in it. A candle is lit for each Sunday of Advent that has been reached, and if there is a fifth candle, it is lit on the evening of Christmas Eve and can be used into the Christmas season.

Churches can observe advent by focusing worship and preaching on the Scriptures and themes of Advent. Families and individuals can also make or find an Advent wreath and select a devotional that fits the season. One that my family can heartily recommend is “Unwrapping the Greatest Gift” by Ann Voskamp.

We can also individually take time for fasting11 and extra prayer during this season, to prepare our hearts for the celebration that is coming: both the celebration of Jesus’ birth coming on December 25th, but also the celebration that will ensue when he returns.

We hear a lot these days about the “War on Christmas,” or the “secularization of Christmas.” I can tell you from experience: if you really want to put Christ back in Christmas, start with Advent. It makes Christmas come alive.

And if you’ve prepared your heart, and done a little fasting, you can feast without shame when Christmas Day comes.