With Christmas coming just around the corner, we have lots of preparations to do to make sure that we are ready. We have to stock up on salt, and make sure that our shovel or snow blower is good to go for that first snowfall. We need to make lists of the things that we would like, and we need to get the lists of others so we may have ideas of what to get them. Then we have to fight our way through the crowded stores to get those gifts for friends and loved ones. We need to straighten up the house and to pull out all the Christmas decorations, and then put them up. We have to go to the grocery store to buy food and drinks for the parties that we may be hosting. The list of preparations can seem to go on and on, and I didn’t even mention everything that could be done!
The Church gets ready for Christmas with the season of Advent. The word “Advent” means “coming,” which is an appropriate name for this season. In Advent, the Church celebrates the coming of Christ in a threefold sense. The first coming that we celebrate is Jesus’ coming in the manger. Jesus is the Messiah foretold from long ago Who would save His people from their sins. In Advent, we look forward to and anticipate this coming of Christ. We look to the One Who has taken on human flesh to save us from our sin.
The second coming of Christ that we celebrate is His coming in the Word and Sacraments. Even though Jesus ascended to Heaven, He is still with us today through His Word and Sacraments. The Word and Sacraments are the means by which Jesus comes to us, and they are the means by which He gives us His forgiveness, mercy, and salvation. In Advent, we remember this way that He still comes to us by.
The third coming of Christ that we celebrate is His second coming. As Jesus says in Revelation 22:12, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Jesus will come back. He promises to, and He will be back soon. In Advent, we prepare for His second coming with repentance and faith in Him. We remember that He is coming back soon.
Advent is a helpful season to help us prepare for Christmas. It allows us an opportunity to slow down in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, and helps us to reflect on the coming of Christ. It is a time that allows us to see our sin, our need for a Savior, and to see how He comes to us (in the Word and Sacraments, and in the manger). It is a time that encourages repentance over our sin, since our sin was what made Christ come to save us, and since repentance is the way in which we get ready for Christ’s second coming. As you get ready for Christmas, remember the season of Advent in your preparations, and its themes of Christ’s coming to us.
~Pastor Nick Kooi
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XVIII, Number 5, December 2016)