Grace Notes 2021-12-01

Last Sunday we began a New Church Year. The Advent Season, involving four Sundays, either starts in late November or early December. This is obviously out of cadence with the secular calendar. And that is because the Church Year emphasizes the sacred and transcendent. Christians recognize that the time marked by the secular calendar belongs to this age which is the result of God’s creation, for that is its beginning of time.

We have had revealed to us in God’s Word an age and realm that is not marked by the same time as this age. This is often called ‘eternal life’, and every time we here of this we tend to think of endless moments. But it is presented in Sacred Writ as an entirely different quality and pitch of life. It involves the deepest imaginable communion with God: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Church Year begins with the Season of Advent. The word itself means “coming” or “arrival”, and we remember Christ’s first advent, even as we learn what it means to anticipate and wait patiently for his final advent. As John the Baptist prepared people for the first arrival with repentance, we continue in ongoing repentance to be prepared for his glorious coming as judge at the end of this age’s history. Those who are watching and waiting, largely a matter of prayer, will not be disappointed at Christ’s Second Coming, for this will result in their full redemption.

Time and space will not permit here a detailed accounting for the various Seasons of the Church Year, but you will recall that the Year ends with the return of the King to judge the earth. Along the way all the important events in Jesus’ life are celebrated, including his birth, the revealing his unique identity, his suffering and death, his resurrection, his ascension, and the outpouring of his Spirit.

Our congregation employs a three-year lectionary. We are currently in Year C, which will especially feature the Gospel of Luke.

Since You Asked…

What does the Advent Wreath Symbolize?

The circle of the wreath reminds us of eternity and our God and Father who has no beginning and no end. The green boughs indicate the hope of life being renewed. The candles represent Christ, the Light of God, who comes into this dark world to bring light and life. The four colored candles lit successively over the four Sundays in Advent, represent the patience required in waiting for Christ’s coming. As there were centuries of waiting between the Old Testament prophets and the birth of Christ, so we must patiently wait for Christ’s return at the end of the age. At Gift of Grace we wait until Christmas Eve to finally light the white center candle (the Christ Candle) to indicate that the fulfillment of the promise of God with the birth of the Christ Child on the first Christmas morn.