The Four Advents

In an Advent sermon eons ago, Martin Luther (1483-1546), the Lutheran church’s namesake, talked about the “three advents.” Advent is that time in the church calendar when we set aside four weeks to prepare for Christmas. Advent is a funny word we don’t use very often but basically means “arrival, coming,” and in the life of the church specifically refers to God coming into our world in the flesh in Jesus Christ’s birth. The “first advent” for Luther was Christmas! God becoming “incarnate” in Jesus Christ for our sake and the sake of the world. Incarnation is another funny church word that means God “in the flesh,” God becoming a human being in Jesus—fully divine, fully human. For Luther—and this is where it hits home for us—is that the “second advent” is God coming into our world in US. WE incarnate God’s Word through our faith; we are Christ’s hands and feet and are called to serve our neighbor the way Christ served the neighbor. In us, God comes into the world (Advent!), and the church as the Body of Christ embodies in the flesh (Incarnation!) Christ’s Holy Spirit. The “third advent” for Luther is when Christ comes again in glory, at the end of the ages, when creation “brings to birth” (another Christmas theme) a new heaven and new earth (Romans 8, Revelation 21), in other words, the Second Coming, in the words of the Creed, when “Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead.”

The Worship & Music committee thought it would be neat to do a sermon series this Advent on these “advents” but, importantly wanted to add a “fourth” advent (which is really the “first” if you want to keep count)—and that is the way God “comes to us” in the blessing, beauty, and glory of the created world. God spoke, and Creation happened; God breathed God’s Spirit into “all flesh”—coming into our world (Advent!) and is present all around us. So to close with some food for thought as Christmas approaches: what is it about this time of year that breathes God into you? What is it about the decorations, beauty, etc., that makes God “arrive” for you?

Peace, Pr. Christian