Advent

Over the years, I have written varied comments on Advent. There have been general posts on the background of the season and on particular days and scriptural passages. This time, I would like to focus on the general purpose of the season in Christian devotion.

Advent is above all a season of spiritual preparation as we contemplate the ways that Christ has come, keeps coming, and will finally come among His people. We should use Advent wisely to think about spiritual subjects such as sin, judgment, forgiveness, prophecies,  promises of redemption, and grace coming in the person of the Christ, the Anointed One of God.

As Christians, we need to be awake, watchful, and prayerful at all times. We should not allow moral failings, earthly worries, or spiritual lethargy to draw us away from spiritual readiness. Yet, given our fallen human nature, we do tend to become forgetful and lazy. So the Church has incorporated reminders in our worship. In general and personal confession, in corporate prayers, in sermons, in Holy Communion, and in private devotions, we are repeatedly called to wake up and persevere. And in two major seasons of the church year- Advent and Lent-, we have reminders to wake up, watch, and prepare for new encounters with God in Christ.

So Advent is intended to be a spiritual wake up call. It is not quite as somber as Lent, but neither is it a time for premature holiday celebration. As we meditate upon the Scriptures, we should not rush ahead to the Nativity stories. We should consider a variety of Old Testament passages about the fallen human condition and the need for redemption., about the longings and hopes of Israel, and about God's promises to save all penitent and faithful people. We should also consider the many passages in the New Testament which exhort us to be ready for Christ to come among us anew. During Advent as always, we are to await Him with vigilance and constant prayer. May we all think on such things in this season and be open to new manifestations of divine grace in our lives.

All Saints Day- 1 November- Jude 3-4

Since a period of renewal of faith in my mid-twenties, All Saints Day has been important to me. It is a time to emphasize the Christian heritage passed down through the centuries. During this week, we think of all those Christ would call "blessed"; we think of all those made saints or "holy ones" through the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism.

Although it is not an official reading for All Saints Day, I always recall the third and fourth verses of the brief Epistle of Jude- " Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."

From the times of the Apostles onward, false teachers have crept into the Church, seeking to corrupt the Christian message in a variety of ways for a variety of purposes. This infiltration has been especially strong in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. So more than ever we should heed St. Jude's exhortation to "contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." Of course, faith is an attitude, but it also has specific content. The Faith has been revealed and passed on once and for all. It is enduring and unchangeable in its basic essentials. Its doctrine is embodied in Scripture, clarified by the ancient Fathers, and summarized in the ancient catholic Creeds. The appropriate behavior that flows from this Faith is summarized in the Ten Commandments, the Two Great Commandments, in lists of the gifts of the Spirit, and in lists of Virtues. In worship, this Faith is expressed in historic liturgies, especially in Baptism and the Eucharist.

On this All Saints Day, let us honor all the saints by following their lead and contending for the Faith that they have passed on. In a fallen world, especially in a decadent age, there are many false teachers, and we need to make special efforts to retain and pass on our godly heritage.