I was asked by my church to prepare a writing for the first of the four weeks of Advent. Like many familiar holidays and traditions, it is easy to forget the original or actual meaning. So in keeping with my series on re-discovering the familiar, I’ve chosen Advent as a seasonal side road. Here’s a brief highway marker that provides a bit of perspective followed by my writing.
Advent is dated back to the four hundreds with written evidence in Spain and Europe. Today, it is mostly associated with the season of Christmas. Unlike modern Advent ceremonies, most celebrations of Advent in history had a twin focus. The Latin word adventus was the translation of the Greek parousia—a word used for both the coming of Christ in human flesh and his Second Coming. Advent, then, always tended to focus on both where participants looked back in time to God’s interruption of history through the birth of Jesus and forward to the anticipation of his return to fulfill the restoration of all things.
I’ve found, as a traveler, that Advent is like coming to an intersection, and before the right turn is made I’m reminded to look both ways before continuing my journey. May peace be with you during this Advent season and in your personal journey.
Week 1: God With Us…In Our Wanderings, Exodus 13:17-22
McLean Presbyterian Church December 3-9, 2023
Our Advent readings this season focus on the theme of God being with us. The nation of Israel now released into the “wilderness” will experience the visible presence of God in the form of a “pillar of cloud and fire”. Our first impression could be that the Israelites had it made! They were secure and protected because of the actual visible presence of God. Clearly God was with them even in this time of uncertainty and wandering. Are you in a similar place and time in your life?
Throughout history, “wilderness” represents the unknown, uncertainty, and even the idea and threat of death. It can also serve as an opportunity for exploration, discovery, and the testing of our faith. I’m sure the Israelites, looked at this journey with challenging emotions and thoughts, especially the testing of their faith and the return to slavery.
What does the “wilderness” mean for us. Does it bring a sense of adventure and discovery, perhaps apprehension and fear? Do we believe that God, Emmanuel, is with us, always? Is our wilderness physical, emotional, spiritual, or personal?
I’ve always felt the wilderness calling me to a life of exploration and adventure. From a young boy surrounded by a forest of cedar and oak to the promised land of the stream close by. In my early wanderings I would follow the game trails to this flowing water that provided hours of exploration and curiosity. Like any young child, I would get lost. Yet, I knew that my father would come find me. I did not realize at the time that I was experiencing the love of our true Father who comes to rescue and lead us. I’ve continued a life of exploration to this day working in the mineral rich forests of Alaska as a geologist to running my Land Cruiser in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia. The physical wilderness calls me to return and continues to bring joy, adventure and a place where I experience God’s presence.
Recently, I’ve found myself in a new wilderness exploring life with cancer, for a second time. I believed I had navigated this terrain before and had arrived at the promised land of being cancer free. This is a wilderness I never planned to revisit. Cancer, and any serious illness brings many questions. People, degreed or novice, will bring you “answers” and terrain maps to lead you through and potentially out of this wilderness. Yet, only one question really matters. Is God with us?
David Powlison, in his book When Cancer Interrupts, states, “Remember that God himself is with you. He will strengthen you and give you courage. He will clarify your thinking. He will advise you about things far more important than cancer. He will settle you in your true identity. God is an actual person. He willingly comes to you.” John 14:18 reminds us, “I will not leave you…I will come to you.” In this season of Advent, rest in this assurance. I am.