This week is the first Sunday of Advent.
It seems like we just packed away the Christmas stuff and now we have to bring
it all out again. (I realize this doesn’t apply to everyone. Some folks start
celebrating the Christmas season right around Halloween. But in my family,
we’re traditionalists. We don’t go bonkers for Christmas until the proper time:
thirty seconds after the conclusion of Thanksgiving dinner.)
The gospel reading for the first Sunday
of Advent is a very short passage from Mark. Jesus gave a warning about the end
times when He would return to judge the world. He said, “Be watchful! Be alert!
You do not know when the time will come….What I say to you, I say to all:
‘Watch!’”
Advent is a time of watching and
waiting. It is a four-week period of preparation for the coming of the Lord.
Nowadays, it takes an especially keen
eye to see the Lord anywhere among the avalanche of secular Christmas glitz. We
can easily find ourselves overwhelmed by trees and lights and holly and
mistletoe and parties and presents and shopping and over-eating and on and on
and on. We can hop aboard the non-stop, six-week, Ho-ho-ho express and never
once give a fleeting thought to the One for whom the Christmas season was
originally intended. (I’ll give you a hint: His name is not Santa.)
You can watch hundreds of hours of
Christmas specials on TV and never once hear even an oblique reference to
Jesus. Virtually all of the “holiday programming” steers quite clear of the
religious origin of Christmas.
Let’s face it, Jesus Christ is persona
non grata in our present culture. Despite the fact three out of four
American citizens describe themselves as Christian, there is a small but
powerful segment of society passionately working overtime to rid the public
square of any religious influence.
The level of animosity reaches its
zenith during the Christmas season—“Christmas season,” by the way, being a
phrase that is banned by many schools and municipal operations. I’m still at a
loss to figure out how the First Amendment clause, “Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion,” can be invoked when a sixth grade
chorus sings “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Is a sixth grade chorus the same
as the U.S. Congress? (No, of course not. The sixth graders are more mature.) Is
singing a Christmas carol the same as passing federal legislation? I really don’t
get it.
On the other hand, I can find nowhere in
the Constitution the clause, “All citizens have the right never to be
offended.” If someone is truly offended by a rendition of “We Wish You a Merry
Christmas,” why doesn’t he or she just skip this year’s Christmas concert? (Oops,
I mean, “Winter Concert.”)
Anyway, Advent is a time when we should
be “watching” for the coming of the Lord, waiting in anticipation for His
arrival. But if you spend this December watching for Jesus is all the usual
places—shopping malls, office parties, in front of the TV—you are not very
likely to spot Him.
I’m afraid you’re going to have to work
at it if you want to see Jesus this season. Skip a Sunday shopping excursion
and instead go to church. Turn off the TV and read the Nativity verses in the
Bible. Spend a little less time (not to mention effort and money) decorating
your house to look like a Las Vegas casino and instead sit down with your kids
and pray for God’s peace and love to fill your family and friends. Try to
remember, for a change, that Jesus is truly the reason for the season.
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