We Need Advent This Year

By Amy Corriher – MCC Staff Member

Advent in the church calendar consists of intentional reflection on the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Eve. This is a year where this practice can be rich with depth and meaning that can be a source of strength as we come to the end of this challenging year. 

Advent  is not only a time of celebrating the birth of Jesus, but one where we actively participate in the practice of waiting, experiencing the anticipation and longing of those waiting for the arrival of the Messiah. This waiting mirrors our own longing and anticipation of the second coming of Christ as King to a world that is just at full of darkness and in need of God’s kingdom as first century Israel. 

This year has given us all a greater understanding of what it means to long for light in the darkness of sickness, death, racial injustice, and division. More than in many years in recent memory, this year Advent is situated in uncertainty.

As we look back on the faithfulness of God to send the long awaited Messiah, we look toward his future return with anticipation. We find hope in the darkness. Peace in uncertainty. Joy in spite of grief. Love in the midst of brokenness.

This Advent we wait and we remember the promises of God that have been fulfilled and those that are to come. We situate ourselves in the reality of the here, but not yet kingdom of God.