What Is Advent?

Rosemary Corey, DRE
Birmingham Unitarian Church
Bloomfield Hills, MI

What day is today? (2nd Sunday of Advent)

Last Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent.

Last Sunday many of my Christian friends gathered for an evening worship service called Advent by Candlelight. I know of one church in Birmingham where 500 women gathered to celebrate Advent.

Does anyone know what the word Advent means? (Coming)

What or who is coming? (Christmas/Santa Claus/Jesus’ birthday)

So we take these four weeks before Christmas to prepare for Jesus’ birthday. Now there are the traditional things that many of us do to prepare for Christmas. There are the decorations, the parties, the gifts, etc. But many of our Christian friends believe that the arrival of Jesus meant a better life for all of us. So they like to take the time before Christmas to reflect on their own lives. I like this tradition. Maybe you feel a need to spend more time with someone you love. Maybe you could forgive someone who has wronged you. Maybe you want to do kind things for a perfect stranger. Is there anyone out in the congregation who plans to do something nice for a needy family?

Does anyone know what this is? (An advent wreath (I created an advent wreath with an artificial wreath and 4 candleholders. You will need 3 purple tapers and 1 pink taper.))

There are many ways to interpret the advent wreath. I’d like to share one tradition with you this morning. The advent wreath is made from greens because they symbolize life. Four candles are said to represent the 4000 years waiting for the birth of Jesus. The coming of Jesus was to Christians the coming of their king. And purple is the color of royalty.

The first candle is lit as the candle of faith.

The second candle is lit for hope.

The third candle is the candle of love.

And the fourth candle, the pink candle, is lit on the fourth Sunday, which is called Gaudete (pronounced Gow det ee) or the joyful Sunday of Advent.

Quite often when I think of Christmas, I think of the thrills on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, and with good reason. Christmas and Christmas Eve have a lot of thrills. I remember Christmas Eve dinner with my family when I was growing up. I have 5 brothers, so Christmas was always very festive. My mother always made the meal. I don’t remember what we ate, but I remember eating it together. My father always insisted we clean up the dishes before we exchanged presents. I still wonder if he really cared about the kitchen or if he was enjoying dragging out the anticipation. And then we all opened our presents from each other. Now excluding Chatty Cathy, I can’t remember any gifts. Opening the gifts was the thrill, but the actual memories are of being together with my family.

I recently returned from a wonderful weekend in Los Angeles. I was able to go to Disneyland while I was away. While I was waiting in line, and there are a lot of lines in Disneyland, I had a realization. Disneyland is 10% thrills and 90% walking and waiting. (Some might argue that the thrills represent less than 10%.) And then I realized that that same equation works for most of life … including Christmas. So one of life’s greater challenges is to enjoy the 90%.

In closing … May the light of this second candle of Advent warm our hearts this day and in the weeks to come.

As the candles burn brighter and brighter, may we too, send our light to all who come our way. Amen.