Advent: Week Two
6. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
-Isaiah 9: 6-7
If last week felt like the spiritual plane engine kicking to life, this week feels like the fast-paced motion of hurtling down the runway. Christmas music is on full blast in every store and office building, lighted trees can be seen through front windows, and in my region there is snow on the ground!
While last week’s theme of anticipation certainly still rings true, this week something different has sunk in- pressure. Has anyone else felt a very intense pull to read Luke and Matthew, even if they had previously been reading elsewhere in scripture, or is it just me? Beyond a call to read the gospel, I’ve personally been struggling with a certain amount of inadequacy.
It can be so hard not to compare yourself to your friends, coworkers, or neighbors in this season. Rooftops are lined with lights, front doors have wreaths with red ribbons, and the single strand of lights you have around your door may feel a bit small-scale in comparison to those around you. Unlike our parents and grandparents’ generations, now we have the unique privilege of seeing inside everyone’s homes due to the power of social media. The pressure is ON to have every corner of your home bursting with festive spirit, to have a tree with impeccably placed ornaments and warm lights a-glowing, and to have the absolute most perfect shaped cookies with envy-inducing frosting on top.
This is one area of Christmastime I still have to address each year: the amount of performance and showmanship that comes this time of year can be, if I’m honest, a bit nauseating. When I was a child before social media really took off, there may have been one neighbor on the block who needed an entire lights display, or one woman in the friend group who needed her house to look so perfect that Martha Stewart would be envious, but that was usually it. There was no pressure for you to post a picture of your family going out to find the perfect tree, nor decorating it, nor your children opening several dozen presents under the tree. While social media does enable us to share moments like these with friends and family we may not often see, it adds a layer of drama that I could honestly do without.
This isn’t born out of jealously- if you have a Charlie Brown tree or a 12-foot evergreen in your living room, it makes no difference to me. The part that doesn’t sit well with me is the profoundly spiritual, intimate element of Christmas being bastardized into something material, flashy, ornate, and gaudy. While it is completely appropriate to celebrate this season with lights, big trees, cookies, decorations, etc, we cannot allow these to detract from the significance that is the purpose of Christmas.
How do I work through this inadequacy? By turning to scripture. The above passage from Isaiah made me weep the first time I read it, and for good reason- we are given hope. God’s promises are absolute, and to know that Isaiah foreshadowed the single most important event in history by discussing Jesus’ birth… It lends itself to tears of joy. We learn that God is sending a baby to us, and that the reign this child will have will be greater than any king or emperor. But this child, he won’t just be a glorious ruler, he will also be a champion for peace and compassion. This is an intimacy that I will turn to year after year to remind myself of the true reason for advent.
Truth be told, a tree has yet to be erected in my household, though I’m hoping that this next week of advent changes that! But beyond the tangible, when I start to feel those feelings of ineptitude, I will say this prayer:
“Lord, thank you for blessing us with the foreknowledge of your intent; to send your only son, our Lord to free us from our sins. God, thank you for this season’s reminder of his birth, and for this scripture’s emphasis of Christ as everything from a prince of peace to a mighty ruler. May the tender, raw image of our Lord in a manger be our focus in the days and weeks to come. In your name we pray.”
AMEN!