November 30th marks the beginning of the season of Advent and the beginning of the “Church Year,” as celebrated across Christian denominations. In this blog, I want to share some reflections on why the idea of following the Church calendar is important for Christians, what Advent is “about,” and I’ll provide some ideas for how to participate in Advent.
Why should Christians pay attention to the Church calendar? After all, it’s not outlined in the Bible and many modern evangelicals eschew religious formalities like this as desiccated traditions that distract us from seemingly more authentic forms of spirituality. This, at least, was how I once thought. And to be sure, when traditions like the Church calendar are treated merely as formalities, they often feel more like a burden than a blessing. But this is not a reason to abandon them. Instead, we ought to examine our own hearts to see if, just maybe, the problem is us.
Remember, these traditions have helped order the life of the Church for two thousand years. They have been prayerfully and carefully developed by Christians seeking to lead lives that are holy and pleasing to God. These are not rules for the sake of rules, as with more legalistic and moralistic traditions. Instead, think of the Calendar – and the liturgy as a whole – as a way of putting the focus on God’s Word especially on the redemptive work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Indeed, “the Christian year,” Robert E. Webber explains, is “life lived in the pattern of death and resurrection with Christ.” (2004, 21)
Webber’s book, Ancient-Future Time (Baker Books, 2004) is a great, accessible resource for reflecting on the importance of the Christian year. As he explains, “Through the discipline of the Christian year we can experience the power of Christ within the community of the church, through its worship and in our lives twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.” (23) It gets us out of the rut of compartmentalizing our Christian life into just an hour or two on Sunday morning. Instead, every day is consecrated (set apart) for Christ, in worship of Him and in recognition of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work in our lives.
I say this as one who does not follow the Church calendar as well as I would like. But I never regret paying attention to it. There are so many things that distract us and turn us away from our faith; away from time spent in prayer, from Scripture, and from Christian community. By submitting to a ready-made cycle of readings and remembrances we plug in to an ancient tradition of disciplining our lives in accordance with time as redeemed by Jesus. It’s not magic, but it has been fascinating to see how it also forms the faith of my Children as we do evening prayer as a family and talk about the various commemorations, saints, martyrs, and teachers noted in the calendar. It helps form a more distinctively Christian imagination and language.
This is especially prescient at time when so much of the world has lost hope, or they have placed their hope in temporal, fleeting things doomed to disappoint them. They see history in ways that betray confusion about where all this seeming insanity is headed. As Webber writes, “The world does not know the meaning of its own history, but the church does. Through discipline of the Christian year, the church proclaims the meaning of time and of the history of the world.” (26) Indeed, the practice of “Christian time,” reminds us that the Christian faith is not merely a moral philosophy and a social club. It is a comprehensive differentiation and explanation of all of reality; of all that is good, true, and beautiful in the past, present, and future.
So what is Advent about?
Advent is a season of preparation and repentance as we await the second coming of Jesus. It actually has parallels with the season of Lent, which is also about preparation and repentance. But Advent is especially a time to remember who we put our hope in and to resist the tendency to put any thing or any one other than Christ at the center of our lives. This is easier said than done, as the stress and busyness of the holiday season tends to distract us endlessly. This is why it’s so important to find some way of daily disciplining ourselves to focus on Christ, so that we are prepared to remember the first coming and to be ready for the next one.
Practically, this can take many different forms. Whether you’re Anglican or not, I think any Christian can benefit from the Book of Common prayer’s tradition of Morning and Evening Prayer, and there are many different ways to follow along.
For starters, you can check out an online version of the Church Calendar (for Anglicans) and download a full, free PDF of the Book of Common Prayer (ACNA, 2019) by clicking here. You can also purchase printed liturgical calendars from the Ashby Company.
A great way to get started with the discipline of daily prayer and observing the Church calendar is through a podcast from my friends at Crossroads Abbey which goes through morning and evening prayer 365 days a year. You can also read a version, with the daily readings and prayers plugged in, at Legereme.com.
There are many books about Advent and devotionals. I’ve been particularly blessed by The One True Gift by Tim Chester and N.T. Wright’s Advent for Everyone. Chester and Wright have quite a few seasonal devotionals that would be great. Both are fantastic writers.
Here are some additional articles that may be of interest in regards to the Season of Advent:
“6 Ideas for Celebrating Advent as a Family” by Rhett Wilson
“10 Simple Ways To Celebrate Advent” by Holly Scheer
“What is Advent” by Justin Holcomb
I hope to share more about Advent, but I pray that these reflections and resources encourage you to observe the Church calendar and to see this Advent as an opportunity to commit daily to prayer and Bible study.
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