Advent: A Season of Anticipation
Maybe that’s the problem for us adults. Our average Christmas is more disappointing than a dream fulfilled. How do we regain anticipation?
What was the Christmas morning tradition in your home as a child?
Christmas Eve was always a sleepless night. When I finally fell asleep, I tossed and turned in anticipation. We weren’t allowed out of our rooms and down the stairs until a specific time, so my older sister and I would sit at the top of the stairs waiting…eagerly anticipating the revelation of toys, candy, and even clothes (yuck!).
When we finally were released to see our bounty, we would be kept from actually opening any presents. We would have access to our stockings and one or two unwrapped gifts. These would have to tide us over until after Christmas breakfast. Christmas breakfast was, without fail, the longest meal of the year. Some years the agony would be increased with the necessary kitchen clean-up.
Looking back, I’m pretty sure my mom and grandparents were running a covert CIA torture program on me.
Advent: A Season of Anticipation
According to Britanica.com “Advent” refers to:
“the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas and also of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ.”
If I were to narrow this down to one word, it would be anticipation.
An integral part of the Christmas story in the Gospel of Luke is Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the Temple to be dedicated. This was a ritual prescribed by Moses thousands of years before, and Mary and Joseph being devout Jews, continued this tradition.
As they walked through the Temple grounds, these new parents walked among dozens, possibly hundreds of other men, women, and children. All of these people had heard the promise that a Messiah was to come and free them from their oppression. However, just two people recognized the Messiah when he was in their presence.
Simeon was promised he would see the Messiah before he died. Luke doesn’t specifically tell us, but we’re left with the impression Simeon is far from being young and has waited for years for this prophecy to be fulfilled. Luke tells us Simeon was “eagerly waiting” for God to reveal the Messiah to him.
There is no doubt Anna was an old woman. Anna’s husband had died years before, so she dedicated the rest of her 84 years to worship and serve God at the Temple. Luke wrote Anna spent day and night at the Temple. Like Simeon, Anna lived with anticipation.
Eagerly Waiting Christmas
Anna and Simeon remind me of how I felt about Christmas as a child; they buzzed with anticipation.
Why do we lose eagerness as adults?
Last week, I mentioned I have a hard rule — Christmas doesn’t begin until after Thanksgiving. I stand by my rule, but I also recognize if I’m not careful, my rule can lead me to miss out on preparing myself to wholeheartedly celebrate the arrival of Jesus. Further, it can keep me from renewing my anticipation of the return of Jesus.
Hundreds of people walked the Temple grounds when Mary, holding the baby Jesus in her arms, passed by Simeon. How many other babies arrived that day, week, or month to be dedicated? Jesus was just another infant in a long line of babies at the Temple.
I got a feeling for this when I visited the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil this summer. We arrived not long after the opening, but the plaza around the statue was already packed. There is a small chapel at the base of the statue where weddings and infant baptisms are performed. I’m sure I walked by one or more families preparing for this ceremony without noticing.
Everyone walking the Temple grounds - priests, Levites, other parents, true and devout followers of God — missed the one baby who was the Messiah. Everyone but Simeon.
When I live in anticipation, I notice others around me.
Simeon saw Jesus, grabbed him (from what I imagine to be a stunned Mary and Joseph), and belted out a song of praise to God. The promise had been fulfilled! But it wasn’t just Simeon who noticed, Anna also saw Jesus, and cried out to God with praise. She went on to share this good news with everyone around her - those who were expectantly waiting for the Messiah too.
Kick-Start your Christmas Anticipation
We’re just days away from Christmas, and your heart may be filled with anything but anticipation this year. I’ve been there. Some years, we need to work to sense the child-like eagerness. If you are in that place this year, here are a few things I’ve done to build anticipation:
Create an anticipation list. One of the devotions I list below encouraged the readers to make a list of things we are anticipating this Christmas season. I took about ten minutes to create a list that morning. I jotted down 8 things I am anticipating. This activity kick-started anticipation within me.
Turn on Christmas music. This morning I turned on a Spotify Christmas playlist (see below) as I drove to the coffee shop I’m sitting in. It wasn’t pop-type songs from the radio, so I wasn’t tempted to sing or hum along. Instead, I reflected. Another way of saying this is I prepared my heart.
Read an Advent devotion. I’ve shared many of my daily bible reading tips and tricks, and here is another. The YouVersion Bible app has dozens of Advent devotions ranging from 5-30 days long, and I will pick several to read through during the Christmas season.
A lot of the thoughts I am sharing this month stem from the devotions I’ve been reading - both the scriptures and writing from the devotion authors. Here are a couple I suggest:The Bible Project | Advent Reflections
Rick Warren | The Hope of Christmas
HOPE International | Emmanuel: God with us
Words of Hope | Waiting with Joy
No self-gifting. Chad Veach is a pastor in Los Angeles whom I follow on Instagram. He posted a list of 8 challenges for December. One of these challenges was to abstain from purchasing anything for yourself this month.
Sounds easy, but I can’t tell you how often I slip into, “I’ll just add this cool shirt to my cart as I shop for my kids, wife, family, friends.”
I’ve found denying myself is helping me prepare my heart for Christmas.Decorate for Christmas. When Kia informed me we would be decorating our house one night, I didn’t feel like it. Being a good husband and father…I obeyed. I’m glad I did. The act itself created joy and anticipation, but seeing the decorations around the house do the same thing.
It doesn’t need to be big or grand. Put something up this year.
When I was 7 years old, I sat at the top of the steps buzzing. Finally released, I raced down to find a black and yellow huffy BMX dirt bike. It was my first real bike, and I wasted no time taking it outside in the cold Midwest weather to take it for a spin. My anticipation didn’t disappoint.
Maybe that’s the problem for us adults. Our average Christmas is more disappointing than a dream fulfilled. So now we protect ourselves from further disappointment. We have numbed our hearts with the cares of everyday life.
I challenge you to feel again. Jesus came to give us hope, joy, peace, and love (the 4 core tenets of Advent). Will you open up your heart to anticipation? Will you eagerly await Jesus filling you with hope, joy, peace, and love this year?
Writing + Advent Playlist
I don’t know if we have the same taste in music, but here are some songs to explore. All the links go to Spotify. While writing this post, this is some of what I was listening to:
Classical Christmas - Spotify Playlist
Joy to the World - Kirk Franklin
Pennies from Heaven - Louis Prima