Advent carries message of redemption

I was born into a Baptist family. My thinking was shaped and nurtured in the Baptist tradition. As a child, a youth and a young adult, Advent was in my vocabulary but it was of a different language. It was a term used by Roman Catholics and Lutherans. This was also true of Lent and liturgical seasons of the year. Changing paraments on pulpit and altar/communion table was completely foreign. In my early years as a Christian, there were two really important holidays: Christmas and Easter. In church activities, we jumped right past even Good Friday and the cross.

My Baptist perspective held firm until I arrived at Garrett Theological Seminary, a seminary of the United Methodist Church. I remained a Baptist, but I enrolled in a Methodist seminary because Garrett had a renowned professor under whom I wanted to study. I have never regretted my choice of seminaries, but it made me a bit of an odd duck in my Baptist circles of relationships. At Garrett I learned about the seasons of the year. Later in the churches that I served, we used paraments with changing colors, and I wore stoles that indicated the seasons of the year.

Embracing the liturgical year was a major step for me. The liturgical year has no specific

instructions or directions in the Bible to be used in Christian worship. However, I discovered that the liturgical year carried Christian beliefs that I wholeheartedly embraced. This is particularly true of the Advent season.

Advent covers the four Sundays prior to Christmas. I now look at the Advent season as a four-week birthday party for Jesus from Nazareth. If ever a person deserved a monthlong birthday party, it was this special person from Nazareth. The Bible tells the stories of other important births like those of Isaac and Moses, but the birth of Jesus rises above all other births in our Israelite/Christian heritage.

The stories of his birth are found in the Matthew and Luke gospels. Neither account can be read seriously as history. They qualify as myths. God is the great actor. The two stories clash with one another, and neither were written until long after the actual birth of Jesus. Jesus was most probably born in Nazareth well under the radar of attention of shepherds, wisemen, or government officials. Stars that moved around out of their orbit did not happen and the angelical choirs stretch credulity. There was no need for a mad dash by the family of Jesus to Egypt to escape the threat of murder. There was probably rejoicing around the small village of Nazareth because a healthy male child had been born to Joseph and his young wife, Mary. The importance of his birth was not of note for decades. His birth is of great note only in retrospect from the life he lived and the wisdom that he taught.

The season of Advent does not appear in church practices until the 5^th century. The story of its origin has never been satisfactorily discovered. The word itself means forward movement. Its message is hope for the future. It is hope for a particular kind of future. It is hope for the future in love. This is an essential meaning of the Christian Faith. Christians are a hopeful people because we believe that the power of love ultimately will win and will transform the world into a kingdom that is worthy of a loving God.

The world has seldom or never been a pretty place in which human beings thrive and live well. It was not a pretty place in the 5^th century. The late 5^th century marked the end of the Roman Empire. 5^th century history in Europe and the Mediterranean area is war after war after war. Chaos reigned throughout the territory of the Roman Empire. It is in this context that the Christian Church, now thoroughly established in Rome, began celebrating the season of Advent. In the midst of chaos and continuous wars, where is hope to be found? Is the future to be decided by the fighting of even more wars? Christian Faith asserts that the beginning of a different kind of world begins with the birth of a child in a humble home with a mother named Mary.

In many ways the story of the birth of Jesus is very simple. The insistence of Christians is that the birth is profound and is the gateway to the kingdom of God on earth, a kingdom of peace through love.

The world is still filled with terrible wars with death for multitudes and chaos for millions. Christians who are supportive of the war paths are missing an essential teaching of their Faith. The Advent season grabs us all and asks us to consider the redemption of the world through love. There is no hope that is produced by wars. Hope for the world is with love of God and love for one another. This is the message of Advent. In love there is a future for us all.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.