The Grinch who Stole advent is a nice little article on ALPB online about when to put up the Christmas trees in the parish. Ah, very familiar to me. Probably to alot of us.
Decent article (here is just a bit)
Maybe I should blame all of this on the liturgical color revisions spearheaded by the Anglo-Catholics and taken from their Sarum Rite, for when they popularized changing the color of Advent from violet to blue, they allowed a shift from the more traditional medieval (and hence Lutheran) emphasis upon contrition for sins to the more ancient and patristic emphasis upon the expectation of Jesus’ coming.
The stated reason for the revision of color in the Advent season, of course, was to underscore the sense of hopefulness and anticipation with which the Prophets of Israel awaited the first Advent and so too should we eagerly await the return of Our Lord promised at His Ascension and confessed in the creeds. This is not a bad thing of course and no doubt Lutherans of all people should welcome such a dual sense of hopefulness and anticipation.
But that shift away from contrition to expectation, when combined with the festivity of the marketplace in the late fall months and the rampant commercialism of the season, leads good parishioners to misidentify Advent with the celebration of Jesus’ birth and not the patient, reflective wait for the coming Messiah of Israel. The hopeful tone of Advent melds together with the exclamatory tone of Christmas, ringing no different to the ear and seeming no less congruent than O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing do on a Christmas CD found in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart.
6 comments:
I love Advent, but don't see it as a mini-Lent. In a way, we've lost Advent, to be sure. I've tried to hold off Christmas until the 24th, and then to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas, but it's very difficult to do. In practice, it seems, by holding on to Advent too tightly, we lose Christmas. We sing the Christmas songs on Christmas Eve and, maybe Christmas Day, and then, we are pummeled with sermons on Epiphany, and we are told that it's the "Gentile Christmas." Somehow though, it never feels that way. Maybe Western Christianity simply can't pull it off. More often, it seems like we're in a classroom, being told by the teacher what rules we should follow.
I would like to see Christmas slowly introduced during the Advent season,with, say a Christmas song added each Sunday during Advent (perhaps, say, during the distribution). At our church, it's a huge Advent, (which in many ways is simply a repeat of the end-of-the-church-year themes of readiness and repentness), followed by hardly any Christmas whatsoever. Advent becomes simply another time to be sad and gloomy. Now, to be sure, a hymn like "Oh Come, Oh Come Emanuel" sets the right tone with its longing and sweetness, as does "Savior of the Nations Come." The time of pregnancy is one of anticipation, a mixture of sorrow over our plight, and hope in the future. Advent is more than waiting for our Lord's second coming. It's anticipation, knowing that the one who comes is indeed the one who came as the Babe of Bethlehem.
Anyway, excuse the rambling post. But, there it is.
Oops, I didn't mean to say that the time of pregnancy is one of sorrow over our plight. Substitute "Advent" for pregnancy!
Yikes!
Peter,
Yeah you have a point. Christmas is such a short season and advent much longer and that seems silly that we spend so much time preparing for th feast and the feast is done in an instant.
Yet Advent has a rightful place that itself is threatened by the commerical onslaught of Chrsitmas.
So somewhere in there is a balance.
And yes at least in LW the last three sundays in November plus the first week or two or (three...!) in Advent come be overkill on the end time theme.
I have never seen Advent as a lesser Lent. It is its own season with a different history and emphasis than Lent.
Well Greg,
I think that Advent is a season that particularly suits you, especially as I have dubbed you the theological Eeyore (sp?). You're right. Advent is its own season, with a certain sadness over sin, and longing for something better. It's just just anohter "Repent for the end is near." It's "Come, O Come, Emanuel." It's the season when you finally realize that there has to be more. And, may I be among the first to say, "Merry Christmas."
Gee, I gotta start looking at what I've written! ((As if anyone care, but still . . . ) I meant to agree that "it's not just another time to say, "Repent, the end is near."
Not that I have any problem with doomsday prophets, mind you.
Eeyore? I was hoping for Rabbit, (is that his name?) who is always fussing over his garden and along comes Tigger to bounce all over it. Dont bounce on my garden, buddy (grin).
In any event I, for my part , was trying to agree with you. Advent can swallow up Christmas. We can be so focused on doing the right liturgical thing we miss the thing the "rules" are designed to impart ... uh, ummm, Jesus.
Now, back to looking for Christopher Robin.
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