An Advent Letter

For those living in the land of the shadow of death

To the church that shines in dark places,

that sets the Table for rich and poor,

young and old,

to the church in Tucson and the unincorporated regions of our county,

grace, mercy, and the peace of our Risen Lord be with you all.

May you remember always that you are Christ’s and Christ is yours.

Dear loved ones,

We have reached the season of Advent together.

What is Advent you ask?

Advent isn’t just about the birth of Jesus.

Advent is the beginning of a new year.

It’s the beginning of the church year.

The beginning of the year for God’s people.

We have all celebrated the New Year that comes on January 1st every year that we’ve been alive.

For me, I’ve found the New Year in January to be a helpful turning of the page from year to year.

A time for reforming habits,

for letting go of sadness and sin,

and for pressing further up and further in to the things that really make up reality and truth.

I’m sure many of you have experienced the same thing.

Where new years feel like a breath of fresh air and the start of something new.

The Christian New Year does much of the same,

but it starts out of a place of difficulty and sadness.

We don’t ring in Advent with glitter and the dropping of a ball while we toast champagne.

It is not a holiday full of cheer irregardless of how we feel.

In fact, Advent is not even Christmas.

It’s what comes before.

At Christmas we celebrate the incarnation of the Son of God,

but during Advent, we wait for Him.

In many ways, Advent is the season that we all need.

A season that acknowledges the pain of this present evil age.

But it is also a season that reminds us that this present evil age has been invaded by the age to come.

It is a season of hope,

but we cannot know what we hope for if we do not yet know our problem.

And to the extent that we take a good hard look at our problems is the extent that our hopes are kindled into roaring fires of anticipation for the return of the King.

And that is OUR hope.

A hope that the lamb who was slain,

who sits in the throne of God,

will return one day for His people.

That the sad things will take their place as only memory,

and the kingdom of heaven will have no adversaries in the hearts of men.

The word Advent comes from the Latin word “Adventus”

Which means “coming”.

But it’s more than that.

This word denotes invasion, ripening, and the arrival of something anticipated for a long time.

It’s a word that reminds us not only of the arrival of a baby in a manger, but the invasion of the kingdom of God into the kingdom of darkness.

God’s kingdom really is like a seed planted in the earth.

When we plant a seed in winter, while the ground is still hard,

we do not yet see the fruit that will be enjoyed on warm spring days.

But we know that spring is coming.

In many ways, the history of mankind on this earth is the story of a long winter.

a winter that’s ruled by a tyrant.

A winter that has been marked by sin, plague, sorrow, and death.

Advent is the season where we say say,

“Yes, it is winter. And spring is coming.”

We are not the first to experience the effects of a spiritual winter.

And in order to recover the richness of Advent for us, we must discover the richness of waiting that the people of Israel experienced as they waited for the Messiah.

long before the birth of a Jewish baby boy in Bethlehem,

God’s people in ages past were in distress.

They had enjoyed good kings,

they had suffered under evil kings.

And mostly, they had rejected God’s covenant and call to be His people and bless the nations.

Their current king was the wicked man Ahaz.

A descendant of David, he should be ruling with justice.

But instead he was evil.

He sacrificed his baby sons in fire to false gods,

he worshipped demons on mountains,

and he betrayed His people to Assyria.

The prophet Isaiah was living in Jerusalem at this time,

and he was sent by God to warn Israel and Judah that they would be cut down to a stump for the wickedness they had committed.

And the way He was going to do this was to allow them to fall into exile.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Israel and Judah, two sister nations that never should have been divided in the first place are taken into captivity by the Assyrians and the Babylonians.

2nd Kings tells us that the reason this happened is because of Israel’s great sins.

They never stopped serving idols.

They never were wholly devoted to Yahweh.

The Israelite people will find themselves asking the question,

“Is God going to keep His covenant?”

“Will he keep His promises even when it seems like He can’t?”

This nation, descended from Abraham was supposed to bless the world,

not be scattered all over it, slaves to false gods and evil nations.

But God had given them a promise BEFORE they went into exile.

A promise that they would look back on while in exile.

A promise that would sustain them while they waited for what seemed impossible.

In the midst of the judgment from God, a flicker of hope is seen.

Isaiah 9:1–7 NIV

1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

A LIGHT HAS DAWNED.

Friends, think about when you see a light a long way off at night.

Maybe it’s a campfire way up a mountainside.

Or a car’s headlights several miles down the road.

It might still be completely dark where you are but the light you see in the distance is very real.

Think about what it means that this light is like the dawn.

If we wake up in those predawn hours and stand and look east with a coffee cup in hand,

there is a moment in the morning when the dawn light can be seen in the eastern sky,

but no warmth is felt from it yet.

We see the dawn light, and know that our star is going to crest the horizon and warm our day.

This is the promise found in Isaiah.

The S-O-N is going to crest the horizon, and warm the day with His rule.

But he’s not just going to warm the day.

He is going to break the oppressors yoke.

The Advent of Christ is an invasion into the kingdom of darkness.

Christ does not descend to His world to sit around and ask the demons to do Him a favor and leave people alone.

No.

Christ, fully human and fully God, engages in an all out full court press against the kingdom of darkness that starts with a defiant rebuke of Satan’s dominion in the wilderness and culminates in the shocking moment in the middle of history when God Himself is lifted up on a cross, at that very moment being inaugurated the King of the World.

And after, as His cold body is filled with warm blood again, and He strides out of the grave on strong resurrected legs,

Satan is bound.

Satan was a strong man,

Jesus was stronger.

“The yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor”,

Shattered.

And it all starts at the moment that Jesus resisted the promises of the devil.

By doing what Adam could not,

Jesus is now a formidable threat to the Kingdom of Darkness.

What does the Apostle Matthew want us to know about Advent?

Directly after this wilderness temptation we are told this.

Matthew 4:13–17 LEB

13 And leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 in order that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said, 15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, toward the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and the ones who sit in the land and shadow of death, a light has dawned on them.” 17 From that time on, Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near.”

What does this tell us?

If you want to be on the side of the strong man,

If you want to be a part of the kingdom of light in the midst of the dark kingdom,

If you want to trade in your dead heritage as a son of Adam and a daughter of Eve and become brothers with the Second Adam,

Then dear friends:

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.

The Dawning of Christ can have only one of two effects on you.

If you repent,

Then the dawning of the Son of Man will warm you and cause you to grow.

If you do not repent,

Then you will be in the same condition as the trolls in the Hobbit,

Who bickered until morning and were caught by the sun, turning to stone.

Refusing repentance before the dawning of the Son of Man will turn you into stone, leaving you forever damned to be a slave to sin and the hideous creature that you have chosen to be.

The incredible truth is that this light has ALREADY dawned.

We are already living in the light of His day.

We are already being warmed by His love and able to see His Kingdom advancing.

What this means, dear ones is that the promises given to the Israelites in Isaiah are promises that are yours to appropriate now!

Repentance brings us to God.

And God has already walked among us!

Through repentance, consider what is ours:

Spirit the Wonderful Counselor

John 14:26 HCSB

26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit —the Father will send Him in My name—will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

We have a counselor who has seen the entirety of time and laughed at it’s inability to contain Him because it is by His wisdom it was created.

The Holy Spirit as our counselor means that we are never alone in our darkness ever again.

We have a God who walks before us in the dark places and is walking with us now, guiding our steps and giving us light.

We have the best friend one could have in God the Spirit. And wise is the counsel of a good friend.

Jesus the Mighty God

We have a God who has already defeated death and Satan.

Do not take this lightly.

Let your heart’s song be that of the Psalmist:

Psalm 118:14–17 HCSB

14 The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. 15 There are shouts of joy and victory in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly! 16 The Lord’s right hand is raised. The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!” 17 I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the Lord has done.

We are powerless against sin.

That is why the imagery of slavery is used in scripture to describe our relationship to sin.

But by the mighty hand of God, our chains are broken.

Our slave clothes are traded for the bright robes worn only by sons.

Which brings us to:

God the Everlasting Father

Jesus says in John chapter 14, “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

The Fatherhood of God is an everlasting characteristic of His nature.

Because of Jesus,

He will never stop being your Father.

He will never betray you.

He will never abuse you.

He will never lie to you.

He will never abandon you.

Jesus has never lost one person that His Father has given Him to protect.

The Fatherhood of God will never change.

Through Christ, you will never lose the opportunity to sit at His table.

We have an everlasting Father who does not grow weary of hearing what we need.

He delights to give good gifts.

And His greatest gift is the gift of His Son, who is your brother.

The King’s Son, the Prince of Peace.

Jesus the Prince of Peace

John 14:27 HCSB

27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.

History is full of princes who did not know how to rule with justice to bring about peace.

Jesus is source of perfect justice which brings about perfect peace.

King Jesus will not stop advancing His kingdom against the kingdom of darkness until injustice is banished from His kingdom.

He gives us peace, because He IS Peace.

Jesus IS the peace of God.

Do you need peace?

Rest in Christ.

Spirit, Son, Father.

Friends, let this Advent Season fill you with hope.

Hope in Trinitarian love for the church.

Hope in the return of the King.

Hope in the banishment of sin, the devil, and evil empires that set themselves up against God and His law of love.

Do not forget that we are living in the “already not yet”.

A unique chapter of history where the full sun-blaze of God’s revelation has been revealed in the face of Christ,

but we await His return.

This Advent season, reject the idols of consumerism that distract us from our posts.

Do not abandon our sacred duty of extending this light to the nations.

Let us be a church that holds out the hope of the gospel to all.

Let us love while we wait.

May the God who surveys time from His throne in Heaven give you every spiritual blessing in Christ, His incarnate Son, and through His Spirit, whom we obey.