Preaching In Advent

Is time a gift or a curse to you? Many of us seem to treat time as a curse; we are always "running out of time." For preachers, Sunday is always just around the corner. Day-Timers, calendars, watches, beepers, and a myriad of supposedly time-saving devices make us mindful every day of the passing time. Our busy lives often make time a curse. What would happen, however, if we began to see time as a gift of God? What if we understood time as a tool for spiritual growth?

Christianity takes time seriously. We celebrate the fact that God revealed himself to us in time (Hebrews 1:1-3; Galations 4:4). The church measures time Christologically by celebrating the events of Jesus' birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Ordering congregational life and worship by the Christian calendar helps the church to rehearse the story of God and locate its identity in something more significant than a few hundred years of national history. Unfortunately, knowledge of the past doesn't seem to be a high priority for some present Christians who like to think of themselves as contemporary and "cutting edge." They like to think they can make a leap over 2,000 years of church history and immediately implement exactly what the church should be doing right now without any reference to the past. Truth is, you cannot understand the present or build toward the future, without a clear understanding of the past.

This is why paying attention to the Christian calendar in our preaching can make such a significant impact on our people. We are not only giving them the particular content of a sermon but also implicitly teaching where our Christian identity is founded. It also gives us time to linger with a text and not feel rushed to "move on" to the next, hottest topic.

Consider the pastoral opportunities presented in the Christian year. Advent is a season of waiting and anticipation. Christmas is a season of joy. Epiphany is a season for evangelism and mission. Lent is a season of spiritual renewal. Holy Week is a time to enter into the major events of our salvation. Easter is a season to celebrate the resurrection and power of Christ to overcome evil. Pentecost is a time to renew our openness to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the worship of the church.

The manner in which we help our people to mark time will have much to do with the spiritual health of our congregation. The Christian calendar gives us wonderful opportunities for remembrance and preparation. It helps us to come away from the normal pursuits of life and rehearse the story of our redemption. Time is indeed a gift from God that can help us accomplish our pastoral work.