Advent: The darkness before the dawn
The church year is about to come to an end; this year the season of Advent starts, conveniently, on Sunday 1 December. It’s the season where we look forward to Jesus’ coming with self-reflection and penitence, a time where Christians can try to keep all the commercialism of Christmas at bay to consider more important things. This is always a challenge in the noisy build-up to the biggest commercial festival of the year.
For a variety of reasons it feels like this Advent it is hard to look forward. Our mid-year change of government was marked by new ministers queuing up to tell us how grim their inheritance was and how tough things are going to get. Their tone has brightened but many of us face straitened times: pensioners going without their Winter Fuel Allowance, employers preparing for a hike in National Insurance rates, farmers digesting the changes to Inheritance Tax rules. Switching on the news has provided no respite. We have been watching the war in Ukraine for nearly three years and the carnage in Gaza over a year. These two wars on our doorstep have created a tension in our public life which is pervasive; one parishioner who travels a lot for work reports that tensions around the Gaza war are palpable all over the world. Now we anticipate a second Donald Trump American presidency, with its unpredictability in international affairs.
For many of us, looking forward to challenging times can bring out our pessimistic side. Yet very often things do not turn out to be as bad as we think. It has taken Trump’s election win for people to start talking seriously about a peace deal in Ukraine, in spite of the fact that the war has not really been going anywhere for well over a year. Perhaps the unpalatable reality is that peace is bound to come at a cost which will include letting Russia keep hold of some of the land it has stolen. The key will be securing Ukraine’s borders and ensuring that Russia’s other neighbours will be secure too. Eventually the cost of even a less than ideal peace must be better than the billions being spent on war and the untold numbers of lives changed for the worse. This must be true in Israel as well, yet there is seemingly no willingness for either side to recognise that the only way out of conflict is negotiation and compromise. However, history shows us that even intractable disputes can be resolved peacefully: think about South Africa’s Apartheid era or the Northern Ireland Troubles.
Having financial changes in view, even challenging ones, means that we can all plan. For many businesses, pensioners, farmers, there will be adjustments to be made. For any household or business, when costs rise in one area, you either try to bring in more money or reduce your outgoings. Ultimately this will prove possible for most people most of the time. And the government will be hoping that the investment in our public services will prove to be worth the cost. In the end things may not be as grim as we expect, if we see hospital waiting lists coming down and school buildings improving.
During Advent Christians are encouraged to look forward to Jesus’ return, but also to look inward, examine our hearts and face up to the darkness inside ourselves. Many of our church services have a confession near the start; this is not accidental. It is there in recognition of the fact that we need to examine the state of our own hearts each time we draw near to God in worship. When a minister prays with someone who is about to die, confession is at the heart of the prayers. Giving the person every opportunity to say sorry to God is key to enabling them to take their final journey in peace. Penitence means seeking peace: peace with God, peace with yourself, peace with others.
If you go back a generation, it was usual for Christmas trees to be put up in homes on the last weekend before Christmas. Now we have adverts from September; the shops hit peak Christmas in early November and it ends up feeling relentless. Church life is not immune. Alongside marking Advent, we have Christmas events and carol services all the way through December. Spiritually it is important not to jump straight to celebration and ignore the need for stillness and reflection beforehand.
However, it is also important to see that there is a light in the darkness. Something good is coming. Christmas changes everything, as God himself comes to rescue us in the form of a defenceless baby. In Jesus God is alongside us in all our brokenness. In the longer term, we look forward to Jesus’ return as judge, sweeping away evil and bringing an end to the suffering, sickness, war and death which are a daily reality for all of us. If the season feels grim, try to reflect on the reality of eternity with Jesus: a new, perfect you, in a world free from decay, illness and sin. As the saying goes, it is always darkest before the dawn.