Teaching About Advent:
I subscribe to several weekly emails from various church and youth ministries. I have found that around Thanksgiving, all of them send me messages about Advent. I read each of them with a sense of interest and curiosity. I grew up in an unchurched home and met Christ in high school, so despite 30+ years of knowing Christ, Christian traditions are still a bit foreign and intriguing to me.
Unexpectedly last year, I was asked to teach about Advent in two distinctly different contexts: to an adult Sunday School class at my church, where the ages range from 40-75; and to the student body of a Christian high school, where I am the campus pastor. I thought it would be a cool challenge to keep my lessons essentially the same for both age groups (either that or I’m really lazy and didn’t want the extra work).
Within two weeks of this grand experiment, I concluded that no one, whether 14 or 75, knows much about Advent! In my preparation, I discovered that Advent dates back to the fourth century and is a remarkably symbolic, powerful spiritual exercise. Before I started preparing these lessons, I thought Advent was about cute little kids, candles, calendars and chocolate. So did everyone else! Boy oh boy, we are missing the boat.
Consider This:
Did you know…
• The circle of the wreath is to remind us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning or end?
• That the green of the wreath speaks of the hope we have in God, the hope of newness and eternal life?
• Candles are used to symbolize the light of God coming through the birth of His Son?
• The four outer candles represent the period of waiting during the four Sundays of Advent, which themselves symbolize the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ?
This is rich stuff!
Advent is not only a reminder of how God-followers waited for Messiah 2,000 years ago; Advent guides us in our own wandering today as we wait for ourdear Messiah to come again for us. In other words, it’s not just about the first coming; it’s about His Second Coming, too. Advent is intended to be a practice for an entire life of Advent faith, in which we wait daily with hope and expectation.
After my first lesson, an 80-year old man named Woody came up and said, “I have to admit, I came today out of habit. This adult Sunday School class is just what I do every Sunday. After hearing what Advent really is, I realize I need to come each Sunday much more expectantly.” If an elderly retiree recognizes he still has things to learn about Advent, we all probably have some things left to grasp. So let’s find out if the entire church, but especially our youth, understand Advent. Take advantage of this great chance for adults and youth to learn together.
