Arriving!

For a long time I was told that Advent was about waiting. We waited for Christmas day with dinner and presents. We waited for the second coming of Christ. We waited for the full celebration of Jesus joining us in our lives. Advent was anticipation — calendars, candles, scriptures, carols — all building toward expectation. Hope itself was portrayed as expectancy.

But the word Advent comes from the Latin advenire — “to come to,” “to arrive.” So what does “arriving” look like? Is it staring out the window, wondering if someone will ever get here? Or is it the joy of welcoming them through the door? Isn’t “arriving” the train pulling into the station, the experience of hope made visible, tangible?

Hope made tangible

That’s why I lift this up: Christians are not the “waiting people.” We are the “arriving people.” Advent people. We are the ones who bring good news, who show up with resources, who are ready to help at a moment’s notice. Not simply singing nice songs and being pleasantly anxious but living out the commission to “go into all the world.”

And then came a word that stopped me in my tracks. A comedian offered a gentle but damning critique of the church:

“You know, if churches were actually doing what they are supposed to be about… maybe… probably we wouldn’t really have a homelessness problem.”

  That cut -- because down deep, we know it’s true.

Now, he may not know the churches where significant work is happening. I know one that tore down its worship center, took out a loan, and built low-income housing — with a large meeting space where they still gather to worship Jesus. I know more than one. That’s the mark of arriving people.

We arrive with a response. The Great Commission is usually translated:

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

But it can also be translated:

“Go into all the world immersing them in the teaching — the experience — of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and leading them into following all my instructions.”

As arriving people, we are called to immerse others in the presence of Jesus. We may not be tearing down our sanctuaries, but we may be showing up at a neighbor’s door, making a phone call to reconcile, becoming an advocate for someone being threatened.  Advent is not waiting. Advent is arriving.