Right from the beginning, the people of God have always been a people who wait - Michael J Tinker encourages Christian parents to embrace that this Christmas
My youngest loves Christmas. He always has and I suspect always will. He would be happy never taking decorations down and probably thinks that technology’s greatest gift to mankind is the internet so ‘Heart Christmas’ can be on all year round.
I love Christmas too. In fact, I would happily subscribe to the 12 days of Christmas - not the song on repeat, but the actual 12 days of feasting, starting on Christmas Day. I feel we’ve done ourselves and the festival a disservice by making it all about one day, which inevitably is a disappointment.
As we wait for Christmas Day, we are reminded of the Israelites waiting for the promised King
But I have my limits. I don’t want to hear Christmas music until December. And while my son thinks I’m the reincarnation of Scrooge (if a fictional character can be reincarnated… and if reincarnation was actually a thing…) I do have theological reasons for wanting to hold off the festivities.
As painful as it is, waiting is a large part of what Christmas is about.
I love that God built into the lives of the Israelites so many reenactments of their past. In the Shabbat meal he wanted them to have a weekly reminder of the greatest rescue (thus far for them), of God’s provision and mercy, of his rescuing power. This pointed both to their past and their future, anticipating the day when he would send the lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
This wasn’t just for the Israelites. When Jesus took that meal and showed its fulfilment he wanted us to have the same weekly reminder of our history, of THE greatest rescue ever! Like the Shabbat meal this was both a reminder of the past and a pointer to the future. Paul writes “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).
Just as the Israelites waited for the coming of the Lamb, we wait for the return of the Lamb
I think the celebration of Advent functions in the same way. Admittedly this wasn’t instituted by Jesus, but that doesn’t mean it can’t hold significance in our lives. As we wait for Christmas Day, we are reminded of the Israelites waiting for the promised King. At times this wait can be agonising, especially for young children for whom a month or two is a massive percentage of their lives. As they experience these pangs of pain we can remind them of how difficult it must have been for the Israelites to have waited for Jesus to arrive - most of them never saw the Christ in their lifetime. Perhaps we can share with our children the stories of Simeon and Anna. Anna was 84 when she got to meet Jesus and Luke writes: “she gave thanks to God and spoke about the Child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” God always keeps his promises.
Read more:
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Why Christian parents should bother with Advent
As with the passover meal and communion, the period of Advent also points to the future. Just as the Israelites waited for the coming of the Lamb, we wait for the return of the Lamb. And many of us won’t see this in our lifetimes. For children this can be really hard to understand (and for adults!) Why does Jesus wait so long? Will he ever come back? Waiting for Christmas can help give our children an insight into this time of waiting. The Israelites waited a LONG time for the King… but he did arrive. We may wait a LONG time for the return of the King… but he will come back. God always keeps his promises.
I wrote about this in a song on my Christmas album ‘The King Has Arrived’. The song is about the promises God made throughout history to send a rescuer, but the people had to wait, trusting his promise. At the end of the song, under the refrain ‘we can trust in Him’, I sing:
A long long time ago
When Jesus was going home
The Lord God made a promise
That one day he’ll return
He’ll keep his promise…
So this Christmas lean into the anticipation of Advent, with all the joys of this season and all the pains of having to wait, and speak together of the return of Jesus, because God always keeps his promises.
