December 1st marks the first day of advent. The season of anticipation of the birth of Jesus. Thanksgiving was late this year, so we go straight from Thanksgiving to the first Sunday of Advent. Many of us start preparing for Christmas long before Thanksgiving, but based on the Historic church calendar, the season of preparation does not begin until December 1st.
My familiarity with the actual church calendar is only just growing, but the idea of Advent (preparation/anticipation, then Christmas tide (the actual 12 days of Christmas to celebrate Christ’s arrival) and Epiphany (The culmination of the celebration honoring the arrival of the Wise Men to acknowledge the Christ) are so beautiful and significant.
Thanksgiving is an entirely American holiday. The only coincidence to its nearness to Christmas is that it definitely had to have happened at the beginning of winter on the East coast. There is no correlation between the Thanksgiving holiday on the American calendar and the season of Advent on the Church calendar.
But God is kind and sovereign so we can appreciate the timing. What a gift it is to look around us and be grateful. To remember what God has done. To look around and see the blessings in from of us and give thanks for them. It is a weighty thing to acknowledge what is most important. It is powerful to say outloud to ourselves and others that we are richly blessed with more than we deserve.
Then we enter a season of waiting. For the Christmas holiday, we wait in eager anticipation because we know what we are celebrating has already happened. We have spent years and decades developing traditions and memories and positive associations.
I have had my own season of waiting. We all have. And those seasons are less enjoyable. When we don’t know when or how the waiting can be difficult. The temptation in seasons of waiting and uncertainty is either to hope or to despair. I would say that in this fallen world the pull to despair is stronger. Unless we have a right view of God.
In the waiting and the unknown, I am tempted to take matters into my own hands. Or to ignore the issue all tighter and numb my waiting with lesser things. Sometimes anger seeps in and I lash out at God about all the ways He has not met my expectations. Or I despair that He doesn’t see me at all and will never answer my plea.
But with thanksgiving and gratitude, we can look around and say “Look what He has done!” “Look at all He has provided!” When we see that we are richly blessed, we remind ourselves that He is a generous, thoughtful, loving God. That whatever we lack or are waiting on does not take away from our safety and security in Christ. That even if we do not have all we hope to, that we are still able to delight in God where we are.
Thanksgiving carries us through seasons of waiting. We wait and prepare with Hope, not despair. Because He has promised that “God is our shepherd, I have all I need.” We trust that anything that will glorify Christ will come to fruition. What feels like a no, can be a not yet in Christ.
The Israelites lost hope in their waiting. They despaired because, like us, they so often failed to realize how graciously God was taking care of them in the meantime. For all the times He says “not yet”, He says “yes!” To things we never even thought to ask Him. He says “of course” to all that we need to live abundantly. He says yes so often that we don’t even recognize many things as gifts because they have become commonplace.
In advent, let us wait with Hope. Not despairing but watching expectantly. But not forget the ache that comes in the waiting, which makes our celebration so much more vibrant.
We never doubt that Christmas morning will arrive on December 25th! We get to celebrate the best “Yes!” that God could give us. He gave us His son. He said “Yes” to salvation at a great cost.
So in our advent season, we can be thankful that we have already received all the we could need!