Beginning with the end...

Everyone who knows me well knows that one of my greatest weaknesses involves the calendar. I forget dates - birthdays, anniversaries, etc. You know, those days that I forget that end up hurting the feelings of those I love. Of late I have employed a "reminder service" (my sister) to make sure I don't miss the really important ones. But that's not really what I wanted to write about today. However, I do want us to think about a calendar, but not the one hanging on your wall or sitting on your desk.

The calendar that I want to discuss is the one that many in the body of Christ have followed for centuries. Being raised Baptist resulted in me not knowing a whole lot about something very familiar to many within the church - the Official Church Calendar. Now our church had a calendar with coming events and annual meetings written in but that's not one to which I'm referring. I'm referring to the "Liturgical Calendar." It wasn't until my seminary days that I was exposed to the rich history behind the Liturgical year observed by many within the body. The Liturgical cycle is actually a three year cycle in which worshipers are exposed to every major doctrinal teaching of the church. It's actually quite an involved and detailed strategy. Developed in a time when the church was rapidly growing in numbers and the potential for heresy was great, the church wanted to guard against the corruption of the content of its worship. The end result was a complete guide to the content of worship for each Sunday and special day of the year to so ensure that even the weakest of parish leaders would be on target with the rest of the body world-wide.

In our day there are many in the body who still follow the "Liturgy" each week and there are many who do not. Denominational affiliation generally drives this choice. Haven Baptist, of course, does not generally follow the "Liturgy" because most Baptists see this as "too Catholic." In fact, I thought that myself until I was exposed to the original design of the "Liturgy." But this is still not so much what I wanted to discuss.

Many within the body of Christ are and have been observing the season called "Advent." For many of us, we assume that since the season of Advent is observed the four Sundays prior to December 25 then it must be about the first Advent (coming) of Jesus Christ as a baby. False. The season of "Advent" actually has to do with the future coming of Jesus Christ. "Advent," at least in the Western tradition, marks the beginning of the Liturgical or calendar year for the church. That is why I titled today's entry "Beginning with the end." For those who follow the liturgy, Advent marks the time that they begin the year focusing all attention on that event that all Christians should be eagerly anticipating - the return of the King. Just think about the Christmas hymn Joy to the World. It's not about the first Advent. "Let earth receive her King!" It's about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as King.

This year I have intentionally focused on the second coming during these four Sundays prior to December 25. The first week of Advent we finished the short series "Life as it Should be" looking at the promise of Christ to return in John 14. The next week we looked at the Certainty of His Coming from 2 Peter 3:8-15. Last week we looked at the Good News of His Coming from Isaiah 61:1-4; 8-11 (those can all be heard online if you missed anything). This week, Lord willing, we will look at the Joy of His Coming from Luke 1:47-55.

How real is the return of Christ to you? I mean how does that fact impact your life, the choices and the plans that you make? We're not going to forget about His first coming. Not at all. In fact, I want to extend everyone an invitation to come and be with us on Christmas Eve at 7:00 PM to specifically remember His first Advent. But until then, let's join the millions of other believers world-wide by focusing on that great day that all believers should anticipate - His return!