Belmont University Advent GuideSample

Sunday, Nov. 27

Some of the scripture readings for today seem rather out of step with the theme of this year’s Advent devotional, which is “Comfort my people.” The reading from 2 Peter 3, for instance, warns that there is a momentous, apocalyptic “day of judgment” approaching, and that its arrival will be swift and unexpected.

Matthew 25, likewise, tells a parable of a consequential return—one that was long-delayed and the arrival of which was unforeseen. The passage then concludes with a stern warning: “Keep watch.” Neither of these seem like particularly comforting words of scripture! In fact, however, these sober warnings allow us to celebrate Christmas in a far richer and far more hopeful way than we might otherwise.

Elvis Presley once recorded a truly dreadful song called “If Every Day Was Like Christmas.” Maybe you know it. The chorus asks: “Oh, why can’t every day be like Christmas? Why can’t that feeling go on endlessly?” Christmas, the song suggests, is a short reprieve from the way things really are; a 24-hour vacation from the nastiness and cruelty of the world and the way it is ordinarily run.

The passages we read today, however, tell us that Christmas is not an anomaly, nor is it an eggnog-induced blindness to hard-edged reality. Rather the One who Rules the world “raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap . . . . He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children” (Psalm 113.7, 9). The kingdom of this Ruler is one in which “good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice;” in which “the righteous will never be shaken . . . . They will have no fear of bad news” (Psalm 112.5, 6, 7). They remind us that King who has come, the King who is coming, “is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever” (Psalm 111.4–5). The promise of the swift and certain arrival of this King and this Kingdom is good news indeed.

The beauty and sweetness of Christmas, then, is not a Hallmark card fiction. Rather it is a window into the world God intends, and the world that God is surely bringing about. (Though the waiting, 2 Peter acknowledges, is hard, and seems long.) During Lent we celebrate the Good King who has come, and at Advent we likewise await with confidence and joy the coming of this same King, in the fullness of His Kingdom, to set all things right.

Steve Guthrie
Professor of Theology/Religion and the Arts