Across the Pastor’s Desk by Don Rose

Throughout the season of Advent, many congregations will use the appointed prayers of the day for each Sunday that begin with the words, “stir up.” The people pray that God would stir up their will, their hearts, and that Christ would stir up his power and come. Advent can be a time of stirring.

It is a time in which God’s people can find themselves out of rhythm with the rest of the world and can create feelings of anxiety, of a desire to fit in and to belong to the prevailing cultural norm. Yet that very dissonance can in and of itself be a witness as the faithful followers of Christ call the world to watchful, patient waiting until the day of the Lord’s reappearing.

Instead of giving in to the world, the church can use the weeks of Advent to lift up hope and anticipation as the themes of daily life while waiting patiently for the celebration of the Savior’s birth. The celebration of Christmas lasts for two weeks, so the church has no need to advance that season only to lose the message of Advent. This is the season when the church first looks to the return of the Savior at the end of the age. Then the emphasis moves to the celebration of the incarnation as the cycle repeats itself until the last day.

Even as the church actively waits, it prays that the Christ would reappear soon. Robert M. Herhold put it well when he wrote, “ Come Lord Jesus. Come quickly. We do not understand what this means, but don’t let that stop you. Amen.” The reappearing of the Savior will be beyond our wildest imagination and yet we pray, come. Come among us. Come into the world. Restore all things. Make all things new. To pray for this alone makes the season of Advent of value and worth and nothing to be rushed.

This season marks the beginning of a new liturgical church year, a time for new beginnings, a time for hope and anticipation. It provides opportunity to be grounded in the promise of God for this day and all eternity. Blue is the color of this season for many. It is the color of hope and of the dawning of a new day. Let us pray that day dawns among us soon.

Don Rose is the pastor of Mansfield Lutheran Church in Alden and United Lutheran Church in Walters.