FRANKLY SPEAKING
Frankly Speaking: Advent — The Great Expectation
“Happy New Year! That’s right—it’s Advent, the Christian New Year. As the world’s calendar winds down, the church’s calendar begins again. Outside, the days grow shorter, the nights stretch longer, and another weary year limps toward its end. But then the church hands us Advent—a season that keeps time differently. Four weeks to pause, to take stock, and to let God reset our sense of what time means. Advent doesn’t begin with our resolutions or our resolve. It begins with God’s decision to show up, to shake things up, to take time for us.”
— Will Willimon
As the world rushes toward Christmas lights and shopping lists, we, the Church, slow down. Advent is not about retail deadlines or sentimental tradition—it’s about holy waiting. We pause to remember that God chose to enter our time, our world, our mess. The candles of hope, peace, joy, and love mark our hearts’ preparation, reminding us that Christ’s coming—both past and future—reshapes our lives in the present.
Advent’s Educational Value: Teaching the Church to Wait Faithfully
The educational value of Advent is not simply in lighting candles or singing familiar hymns. It is in what the Church learns through the act of waiting. Each element—Scripture readings, liturgical colors, music, and symbols—forms a catechism of expectation, teaching us spiritual patience in an impatient world.
- Advent Teaches Time as Theological, Not Chronological
Willimon reminds us that Advent keeps time differently. The Church’s calendar begins not with fireworks or resolutions, but with waiting—an intentional slowing down. This teaches believers that God’s time (kairos) interrupts our ordinary time (chronos). We learn that spiritual growth happens not by speed or productivity, but by attentiveness to divine movement. - Advent Teaches Us to Hold the Tension of “Already” and “Not Yet”
The season embodies the paradox of Christian faith: Christ has come, Christ is coming again. Living between these truths cultivates hope that endures uncertainty. It trains the Church to trust God’s promises even when the world feels unfinished or fractured. - Advent Shapes the Church’s Identity
In a culture of distraction, Advent re-forms the Church as a community of waiting and witness. The wreath, candles, and Scripture lessons are not quaint traditions—they are teaching tools. They remind believers that we are a people who remember and rehearse redemption until Christ returns. - Advent Calls for Spiritual Recalibration
Each candle illuminates a moral and spiritual lesson: - Hope — a counter to despair.
- Peace — a rebuke to anxiety and division.
- Joy — not happiness in circumstance, but delight in promise.
- Love — God’s self-giving presence revealed in Christ.
Teaching these themes renews the congregation’s sense of discipleship, encouraging reflection, prayer, and acts of compassion.
- Advent Prepares the Mind as Well as the Heart
The educational task of the season is to help both children and adults understand why we do what we do. When we teach the meaning of candles, colors, and Scripture readings, the Church moves beyond ritual into revelation. In learning the “why,” faith becomes both informed and incarnational.
In short: Advent is not simply a countdown to Christmas—it’s a sacred curriculum. Through Word, worship, and waiting, we learn to live by divine time, to long for God’s presence, and to prepare for the coming kingdom.
Blessings from Pottsboro, Pastor Frank (alegria@lakewayumc.org)