Doncaster, South Yorkshire. 22nd December, 2024.

So. Advent is nearly over. It really is time to get to grips with planning for Christmas.

A couple of years ago, I asked a friend whether he might have time to meet for up a drink before Christmas. He checked his diary. It looked good, but before committing be needed to check the family spreadsheet. In his family, the advent period was so busy that the diary was not enough. The pressure of children’s parties, shopping, cooking, cakemaking, social engagements, decorating, wrapping of presents, visits to the pantomime and so much more meant that a diary was not enough. The definitive plan was in a spreadsheet.

As a family, we had several Advents when a spreadsheet might have been a good thing. Especially when we were both working flat out and had three teenagers to keep track of. After all, this is supposed to be the time when we look forward to the coming of Christ – but we just get so busy that it becomes a period where we are blinded by the endless pressures and distractions which sap our energy and obscure the real meaning of the season. We are pushed and pulled in so many directions that we struggle to see the way ahead without the support of specialist Advent software.

We need to pause and take a deep breath. We’re missing the point of Advent. We’re missing the point of Christmas.

Advent is about the coming of Christ, but it’s about more than the coming of the Christ Child. For generations, it has been a season when we also look forward to the return of the Messiah. The Second Coming of Christ. The coming of the Christ as a human baby and the return of the Messiah are absolutely central to our faith. At some point in this busy season we really should be finding time to think about what Advent actually means. We should find time to reflect on the importance of Immanuel for us. We really must find time to slow down so that we can pause long enough to glimpse the majesty, power and glory of Christ in this hugely important season. We really should find that moment to be still. Perhaps a spreadsheet would help?

Anyway. Christmas is almost upon us and there’s still so much to do. We really both need to get on.

Happy Christmas.

Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK

The traditional theme of the third week of Advent is joy.

Some Churches have traditions relating to this week. In some traditions, the third candle in the advent ring is coloured pink, and clergy wear rose coloured robes. Historically, the colour pink has been symbolic of joy.

I learned this year that the third Sunday of advent is sometimes called Gaudete Sunday. The introit for the Catholic mass is “Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete”. This is a Latin translation of Philipians 4:4.  ^‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!’.  The word ‘rejoice’ is interesting. We don’t often use it in modern English, and I want us to reflect on what it really means. Of course it is an exhortation to be joyful. Be filled with joy. Experience joy.

Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). This joy is not the excited, enthusiastic kind of emotion we might feel when our favourite football team scores a goal. Something different is going on here.

The Greek word is ‘chairete’ (Χαίρετε). It’s another one of those words which doesn’t translate easily into English. The meaning is far deeper than just being excited about something. It is a deep, strong emotion of gladness. It has a strong, spiritual element. It is the emotion we are to feel as we look forward to the reward which awaits us in Heaven (Matthew 5:18). It is the joy which we are to feel that our names are written in Heaven (Luke 10:20).

Advent is about anticipation of the arrival of the Messiah. The joy of advent is a deep, heartfelt emotion. It is the joy of anticipation. Anticipation of something so indescribably special that it defies description.

Yes, Christ has died. But of course, Christ is risen. So rejoice. Be joyful. Christ will come again.

Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK

The traditional theme of the second week of advent is peace.

The angels welcomed the birth of Jesus with a message of peace and goodwill (Luke 2:14). A true reading of this verse tells you that it is not the simple expression of goodwill to all mankind, but rather a blessing on those who men (and women) of goodwill.

In his 2003 book ‘What Every Person Should Know About War’, Chris Hedges suggests that during the last 3400 years of human history, no more than 268 days had been days of global peace.

In the past twelve months, many hundreds of thousands of people have died as a result of conflict. In the West, the war in Ukraine has reminded us just how fragile peace is. The continuing horrific events in Israel and Gaza leave us feeling helpless and desperate. For much of the rest of the world, violence has been a fact of life for generations. The world is sadly short of people of goodwill. Now, as on the other 1.24 million other days in the last 3400 years, our world is not at peace.

Here’s the thing. The Greek word which we translate here at ‘peace’ is εἰρήνη (pronounced ei–ray–nay), which is very similar in meaning to the Hebrew word which we know as Shalom (בְּשָׁל֑וֹם). We translate the word as ‘peace’, but is has a much richer meaning than simply the ‘absence of war’. It means a deep, inward sense of completeness and wholeness. It is the ‘peace’ which passes all understanding ‘(Philippians 4:7). It is the ‘peace’ which Jesus gives and leaves with us (John 14:27). When you greet or bid farewell to a friend, or as you enter or leave a home, you use the word ‘shalom’. It expresses a deep sense of blessing – a heartfelt, enriching, supernatural peace. Shalom, ‘real’ peace, permeates Scripture.

Then I was young, I used to carry a sticker on my guitar which read ‘Real Peace is Jesus’. And that is the ‘peace’ which I am wishing you in this second week of Advent.

Shalom.

Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK

The first week of Advent is traditionally about hope. Talking about hope, right now, feels like a bit of a challenge.

The cost of living crisis is biting. Russia continues its war in Ukraine. Violence against Israel in October was outrageous. The ongoing retribution visited on the people of Gaza is obscene. The COP 28 climate conference is taking place in the United Arab Emirates, a key supplier of  fossil fuel. Political relationships are increasingly toxic. Refugees are crossing continents. People around us, and across the world, are discouraged. Hope, if it can be found at all, is in short supply right now.

Advent is about looking forward. It is about living in anticipation of the arrival of something. If we feel that we’re short of hope we need to lift our sights and remind ourselves what it is that we are supposed to be looking forward to. It’s not about looking forward to Christmas food or drink. It’s not about the parties, the presents, the bright lights – these might make us feel a bit better for a day, but they have little to do with the true meaning of Christmas. As Christians we are looking forward to a gift which is infinitely more important than any of that. We are celebrating the fulfilment of prophecy in the birth of the Christ child, the Messiah. And we are looking forward to the fulfilment of prophecy in the return of the Messiah and the restoration of the Kingdom of God. It’s about encouragement. It’s about hope.

Take Jesus out of the picture and it’s not surprising everyone feels discouraged. Put Jesus in the picture and there’s one major difference. Hope.

Of course we’re praying for peace across the world and for the restoration of hope in our communities. But the true hope for us all in this first week of Advent is Jesus.

Romans 15: ¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK