Advent means “coming” and in the Church calendar Advent refers to the period before Christmas in which Christians prepare for the arrival of God’s Anointed One.
Look at the Gospel accounts of God’s incarnation in Jesus and we see a curious group of people who acknowledged his coming. Elizabeth and Zechariah, Mary’s Aunt and Uncle, seem to be clued in even before Jesus’ birth. So was Joseph, of course. At the time when Jesus was born, there were shepherds. They probably were not expecting the Messiah, at least not just then, not in that manner. They had to be told in a dramatic way, through angels, what had happened. Then there were Simeon and Anna, two elderly people experienced in waiting and with spiritual eyes to see the fulfillment of ancient prophecy. They prepared themselves through habits of worship and praise.
And what of the Magi, foreigners who were let in on the secret through natural phenomena that meant little to almost everyone else? Although they showed up months later, they, too, saw a fulfillment of the hopes of humankind in this birth.
So, a few ordinary people either knew ahead of time or were alerted in the midst of their ordinary work. Insiders to the long Jewish tradition, and outsiders from another country figured out what was happening. These representative stories of discovery give us hope that even on university campuses, in the midst of religious skepticism and ignorance of the meaning of this season, God can still reach students and faculty who are quietly expectant. As an often sung Christmas carol puts it, “Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.”
With Advent greetings to all God’s expectant people,
Alec Hill, President
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
