TIME!

One fateful day in 1987, while negotiating for the release of Western hostages in Beirut on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Terry Waite, the Anglican prelate’s representative, was himself taken hostage. He remained in captivity for 1,760 days, many of which were in solitary confinement. In the account of his ordeals, Taken On Trust, Waite wrote:

The thing I find most worrying
is not being able to measure
the passing of time.
If I am to keep myself together,
I must find some means of doing this.

Imagine navigating through life without access to a clock or calendar of any kind. Total disorientation! Chaos! Human functioning is utterly dependent on time-keeping. We have watches, clocks, calendars, schedulers, and all kinds of gizmos and gadgets to keep us on the track of time. So it is not odd, then, that Christians, too, through the centuries have considered spiritual time-keeping to be critical to their identity and activity in this world. But even more than that, believers have found it helpful—even essential—to keep track of time in special ways that bring to memory God’s activity among us, the intersection of the eternal with the temporal, God’s work in time. The spiritual clock that churches have followed has been the church calendar. Weekly, Christians gather to worship and remember the Lord’s resurrection. And through the year, believers remind themselves of God’s acts in their midst—Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Epiphany, Lent, Advent.

Unfortunately, churches seem to be more diligent about celebrating Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day than Advent or Pentecost or Lent. We need to rethink spiritual time-keeping to focus our otherwise scattered attention upon the confluence of the work of God and the world of mankind, forcing us to reckon with the acts of God on a time-line.

Today, of course, is the First Sunday of “Advent” (“coming” or “arrival”). Because it precedes Christmas, many have understood Advent to be exclusively a time to get ready to celebrate the coming of the Christ Child in Bethlehem. Actually, the focus of Advent is not only on the First Coming but also on the Second! It is also the celebration of the promise that Christ is coming and that this will bring an end to all that is contrary to the ways of God; the Great Reversal is at hand. Advent—He’s coming! Rejoice! We’re out of here!

Therefore be patient, brethren,
until the coming of the Lord.
The farmer waits
for the precious produce
of the soil,
being patient about it,
until it gets the early and late rains.
You too be patient;
strengthen your hearts, for
the coming of the Lord is near.
James 5:7–8

We are not aimlessly wandering in a wilderness, even though it often seems as we are. We are not meandering in this world lost, orphaned, and alone, though it might appear to be the case. Rather, history is headed somewhere, directed by God, orchestrated by Him, choreographed by Him, clocked by Him, and Advent is a signpost to that end—the central focus of the glorious purpose of God: the Great Reversal. The reign of God is coming. Prepare ye the way of the Lord! Soon, and very soon, we are going to see the King!

For the grace of God
has appeared,
bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us
to deny ungodliness
and worldly desires
and to live sensibly,
righteously and godly
in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope
and the appearing
of the glory
of our great God and Savior,
Christ Jesus.

Titus 2:11–13