“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, for you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.” (Micah 5:2-5 ESV)

“Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel” (TLH 62), the Church sings during Advent. But what is Advent? The word “Advent” is from the Latin “adventus”, which means, “coming”. In the Advent season, we are reminded of the Lord’s Coming, but how does He come? He comes in three ways: The coming in the flesh when Christ was born and laid in the manger; the coming in grace when Christ comes to us now in Word and Sacrament; and the coming in glory when Christ will return at the end of the world.

As we celebrate the Advent Season, God grant us to remember that we are not only looking forward to the celebration of Christ’s first coming on Christmas, but also His advent among us now and even His last advent at the end of time. In other words, let us not be in too much of a rush to celebrate Christmas before the 25^th. Instead, let us look forward to our Lord’s triple Advent: then in the manger, now in the means of grace, and there in the future.

It often surprises people when they learn that Advent is actually not meant to be a festive season, but a solemn one of repentance much akin to Lent. With all the pre-Christmas festivities, we often forget that if God is coming to meet with us, then we must repent of our sins. During this season, we hear about John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, who preached a baptism of repentance in preparation for that first-coming. That’s why blue altar paraments with their focus on joy, as many churches do today, is not really in keeping with the original intent of the season. Violet or purple reflect much more appropriately the seriousness of the Advent. Only later do we see the white color of Christmas and Epiphany which symbolizes the manifestation of Christ’s glorious light.

Aside from Easter, Christmas is the most joyful and holy time of the church year. As we give and receive gifts in this festive time, it’s good to remember the gifts of the Magi, for these gifts actually predict who Jesus is and what He would do to save us. As St. Gregory the Great wrote in Homily 10 on the Gospel: “The Wise Men brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold is the fitting gift for a King; frankincense is offered in a sacrifice to God; and with myrrh are embalmed the bodies of the dead. By the gifts, therefore, which they presented to him, the Wise Men set forth three things concerning him unto whom they offered them: by the gold, that he was a King; by the frankincense, that he was God; and by the myrrh, that he was to die.”

Jesus was born for us. He was born for one purpose—to die in our place. God grant everyone at Trinity a meaningful Advent and a joyous Christmas season.