This one thing will change Advent for you…

It’s not Christmas yet, despite the fact that Menards has had inflatable Santas on display since before Halloween. 

You probably know that Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas, but the full meaning is far deeper. I want to share one thing with you that will totally change how you look at Advent…

What comes to mind when you think of Christmas? 

Presents, cookies, Santa, sleighs, and reindeer? Perhaps the more pious among us think of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in the manger, snuggled up next to some cows and sheep, with an angel hovering sweetly overhead. 

Guess what…

I have three cows and two goats, and there is nothing very snuggly about them. They are smelly, noisy, and they defecate all over the place.

Also, real angels are legitimately frightening. Every time an angel appears in the Bible, the onlookers usually fall down in shock and terror. It’s no surprise that the first words typically spoken by an angel are “Do not be afraid.”

So, what’s my point?

Well, the fact of the matter is that Advent and Christmas are not all sunshine and rainbows. 

There is something far more magnificent and compelling going on in this story. 

I want to share something with you that will shift the paradigm and help you experience Advent like never before. It was something I first heard from (now) Bishop Robert Barron several years ago. 

The one thing is this:

Advent celebrates the start of a revolution and a war – one which you and I are still fighting in today. 

Woven throughout the Gospels is a juxtaposition between the emperor of the world, Caesar Augustus, and the true emperor, Jesus Christ. 

As Bishop Barron relates, Christ came to earth as a real warrior. However, instead of being born into the palace of a mighty royal family, Jesus slipped unassumingly behind enemy lines as an infant born into poverty.

Jesus didn’t have an army of soldiers and chariots. Rather, the Christ Child was backed by the “hosts” or armies of heaven – the legions of angels who appeared on that cold December night to the shepherds. 

Saint Mark didn’t start his Gospel with the story of the Nativity. Instead, he simply stated the fighting words that summarized the same message:  “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” This line is not just a standard introduction. The words for “Christ” and “Son of God” in Greek were actually imperial titles attributed to Caesar himself. By claiming that Jesus was the true Christ and the true Son of God, Mark was indeed inciting a rebellion. 

Is it any surprise that Christians were the particular target of Roman persecution?

As we know, the powers of the world, epitomized in the person of Caesar, were ultimately overthrown by Jesus’ death on the Cross and resurrection on Easter morning. Death has conquered every emperor except one – Jesus Christ. 

In the ancient world, emperors had “evangelists,” messengers who brought back and shared the good news of the King’s military conquests. This Advent, God is calling you and me to be evangelists by proclaiming the victory and Second Coming of the Warrior King and the Prince of Peace – the Christ Child. 

Let us join in the battle.