One of the tensions of the Christian tradition is the “already, but not yet” element of the Gospel. How I understand this is that people who are seeking to follow Christ, are living in the faith that the work that he set out to do among us is already accomplished. And yet, in our daily lives we often feel like we are still waiting to be delivered from so much. Having grown up not celebrating Advent, the past several years of engaging this season have drawn me to put a little more focus on areas that I generally glossed over. 

When we see ourselves as Easter people, we are living in the already. And Advent is the “not yet”. So in revisiting this season, in some way we are imagining a world without Jesus–a world where, at least in the Christian context, the hope, peace, joy, and love that surpasses human understanding has never been revealed. In the sermon below, I discuss the way we tend to deal with this tension and the way waiting challenges us.