Thoughts of Advent 2004

In Advent we await the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Advent has three different dimensions.
The first dimension was the time, when the patriarchs, the prophets,
the people of God proclaimed the Good News of the Gospel hundreds
of years before the birth of the Christ Child.
They said that the sign of the arrival of the Saviour will be:
„Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his
name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
The second dimension can be called the annual Advent, that period of
the calendar year which names the first, second, third, fourth Sunday of
Advent. This is a period of joyful waiting, which tells us that we should not
restrict Christmas to one or two days of the year. The whole year
looks toward Christmas.
Indeed, during our whole life we are preparing for the joyful
Christmas which is to come.
The third dimension can be called the Universal Advent, because this
Advent is not just a personal, family, community, or national
Advent, but universal because the whole human race is waiting for the
return of the Saviour Jesus Christ.
This return is the final return, when the glorious Christ will descend
from Heaven attended by glowing Angels.
He will carry a two edged sword. The first edge will destroy the
wicked and arrogant ones, the second edge will glorify those who
are faithful and humble before God.
During our universal Advent we wait for the just Christ, who said:
„Surely I come quickly. ”
(Revelation 22:20)
To Whom we reply with John:
„Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)
Advent is not a period of passive waiting. We cannot disregard the
growing power of evil on earth, the humiliation of widows and orphans,
the lack of respect for the elderly and the fathers, the cheating of the
poor and mockery of the laws. We can’t just sit doing nothing,
waiting for the Christ to come and judge the wicked.
Christ will ask us to give account not only for our deeds, our words
and thoughts, but also for our omissions.
Obeying the commandments of Jesus Christ, (at least the effort to
do so), means a never ending struggle against the forces of
darkness, be they in the form of stupidity, ignorance, malevolence,
exploitation, oppression or the desire for power and wealth.
If sometimes it looks as if Satan is winning, we must know that he
ultimately can not win.
Even if the empire of Mammon seems to be allpowerful to some, we
must know that it is mere chaff, which our Lord Jesus Christ will
cast on his eternal fire.
Advent joy which longs for the fulfilment of Christmas can be
found only in Christ, as John says in the book of Revelation:
„I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith
the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the
Almighty.”
Revelation. 1:8
„Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may
have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into
the city.” Revelation 22:14
Rev. Attila L. Gyorgy
Translated by
the help of Mary Feher