Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ

by Fleming Rutledge

Of all the seasons of the church year, Advent most closely mirrors the daily lives of Christians and of the church, asks the most important ethical questions, presents the most accurate picture of the human condition, and above all, orients us to the future of the God who will come again.

Related to the second coming, which Jesus repeatedly says will come by God’s decision at an hour we do not expect, is the Advent emphasis on the agency of God, as contrasted with the “works” of human beings.

The disappointment, brokenness, suffering, and pain that characterize life in this present world is held in dynamic tension with the promise of future glory that is yet to come. In that Advent tension, the church lives its life.

The Advent season encourages us to resist denial and face our situation as it really is.

To grasp the depth of the human predicament, one has to be willing to enter into the very worst.

The church is not called to be a “change agent”—God is the agent of change.

“fear is not a Christian habit of mind.”

me a child again, just for tonight! Harmless, you say.