It’s a brand new year! Or, at least it will be soon after I prepare this post for our online newsletter. This year our new year begins on Sunday, December 1, with the First Sunday of Advent.
NOTE: While popular Advent Calendars often countdown the first 25 days of December, the season of Advent is one of the variable seasons of the church year which depends solely on the day of Christmas. Christmas is on a WEDNESDAY this year, making December 22 the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Count back .. December 15, then December 8, then December 1 and you arrive at the First Sunday in Advent.
BY THE WAY … Christmas is always 12 days in length, but the number of Sundays after Christmas also varies depending on the day of Christmas. Sunday, December 29, is the FIFTH day of Christmas but the 1st Sunday after Christmas. And since January 5 is the 12th day of Christmas, we have TWO Sundays after Christmas this year.
But, back to my post …
I’ve always been a bit intrigued by the days between the Last Sunday of the Church Year (Nov. 24 this year) and the first days of the new year. (Actually, Sunday begins the week, so technically we don’t end the year until November 30.) It always strikes me as days “in between” one year and the next.
It’s an opportunity, it seems to me, to recognize that we, the people of God in Christ, live “in between.” We live IN BETWEEN the time of Christ’s resurrection and OUR resurrection. We live as those who have already received the promise of the resurrection (since Christ has been raised from the dead) and those who have not yet received the fulfillment of that promise (since we have not yet been raised).
There are lots of “in-between” times in our lives.
- Students complete middle school and the next summer they are not yet in high school.
- Couples are engaged to be married, but are not yet married
- A pastor accepts a call to a new field of service, but has not yet been installed
- A worker announces her retirement, but has not completed her work
- A doctor has scheduled a test, but it has not yet been performed
In each of these and so many others there are important tasks to undertake in the “in between” time. Students prepare, couples plan, pastors relocate, a worker finishes up important tasks, patients often prepare for the test with a 24-hour fast.
The question for God’s people must be: what do we DO in the meantime, in this “in between” time? And like every other “in-between” time the work is often focused on PREPARING for the ultimate outcome. Plans are made now, but focused on the fulfillment of promises made. How now do we live since God has promised to raise us from this life of sin to new life with God? How do we, today, better reflect the fulfillment of this promise, our life with God?
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