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Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ
Advent, says Fleming Rutledge, is not for the faint of heart. As the midnight of the Christian year, the season of Advent is rife with dark, gritty realities. In this book, with her trademark wit and wisdom, Rutledge explores Advent as a time of rich paradoxes, a season celebrating at once Christ’s incarnation and his second coming, and she masterfully unfolds the ethical andfuture-oriented significance of Advent for the church.
503 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 4, 2018
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July 24, 2018
Many people may expect one of those 4 week advent sermon series books. This is not that! Through sermons she helpfully articulates how a preacher and church can fully observe the Advent season. If a reader is hoping for something that will give them a program for the end of the year they will be disappointed. If the reader is looking for something that will help their congregation regain the spirit of anticipation that accompanies Advent, here it is.
December 23, 2020
The Peanuts Christmas movie is on to something.
Charlie Brown: “I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy. I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel.�
Lucy: “Look, Charlie, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket.�
Linus: “Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about....�
Christmas in the contemporary world does feel forced sometimes. The materialism and commercialism crowd out the goodwill and peace the season claims to bring. What do we do to fix our own Christmas practices? Lean in to the beginning of the liturgical year, the season preceding Christmas, which is Advent.
Advent is the one season of the liturgical year I could name as a child (without knowing what the liturgical year was) until I made a Catholic friend who observed Lent. Yet, in the Southern Baptist world of my childhood, Advent was cut out of the liturgical year with a Christmas-shaped cookie cutter. Churches: decked in Christmas glory. Heartstrings: tugged for the Christmas missions offering. Carols: belted out until the New Year. The “advent� we anticipated was one that had already taken place: the coming of the Messiah.
Yet, Advent isn’t really about Christmas at all. Advent anticipates Christ’s triumphant and glorious return, the Second Coming. As Rutledge remarks in Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ, observation of Advent predates Christmas in the early church. Traditional themes emphasized from the beginning through the Reformation were death, judgment, heaven, and hell. The Advent candle kit I have names the four candles hope, joy, peace, and love. Something’s off here. Advent is the season of John the Baptist, and I have yet to find a locust-and-honey “Advent� calendar!
“Advent begins in the dark,� Rutledge repeats. This is the liturgical season of the problem of evil, of a God silent in the wake of tragedy, of judgment and death and hell and all those uncomfortable things we like to skip over in favor of Christmas joy. Advent contains Rutledge’s writings and sermons on the theme from her decades of ministry. She is the Billy Graham of Advent, y’all. Not all of her sermons were preached during Advent. Many were Advent themes she preached in response to tragedies, such as the Charleston church massacre in 2015. Only over halfway through the book do we get to the four weeks of Advent--Rutledge even argues that Advent should begin after All Saints� Day, so adamant is she against “Christmas creep,� or blithely skipping Advent darkness for Christmas coziness.
Rutledge is a masterful preacher. Few sermons I’ve heard IRL would read this well on the page, much less decades after the original preaching of them. Her sermons brought me straight back to preaching class. Clearly, she mines the newspaper, radio, television, everything she consumes for the message, even referring to files of clippings of potential sermon examples, as my professor recommended. Advent also includes her notes on the sermons, which is very helpful for someone who hasn’t lived through the 1980s, or needs context on statements that might otherwise be misinterpreted. I’d love to hear her sermons in the year of our Lord 2020.
Occasionally, Rutledge can come across as a curmudgeon. She is very opinionated about the Episcopal lectionary and prayer book. Once, she refers to Celtic Christianity in a derogatory way, as an ahistorical fad, which is shameful (was the Synod of Whitby nothing to you? Is the Northumbria community a joke? Might I introduce you to the Carmina Gadelica or casually maroon you on Iona?). In the introduction, she calls contemporary Christian music “endless repetition of banal phrases set to insipid tunes.� Even I, with my paltry love for CCM, found that statement bothersome. However, she does not die on these hills, and keeps her personal opinions out of her sermons, as she should.
This year, since we have no holiday parties to attend, my husband and I are fasting from sweets and filling dessert time with an Advent devotional (review to come--it goes through Epiphany, and wonderfully illustrates historically accurate Advent themes). We are waiting until Christmas Eve to decorate our tree. We aren’t turning on the Christmas tunes until the liturgical season actually begins. (We haven’t been total Scrooges--we made four types of fudge for our neighbors and had our tree up without ornaments.) And you know what? For the first time, I’m ready to spend the Twelve Days of Christmas feasting. Every other year, I’ve been done with Christmas stuff before the new year. Spending a month luxuring in the “most wonderful time of the year� gets old fast, particularly when there is a pandemic going on. Limiting seasonal things to twelve days makes them all the more precious. Avoiding “Christmas creep,� or doing Christmas-y things during Advent, is a powerful statement in my life that I live on God’s time. Commercialism doesn’t define my days, but the quirky, ancient rhythms of the church calendar sustain me, like they have for believers around the world for centuries.
There is no better year than this one to dwell in the darkness of Advent, awaiting the light of the returning King. This year I have prayed “Maranatha� more than ever.
Some of our most important stories in the world come from tragedies. You know the ones--stories of survivors of genocide, war, famine, plague. Each time I read or see or hear one of these stories, I feel the collective burden of humanity to tell and bear the truth, even the hardest truths. They’re the stories that make me want God’s judgment, the truest “Advent spirit� there is. Yet, rarely am I in “the mood� to consume such media. Once, my family visited a Holocaust museum on Good Friday, and that remains one of the deepest spiritual experiences I’ve had on that holy day. Now, thanks to how Rutledge has shaped my thinking on Advent, I’m beginning to consider Advent as the season of wrestling with the problem of evil and the silence of God. Bearing those stories, and being moved to action by them, is a way of “preparing the way of the Lord,� which is what Advent is all about. Lent is a fasting season for focusing on personal sin; Advent is a fasting season for focusing on the whole world’s need for God.
If you’re feeling a little like Charlie Brown and Lucy Van Pelt, settle into Advent. God is with us, even in the darkness. We don’t have to force joy. God is not just a God of happiness, coziness, and peacefulness. He is Lord over the darkness, too. Christmas movies often see sadness as an illness in need of a dose of “Christmas cheer.� While we can all use cheering up from time to time, Advent gives us room to be sad as we are held within God.
A counselor I worked with one summer at camp was known for his constant upbeat nature. Once, he told me that he didn’t think any Christian had the right to be sad because of “what Jesus has done for us.� Advent demolishes that lie. We are human, and we mourn and weep and gnash our teeth just as Jesus did. Sometimes, the world does seem to be always in “winter, never Christmas.� The Pevensies entered Narnia in its wintry darkness, and were surprised by Christmas in its own good time. Advent is the time of knowing that “Aslan is on the move,� as Rutledge preaches, while praying to God to hasten his entry into the winter of our holy discontent.
In future Advents, I’m eager to return to this book and continue absorbing Rutledge’s wisdom as I reshape my own Advent practices to align with the church calendar rather than that of materialism. What is it about Southern women with rare first names beginning with F and “dark grace?� Rutledge is in good company with Flannery O’Connor. Both have a stronger-than-usual grasp of this present darkness, and are bold in proclaiming divine judgment.
-----
“Understanding the Christian faith and being the Christian church require imagination. If we want to raise children as Christians, it’s important to exercise their imaginations�.[W]hen children hear Bible stories in early childhood with a sense of wonder, before they start asking, ‘Did that really happen?,� it makes a difference that lasts all their lives. It makes it so much easier for them to enter ‘the strange new world of the Bible� (Barth).� (130)
“Evil is not far off. Evil is not ‘out there.� Evil does not always wear a mask of barbarity; sometimes it smiles. Sometimes it has beautiful manners. Sometimes it looks like your neighbor. Sometimes it looks like the face in the mirror.� (147)
[on rejecting the idea of divine judgment] �The real theological problem here is that we have lost sight of the fact that an act of judgment may very well be an act of liberation. The difficulty we have with the idea of making judgments speaks largely to our insecurity. When we feel judged by someone, it seems fearful to us, a threat to our existence even�.Everything depends on what we know of Jesus Christ and his second coming in glory as ruler of all things. What sort of Judge will he be?� (180, emphasis mine)
“This is an Advent question�.Over the centuries, as the church’s liturgical calendar developed, the identity of Advent took on a particular shape that is not so well understood today�.It was designed to be the season that looked forward, not to the birth of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, but to the second coming of Christ.� (180)
“There are two kinds of evildoing: the kind that is done directly and the kind that is done because ‘good� people do not protest. The devil loves nothing more than good people not protesting.� (205)
“But that is the sign of Christian warfare; it does not inflict suffering on others, but bears suffering for the sake of the other, as our Lord suffered for our sins on the cross. It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. If anyone says he is a Christian because he believes but thinks he does not have to be engaged in the conflict, that probably means he is giving aid and comfort to the Enemy.� (205)
�...the blood on the robe of the Lamb of God is not the blood of his enemies, but his own blood and the blood of his followers who have given up their lives for his name�.Please notice this: his Word is the only offensive weapon that he has or needs.� (220)
“Why was the early church persecuted like this? Was it because they confessed a simple faith in a simple teacher of religion? Indeed it was not. It was because the confession of the cross of Christ was immediately perceived by the Roman government as a threat to its primacy and security.� (220)
“Many Christians have heard about this armor of God in a vague sort of way, but few of us have grasped its actual meaning. The armor that God has given you to fight your battles, our battles, the church’s battles is God’s own armor....God has been clothed in this armor since before the creation; it is part of him�.The belt of truth is not philosophical or scientific truth; it is Jesus Christ, who said, �I am the Truth. The breastplate of righteousness is not your righteousness or mine; it Is Christ’s righteousness. When you put on the shoes of peace, it is not you who are making peace; it is God. The shield of faith is given to you by him, by the one who answers the prayer, ‘I believe, help my unbelief.� All these weapons are given to you by the one who forged them. In no sense are they your own achievement. We do not earn the right to wear the armor of God; it is given to us.� (221)
[in a 2003 sermon] “The themes of judgment and repentance are strongly emphasized in this season, and they are applicable to the church first of all--the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. This motif is not being heard in the religious rhetoric coming from the White House. You would think that the only people who needed to repent were Islamic terrorists (and perhaps the French).� (240)
“I’ve always wanted to design an Advent calendar. You would open up one of those cute little windows and there would be John the Baptist glaring at you, saying, ‘You brood of vipers!’� (243)
“The church lives in Advent. That is to say, the church lives between two advents. Jesus Christ has come; Jesus Christ will come. We do not know the day or the hour. If you find this tension almost unbearable at times, then you understand the Christian life.� (266)
“It is the Advent clock that tells the church what time it is. The church that keeps Advent is the church that is most truly herself. The church is not supposed to be preposterous and comfortable and established. It is Advent--it is dark and lonely and cold, and the master is away from home. Yet he will come. Keep awake. He came to us once as a stranger, and we put him on a cross.� (266)
[in a 2001 sermon] “Advent: never has this exceptional season been better timed to meet the situation at hand than it is this year. Three months after the eleventh of September, Advent is a preparation for Christmas in the war zone. Advent says Christmas is not for sissies. Advent says--flatly contradicting the Christmas song--all your troubles are not going to be ‘miles away.� Advent says this world is full of darkness, and it was into ‘such a world as this,� not fairyland, that the Son of God came.� (281)
“[Advent is] superficially understood as a time to get ready for Christmas, but in truth it’s the season for contemplating the judgment of God. Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world. Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light--but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness.� (314-315)
[quoting a recently widowed friend] “Advent is my favorite time: I love the darkness and the anticipation of a promise to be fulfilled.� This is one of the best descriptions of the atmosphere of Advent that I’ve ever heard. And notice--she loves the season. Even with her wounds still raw and unhealed, she loves the darkness. It reminds her of the contrast between what is and what is promised.� (346)
Charlie Brown: “I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy. I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel.�
Lucy: “Look, Charlie, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket.�
Linus: “Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about....�
Christmas in the contemporary world does feel forced sometimes. The materialism and commercialism crowd out the goodwill and peace the season claims to bring. What do we do to fix our own Christmas practices? Lean in to the beginning of the liturgical year, the season preceding Christmas, which is Advent.
Advent is the one season of the liturgical year I could name as a child (without knowing what the liturgical year was) until I made a Catholic friend who observed Lent. Yet, in the Southern Baptist world of my childhood, Advent was cut out of the liturgical year with a Christmas-shaped cookie cutter. Churches: decked in Christmas glory. Heartstrings: tugged for the Christmas missions offering. Carols: belted out until the New Year. The “advent� we anticipated was one that had already taken place: the coming of the Messiah.
Yet, Advent isn’t really about Christmas at all. Advent anticipates Christ’s triumphant and glorious return, the Second Coming. As Rutledge remarks in Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ, observation of Advent predates Christmas in the early church. Traditional themes emphasized from the beginning through the Reformation were death, judgment, heaven, and hell. The Advent candle kit I have names the four candles hope, joy, peace, and love. Something’s off here. Advent is the season of John the Baptist, and I have yet to find a locust-and-honey “Advent� calendar!
“Advent begins in the dark,� Rutledge repeats. This is the liturgical season of the problem of evil, of a God silent in the wake of tragedy, of judgment and death and hell and all those uncomfortable things we like to skip over in favor of Christmas joy. Advent contains Rutledge’s writings and sermons on the theme from her decades of ministry. She is the Billy Graham of Advent, y’all. Not all of her sermons were preached during Advent. Many were Advent themes she preached in response to tragedies, such as the Charleston church massacre in 2015. Only over halfway through the book do we get to the four weeks of Advent--Rutledge even argues that Advent should begin after All Saints� Day, so adamant is she against “Christmas creep,� or blithely skipping Advent darkness for Christmas coziness.
Rutledge is a masterful preacher. Few sermons I’ve heard IRL would read this well on the page, much less decades after the original preaching of them. Her sermons brought me straight back to preaching class. Clearly, she mines the newspaper, radio, television, everything she consumes for the message, even referring to files of clippings of potential sermon examples, as my professor recommended. Advent also includes her notes on the sermons, which is very helpful for someone who hasn’t lived through the 1980s, or needs context on statements that might otherwise be misinterpreted. I’d love to hear her sermons in the year of our Lord 2020.
Occasionally, Rutledge can come across as a curmudgeon. She is very opinionated about the Episcopal lectionary and prayer book. Once, she refers to Celtic Christianity in a derogatory way, as an ahistorical fad, which is shameful (was the Synod of Whitby nothing to you? Is the Northumbria community a joke? Might I introduce you to the Carmina Gadelica or casually maroon you on Iona?). In the introduction, she calls contemporary Christian music “endless repetition of banal phrases set to insipid tunes.� Even I, with my paltry love for CCM, found that statement bothersome. However, she does not die on these hills, and keeps her personal opinions out of her sermons, as she should.
This year, since we have no holiday parties to attend, my husband and I are fasting from sweets and filling dessert time with an Advent devotional (review to come--it goes through Epiphany, and wonderfully illustrates historically accurate Advent themes). We are waiting until Christmas Eve to decorate our tree. We aren’t turning on the Christmas tunes until the liturgical season actually begins. (We haven’t been total Scrooges--we made four types of fudge for our neighbors and had our tree up without ornaments.) And you know what? For the first time, I’m ready to spend the Twelve Days of Christmas feasting. Every other year, I’ve been done with Christmas stuff before the new year. Spending a month luxuring in the “most wonderful time of the year� gets old fast, particularly when there is a pandemic going on. Limiting seasonal things to twelve days makes them all the more precious. Avoiding “Christmas creep,� or doing Christmas-y things during Advent, is a powerful statement in my life that I live on God’s time. Commercialism doesn’t define my days, but the quirky, ancient rhythms of the church calendar sustain me, like they have for believers around the world for centuries.
There is no better year than this one to dwell in the darkness of Advent, awaiting the light of the returning King. This year I have prayed “Maranatha� more than ever.
Some of our most important stories in the world come from tragedies. You know the ones--stories of survivors of genocide, war, famine, plague. Each time I read or see or hear one of these stories, I feel the collective burden of humanity to tell and bear the truth, even the hardest truths. They’re the stories that make me want God’s judgment, the truest “Advent spirit� there is. Yet, rarely am I in “the mood� to consume such media. Once, my family visited a Holocaust museum on Good Friday, and that remains one of the deepest spiritual experiences I’ve had on that holy day. Now, thanks to how Rutledge has shaped my thinking on Advent, I’m beginning to consider Advent as the season of wrestling with the problem of evil and the silence of God. Bearing those stories, and being moved to action by them, is a way of “preparing the way of the Lord,� which is what Advent is all about. Lent is a fasting season for focusing on personal sin; Advent is a fasting season for focusing on the whole world’s need for God.
If you’re feeling a little like Charlie Brown and Lucy Van Pelt, settle into Advent. God is with us, even in the darkness. We don’t have to force joy. God is not just a God of happiness, coziness, and peacefulness. He is Lord over the darkness, too. Christmas movies often see sadness as an illness in need of a dose of “Christmas cheer.� While we can all use cheering up from time to time, Advent gives us room to be sad as we are held within God.
A counselor I worked with one summer at camp was known for his constant upbeat nature. Once, he told me that he didn’t think any Christian had the right to be sad because of “what Jesus has done for us.� Advent demolishes that lie. We are human, and we mourn and weep and gnash our teeth just as Jesus did. Sometimes, the world does seem to be always in “winter, never Christmas.� The Pevensies entered Narnia in its wintry darkness, and were surprised by Christmas in its own good time. Advent is the time of knowing that “Aslan is on the move,� as Rutledge preaches, while praying to God to hasten his entry into the winter of our holy discontent.
In future Advents, I’m eager to return to this book and continue absorbing Rutledge’s wisdom as I reshape my own Advent practices to align with the church calendar rather than that of materialism. What is it about Southern women with rare first names beginning with F and “dark grace?� Rutledge is in good company with Flannery O’Connor. Both have a stronger-than-usual grasp of this present darkness, and are bold in proclaiming divine judgment.
-----
“Understanding the Christian faith and being the Christian church require imagination. If we want to raise children as Christians, it’s important to exercise their imaginations�.[W]hen children hear Bible stories in early childhood with a sense of wonder, before they start asking, ‘Did that really happen?,� it makes a difference that lasts all their lives. It makes it so much easier for them to enter ‘the strange new world of the Bible� (Barth).� (130)
“Evil is not far off. Evil is not ‘out there.� Evil does not always wear a mask of barbarity; sometimes it smiles. Sometimes it has beautiful manners. Sometimes it looks like your neighbor. Sometimes it looks like the face in the mirror.� (147)
[on rejecting the idea of divine judgment] �The real theological problem here is that we have lost sight of the fact that an act of judgment may very well be an act of liberation. The difficulty we have with the idea of making judgments speaks largely to our insecurity. When we feel judged by someone, it seems fearful to us, a threat to our existence even�.Everything depends on what we know of Jesus Christ and his second coming in glory as ruler of all things. What sort of Judge will he be?� (180, emphasis mine)
“This is an Advent question�.Over the centuries, as the church’s liturgical calendar developed, the identity of Advent took on a particular shape that is not so well understood today�.It was designed to be the season that looked forward, not to the birth of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, but to the second coming of Christ.� (180)
“There are two kinds of evildoing: the kind that is done directly and the kind that is done because ‘good� people do not protest. The devil loves nothing more than good people not protesting.� (205)
“But that is the sign of Christian warfare; it does not inflict suffering on others, but bears suffering for the sake of the other, as our Lord suffered for our sins on the cross. It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. If anyone says he is a Christian because he believes but thinks he does not have to be engaged in the conflict, that probably means he is giving aid and comfort to the Enemy.� (205)
�...the blood on the robe of the Lamb of God is not the blood of his enemies, but his own blood and the blood of his followers who have given up their lives for his name�.Please notice this: his Word is the only offensive weapon that he has or needs.� (220)
“Why was the early church persecuted like this? Was it because they confessed a simple faith in a simple teacher of religion? Indeed it was not. It was because the confession of the cross of Christ was immediately perceived by the Roman government as a threat to its primacy and security.� (220)
“Many Christians have heard about this armor of God in a vague sort of way, but few of us have grasped its actual meaning. The armor that God has given you to fight your battles, our battles, the church’s battles is God’s own armor....God has been clothed in this armor since before the creation; it is part of him�.The belt of truth is not philosophical or scientific truth; it is Jesus Christ, who said, �I am the Truth. The breastplate of righteousness is not your righteousness or mine; it Is Christ’s righteousness. When you put on the shoes of peace, it is not you who are making peace; it is God. The shield of faith is given to you by him, by the one who answers the prayer, ‘I believe, help my unbelief.� All these weapons are given to you by the one who forged them. In no sense are they your own achievement. We do not earn the right to wear the armor of God; it is given to us.� (221)
[in a 2003 sermon] “The themes of judgment and repentance are strongly emphasized in this season, and they are applicable to the church first of all--the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. This motif is not being heard in the religious rhetoric coming from the White House. You would think that the only people who needed to repent were Islamic terrorists (and perhaps the French).� (240)
“I’ve always wanted to design an Advent calendar. You would open up one of those cute little windows and there would be John the Baptist glaring at you, saying, ‘You brood of vipers!’� (243)
“The church lives in Advent. That is to say, the church lives between two advents. Jesus Christ has come; Jesus Christ will come. We do not know the day or the hour. If you find this tension almost unbearable at times, then you understand the Christian life.� (266)
“It is the Advent clock that tells the church what time it is. The church that keeps Advent is the church that is most truly herself. The church is not supposed to be preposterous and comfortable and established. It is Advent--it is dark and lonely and cold, and the master is away from home. Yet he will come. Keep awake. He came to us once as a stranger, and we put him on a cross.� (266)
[in a 2001 sermon] “Advent: never has this exceptional season been better timed to meet the situation at hand than it is this year. Three months after the eleventh of September, Advent is a preparation for Christmas in the war zone. Advent says Christmas is not for sissies. Advent says--flatly contradicting the Christmas song--all your troubles are not going to be ‘miles away.� Advent says this world is full of darkness, and it was into ‘such a world as this,� not fairyland, that the Son of God came.� (281)
“[Advent is] superficially understood as a time to get ready for Christmas, but in truth it’s the season for contemplating the judgment of God. Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world. Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light--but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness.� (314-315)
[quoting a recently widowed friend] “Advent is my favorite time: I love the darkness and the anticipation of a promise to be fulfilled.� This is one of the best descriptions of the atmosphere of Advent that I’ve ever heard. And notice--she loves the season. Even with her wounds still raw and unhealed, she loves the darkness. It reminds her of the contrast between what is and what is promised.� (346)
December 16, 2019
Summary: A collection of sermons and writings organized according to the lectionary calendar of pre-Advent and Advent Sundays and special days, focusing on preparation for return of Christ.
Advent is often thought of as the four Sundays before Christmas, and a time of anticipating the celebration of Christ's birth. It is that, and Fleming Rutledge would propose, far more. ReadingAdvent, it became more for me as well. This book is a collection of sermons given over many years and various locations, as well as a shorter collection of writings. Aside from the writings the sermons are organized by the Episcopal pre-Advent and Advent calendar, spanning a seven week period.
Our typical mental picture of Advent is one of warm, family-centered times of Advent calendars and activities, and the lighting of Advent wreaths. Rutledge presents us with an older tradition, and one not for the faint of heart, She reminds us of Episcopal practice, in which the church is not decorated until Christmas, in contrast to a society that decorates for Christmas with lights, ornaments, trees, and more before Thanksgiving. All this is occurring during Advent which is a time of darkness rather than light.
Rutledge reminds us that Advent occurs in a season of darkness, and in a world that is sin-darkened. It is a season of waiting for the king, and not simply for his first coming, but his return. We wait, conscious of the evil in the world and each one of us. We wait, learning to long for judgment as a settingright of things . We understand that history is coming to a culmination--a cosmic war. We wait, remembering the ministry of John who prepared the Lord's way. Rutledge does not shy from things like judgment and hell, and believes that in the facing of biblical teaching about these things, we understand more clearly the salvation of our God in the two comings of Christ, leading us to welcome his coming in our lives.
The sermons model how to weave the events of the day, from 9/11 to an ordination into the text of a message, and to adapt material to retreats, mid-week services as well as Sundays. Most of the sermons are five or six pages in length, ideal for reading over the course of pre-Advent and Advent as a series of meditations on Advent. The sermons are not theological treatises, but rather theological addresses, from the "I" of the preacher to the "you" of her hearers. They are rich both in the unpacking of the doctrines of the incarnation and return of Christ, and practical application of these truths for individuals and congregations.
Reading this left me with fresh wonder that our God would so seek us out in the person of his Son, and left me longing for his return. To live nearly two-thirds of a century is to see a good deal of evil, including that in myself. To see the atrocities people wreak upon each others, the contemptuousness of many in power for the lowly, the desecration of a beautiful world, all leave me longing for the day when things are set right Rutledge's sermons do not offer an escape from the harsh realities of life. Rather, the sermons repeatedly reframe these in a larger story--one in which the God who has acted in the cradle and the cross, will act decisively both to wondrously save, and judge, wiping away every tear.
It is this we await in the darkness of Advent, mirroring the darkness of the world. Rutledge helps us see what a wonder the coming of the Dayspring truly is. Her forthright messages evidence one who has reached "the simplicity on the other side of complexity" that will prepare our hearts for Christ. There is yet time to sit down with this work before Christmas begins. I was not sorry and I do not think you will be.
Advent is often thought of as the four Sundays before Christmas, and a time of anticipating the celebration of Christ's birth. It is that, and Fleming Rutledge would propose, far more. ReadingAdvent, it became more for me as well. This book is a collection of sermons given over many years and various locations, as well as a shorter collection of writings. Aside from the writings the sermons are organized by the Episcopal pre-Advent and Advent calendar, spanning a seven week period.
Our typical mental picture of Advent is one of warm, family-centered times of Advent calendars and activities, and the lighting of Advent wreaths. Rutledge presents us with an older tradition, and one not for the faint of heart, She reminds us of Episcopal practice, in which the church is not decorated until Christmas, in contrast to a society that decorates for Christmas with lights, ornaments, trees, and more before Thanksgiving. All this is occurring during Advent which is a time of darkness rather than light.
Rutledge reminds us that Advent occurs in a season of darkness, and in a world that is sin-darkened. It is a season of waiting for the king, and not simply for his first coming, but his return. We wait, conscious of the evil in the world and each one of us. We wait, learning to long for judgment as a settingright of things . We understand that history is coming to a culmination--a cosmic war. We wait, remembering the ministry of John who prepared the Lord's way. Rutledge does not shy from things like judgment and hell, and believes that in the facing of biblical teaching about these things, we understand more clearly the salvation of our God in the two comings of Christ, leading us to welcome his coming in our lives.
The sermons model how to weave the events of the day, from 9/11 to an ordination into the text of a message, and to adapt material to retreats, mid-week services as well as Sundays. Most of the sermons are five or six pages in length, ideal for reading over the course of pre-Advent and Advent as a series of meditations on Advent. The sermons are not theological treatises, but rather theological addresses, from the "I" of the preacher to the "you" of her hearers. They are rich both in the unpacking of the doctrines of the incarnation and return of Christ, and practical application of these truths for individuals and congregations.
Reading this left me with fresh wonder that our God would so seek us out in the person of his Son, and left me longing for his return. To live nearly two-thirds of a century is to see a good deal of evil, including that in myself. To see the atrocities people wreak upon each others, the contemptuousness of many in power for the lowly, the desecration of a beautiful world, all leave me longing for the day when things are set right Rutledge's sermons do not offer an escape from the harsh realities of life. Rather, the sermons repeatedly reframe these in a larger story--one in which the God who has acted in the cradle and the cross, will act decisively both to wondrously save, and judge, wiping away every tear.
It is this we await in the darkness of Advent, mirroring the darkness of the world. Rutledge helps us see what a wonder the coming of the Dayspring truly is. Her forthright messages evidence one who has reached "the simplicity on the other side of complexity" that will prepare our hearts for Christ. There is yet time to sit down with this work before Christmas begins. I was not sorry and I do not think you will be.
January 21, 2020
Fleming Rutledge is a blessing to our generation. After reading her renowned Crucifixion, I grabbed this text. It is not a theological treatise, but a series of Advent sermons. The thesis of the sermons is that Advent is about waiting for Christ to return. In her sermons, she guides her congregation to expectantly wait the intervention of God. She uses the Bible adeptly, and weaves in anecdotes and current events. Some of her sermons are a little dated, but they all add to the dialogue. Very much appreciated.
December 23, 2023
Here Rutledge militantly defends Advent as a almost stand-alone liturgical season which offensively declares to a dark world the coming of the king of light.
I loved Rutledge's emphasis and interpretation of Advent, however I was slightly disappointed as I was expecting the book to be another great work like her "Crucifixion" instead of what it actually was: a collection of talks and homilies.
Yet, I still learned much from the collection, both theologically and homiletically. I expect to revisit this book for many advents to come.
I loved Rutledge's emphasis and interpretation of Advent, however I was slightly disappointed as I was expecting the book to be another great work like her "Crucifixion" instead of what it actually was: a collection of talks and homilies.
Yet, I still learned much from the collection, both theologically and homiletically. I expect to revisit this book for many advents to come.
December 29, 2024
I’ll pick this back up to finish next Advent! Still can’t believe y’all let me go this far in life without reading Rutledge, who is now my ministry icon/adopted grandmother whether she likes it or not.
January 12, 2022
Summary: 49 sermons on Advent from one of the best preachers alive today.
I have spent a lot of time watching Fleming Rutledge preach on youtube since I discovered her about 5-8 years ago. I am completely serious that I think she is one of the best preachers alive today, and I think many should read her sermon collections or watch her preaching on video.
I started Advent in 2019 as a semi-devotional reading for the Advent season. And it is so worth reading to get the historically accurate vision for what Advent is about. As a low church baptist, my perception was that Advent was a time of preparation for Christmas similar to Lent, where we remember that Christ came to earth 2000 years ago. So there is an aspect of that in Advent, but it is more accurate to say that Advent is a time of preparation for the second coming, not just the first. In other words, it isn't that Advent is ignoring Christmas, but that part of what we are doing is remembering the first coming as a way of looking forward to the second coming.
the truly radical nature of the Advent promise, which sweeps away cheap comforts and superficial reassurances and, in the midst of the most world-overturning circumstances, still testifies that “Behold, I am coming soon! . . . I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end� (Rev. 22:12, 13).
And because of the focus on the second coming, there is a lot of emphasis in this collection of sermons on judgment. Judgment is not a common theme for Advent or Christmas among my low church evangelical pastors, but it makes sense in the context of what Rutledge is preaching about. She points out the injustice around us and how we can rest in the fact that the second coming will make right the injustice around us, not as a way to gloss over the injustice, but as empowerment for our own work to right injustice. This quote highlights that balance well,
The church is not called to be a “change agent”—God is the agent of change. The Lord of the kosmos has already wrought the Great Exchange in his cross and resurrection, and the life of the people of God is sustained by that mighty enterprise.26 The calling of the church is to place itself where God is already at work. The church lives, therefore, without fear, in faith that the cosmic change of regime has already been accomplished.
or this one
All the references to judgment in the Bible should be understood in the context of God’s righteousness—not just his being righteous (noun) but his “making right� (verb) all that has been wrong. Clearly, human justice is a very limited enterprise compared to the ultimate making-right of God in the promised day of judgment.
Those that I have known that have regularly celebrated Advent frequently talk about hope, but I got the feeling that it was a hope toward our future in heaven that could at times diminish our world right now. But Rutledge frames hope by looking at the coming work of Christ to complete his making right of the world and that we do that best by rightly looking at the presence of evil in the world.
The great theme of Advent is hope, but it is not tolerable to speak of hope unless we are willing to look squarely at the overwhelming presence of evil in our world. Malevolent, disproportionate evil is a profound threat to Christian faith.
I could post quotes all day. But I won't. I will commend the book and note that it took me three Advents to finish reading it. There are 49 sermons here. And that is probably too many. Not that there is fluff here that should have been cut out, but that there is just too much content. I think it may have been a better book at 280 pages instead of 426.
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January 1, 2021Technically I didn’t finish the entire book, but I’m finished with it until next Advent. I did read a lot of it and enjoyed it even though me not being Episcopalian means I had some theological disagreements with the author. But the writing was excellent and it will continue to be a resource for me in the years to come.
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January 20, 2021Highly recommend this as pre-Advent/Advent devotional reading! I will never think of Advent or Christmas in the same way again
Want to read
January 2, 2019Some videos , , and . Related CT and by the author.
March 2, 2019
A superb book. I hated for it to finish. It's repetitive in the very best way. A chance to meditate. To marinate.
December 24, 2021
Reread this advent season; Fleming Rutledge is a gift to weary souls.
“The mercy of God does not depend on human virtue for its fulfillment.�
Thanks be to God.
“The mercy of God does not depend on human virtue for its fulfillment.�
Thanks be to God.
January 26, 2023
A collection of sermons from Fleming Rutledge so it reads different than a traditional book and in that way is a little uneven, but several of the sermons are exceptional in their insight and power.
January 17, 2019
I'm a big fan of advent and Fleming Rutledge, so in many ways this book was just confirmation bias for me : )
Rich reflections and powerful language in these short sermons. I'm amazed at her ability to convey such rich reflections on scripture in short Anglican-style homily-packages.
I was encouraged, as a young preacher, by her courageous engagement with Advent's less-than-pleasant aspects of the return of Christ and the judgement of God. And this as a preacher in the Episcopal church in Manhattan.
She brings the richness of the ancient Advent tradition to bear on a modern world-class city. Also, she has the best stories and illustrations.
One of the my favorite quotes actually comes from the introduction:
"Hope and promise are at the center of the Advent proclamation. A great many sermons are essentially exhortations, and exhortation ('Let us...') is powerless unless the hearers are already on their feet doing whatever it is. As I have tried to pass along to young preachers, every biblical sermon should give a reason for hope, and every biblical sermon should contain a promise. Sermons that end with statements like 'we are called to...' (feed the hungry, celebrate diversity, build shelters for the homeless, and so forth), or questions asking 'will we' (seek justice for the poor, fight against racism, march for various causes, etc.), are self-defeating. When sermons end that way, the hearers feel defeated and powerless - except, of course, for the few who are already doing whatever it is, who then can feel superior. For that reason, hortatory sermons are divisive. Sermons in the mode of promise, however, are uplifting and empowering for everyone. Every person in the congregation should feel that a promise has been made to him or her by the God who, unlike human beings, keeps his promises." (p. 27)
Rich reflections and powerful language in these short sermons. I'm amazed at her ability to convey such rich reflections on scripture in short Anglican-style homily-packages.
I was encouraged, as a young preacher, by her courageous engagement with Advent's less-than-pleasant aspects of the return of Christ and the judgement of God. And this as a preacher in the Episcopal church in Manhattan.
She brings the richness of the ancient Advent tradition to bear on a modern world-class city. Also, she has the best stories and illustrations.
One of the my favorite quotes actually comes from the introduction:
"Hope and promise are at the center of the Advent proclamation. A great many sermons are essentially exhortations, and exhortation ('Let us...') is powerless unless the hearers are already on their feet doing whatever it is. As I have tried to pass along to young preachers, every biblical sermon should give a reason for hope, and every biblical sermon should contain a promise. Sermons that end with statements like 'we are called to...' (feed the hungry, celebrate diversity, build shelters for the homeless, and so forth), or questions asking 'will we' (seek justice for the poor, fight against racism, march for various causes, etc.), are self-defeating. When sermons end that way, the hearers feel defeated and powerless - except, of course, for the few who are already doing whatever it is, who then can feel superior. For that reason, hortatory sermons are divisive. Sermons in the mode of promise, however, are uplifting and empowering for everyone. Every person in the congregation should feel that a promise has been made to him or her by the God who, unlike human beings, keeps his promises." (p. 27)
January 7, 2021
"Every year, Advent begins in the dark." Inilah kalimat yang berulang-ulang diucapkannya dalam pengalamannya menyampaikan khotbah di masa Adven menjelang Natal selama beberapa dekade. Satu pesan yang cukup mengagetkan saya, yang selama ini lebih banyak mengetahui Adven sebagai masa 4 minggu persiapan Natal, menanti kelahiran Yesus dalam hingar-bingar keramaian, lengkap dengan hiasan dan pohon Natal.
Fleming Rutledge adalah seorang pendeta perempuan Gereja Episkopal AS, salah satu pendeta perempuan yang diangkat di sana pada tahun 1970-an, dan buku ini merupakan kumpulan khotbah serta tulisannya tentang Adven yang lahir dari pengalaman bertahun-tahun menggembalakan jemaat Gereja Episkopal. Kumpulan khotbah yang membuat saya pelan-pelan mengecap gaya khotbah dan bicaranya, yang keras, namun juga lembut. Penuh selipan canda, namun juga serius. Logis, namun juga penuh iman.
Khotbah-khotbahnya juga menunjukkan pengenalannya akan tradisi Gereja Episkopal di masa Adven yang mulai pudar, bahkan juga kurang di kenal di gereja-gereja tradisional lain: penghayatan Adven sebagai masa gelap, alih-alih masa hura-hura penuh sorak-sorai. Masa bukan untuk menyambut bayi Yesus semata, namun terlebih lagi menyambut Sang Raja Damai yang akan datang dan memperbarui segala sesuatu pada akhirnya. Masa penghayatan terdalam akan anugerah yang sudah datang, namun belum sepenuhnya itu di muka bumi yang penuh penderitaan dan eksploitasi.
Di buku ini, kita akan membaca kumpulan tulisan khotbahnya dari minggu-minggu sebelum Adven sampai Adven keempat, semuanya berkualitas dan membuat saya termenung lebih dalam menghayati dalamnya beliau dalam menyampaikan pesan kedatangan Kristus.
Bersyukur karena menemukan buku ini yang memperdalam perenungan saya di masa Adven dalam pandemi kemarin. Adven dalam gelap, yang ternyata memang seharusnya. Adven dalam makna sejatinya yang terus-menerus berteriak di tengah dunia yang berisik: O Datanglah Imanuel!
Fleming Rutledge adalah seorang pendeta perempuan Gereja Episkopal AS, salah satu pendeta perempuan yang diangkat di sana pada tahun 1970-an, dan buku ini merupakan kumpulan khotbah serta tulisannya tentang Adven yang lahir dari pengalaman bertahun-tahun menggembalakan jemaat Gereja Episkopal. Kumpulan khotbah yang membuat saya pelan-pelan mengecap gaya khotbah dan bicaranya, yang keras, namun juga lembut. Penuh selipan canda, namun juga serius. Logis, namun juga penuh iman.
Khotbah-khotbahnya juga menunjukkan pengenalannya akan tradisi Gereja Episkopal di masa Adven yang mulai pudar, bahkan juga kurang di kenal di gereja-gereja tradisional lain: penghayatan Adven sebagai masa gelap, alih-alih masa hura-hura penuh sorak-sorai. Masa bukan untuk menyambut bayi Yesus semata, namun terlebih lagi menyambut Sang Raja Damai yang akan datang dan memperbarui segala sesuatu pada akhirnya. Masa penghayatan terdalam akan anugerah yang sudah datang, namun belum sepenuhnya itu di muka bumi yang penuh penderitaan dan eksploitasi.
Di buku ini, kita akan membaca kumpulan tulisan khotbahnya dari minggu-minggu sebelum Adven sampai Adven keempat, semuanya berkualitas dan membuat saya termenung lebih dalam menghayati dalamnya beliau dalam menyampaikan pesan kedatangan Kristus.
Bersyukur karena menemukan buku ini yang memperdalam perenungan saya di masa Adven dalam pandemi kemarin. Adven dalam gelap, yang ternyata memang seharusnya. Adven dalam makna sejatinya yang terus-menerus berteriak di tengah dunia yang berisik: O Datanglah Imanuel!
December 18, 2018
There are some consistent themes in Rutledge’s writing (and she warns early on that these sermons, delivered over the course of her long career, will contain some repetition.) There is the apocalyptic theology that she explored so memorably in her previous book, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ. There is the “essential affirmation� that “God is the active agent in creation and redemption,� (18) and that God’s salvation comes into a context defined by a conflict with “the dominion of darkness.� There is the irresistible tendency of human beings toward self-justification and self-righteousness. And along the way there are forays into the events of the day, which are not calls to action but illustrations of the way the world and we are in the grip of forces that reveal our distortion and need for redemption.
This collection makes a great introduction to Fleming Rutledge. It’s also a tremendous resource for preachers who need encouragement in their annual fight for their souls as they, too, are tempted by the siren songs of nostalgia and egg nog lattes with their whispers of Christmas comfort. Rutledge not only cautions against the rush to the manger, but reorients the whole season to its roots. It’s not about preparing for Christmas so much as it is forcing us to look into the dark heart of the enemy, which is to say, our own hearts, and to tend the fire that burns for the coming Savior.
Read my full review on Heartlands....
Disclaimer: I was provided a review copy of the book by the publisher.
This collection makes a great introduction to Fleming Rutledge. It’s also a tremendous resource for preachers who need encouragement in their annual fight for their souls as they, too, are tempted by the siren songs of nostalgia and egg nog lattes with their whispers of Christmas comfort. Rutledge not only cautions against the rush to the manger, but reorients the whole season to its roots. It’s not about preparing for Christmas so much as it is forcing us to look into the dark heart of the enemy, which is to say, our own hearts, and to tend the fire that burns for the coming Savior.
Read my full review on Heartlands....
Disclaimer: I was provided a review copy of the book by the publisher.
November 14, 2018
I can't imagine a better book for preachers to read in preparation for Advent. Fleming Rutledge, who is a brilliant preacher herself, has collected her essays and sermons on the scripture passages that appear in the Advent season. The writings span nearly thirty years and the result is a stunning deep dive the Biblical themes that appear during this season: hope, judgment, the coming of Christ, the promise of God, Christian practices during times of disorder. She quotes Karl Barth that Christians are always living in Advent: the time between what is and what is coming. Without flinching, Rutledge urges believers to depend upon the promise of redemption, to yearn for it in hope, all the while "stirring one another up to love and good works." In these sermons, you will hear a preacher who takes seriously the theological task of holding the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. She not only holds the newspaper in the other hand, she holds an astonishing amount of literature, poetry, film and contemporary cultural criticism. Tolkien, Flannery O'Connor, TS Eliot, Jane Kenyon, CS. Lewis appear. The sermons are arranged by the Sundays of Advent allowing the reader to pick the ones necessary for preparation. She admits that this book is "not for the squeamish" and she's right. But it is for those who take preaching the gospel seriously and want to strengthen the hope of their listeners. What better book and what better task than now when so many are hopeless?
December 22, 2018
This will not be your typical "Advent devotional." This is a seasonal treasure. Rutledge has compiled a lifetime of preaching Advent into this volume. It is to be soaked in slowly during Advent and it is not for the light-thinking believer.
Rutledge delivers hard-hitting thoughts on judgment and sin and the needed longing for the return of Christ.
I chose to read a sermon each day between the Advent Sundays (though the third Sunday had more than 7 readings). Being sermons, this is not a five-minute read. It's thought-provoking and prayer inducing.
This past year has been significant for me as I have stepped away from a lifetime in an "evangelical/Pentecostal" denomination (plus I held ministerial credentials I have handed back over) and have entered into the Anglican Church. This season of Advent has been deeply impactful in my life and Rutledge has deepened this season's impact in my life.
This is a volume to pull out every Advent season for reflection and prayer.
Rutledge delivers hard-hitting thoughts on judgment and sin and the needed longing for the return of Christ.
I chose to read a sermon each day between the Advent Sundays (though the third Sunday had more than 7 readings). Being sermons, this is not a five-minute read. It's thought-provoking and prayer inducing.
This past year has been significant for me as I have stepped away from a lifetime in an "evangelical/Pentecostal" denomination (plus I held ministerial credentials I have handed back over) and have entered into the Anglican Church. This season of Advent has been deeply impactful in my life and Rutledge has deepened this season's impact in my life.
This is a volume to pull out every Advent season for reflection and prayer.
December 27, 2019
A fulsome collection from one of America’s celebrated preachers. I was first introduced to Rev Fleming Rutledge two years ago and her monumental The Crucifixion—still one of the best, albeit a bit long, treatments on the crucifixion. She’s not a scholar by profession, but she’s a scholarly preacher through and through! This work is not as technical as The Crucifixion, but her rhythmic prose still flows!
Her homilies are rich, deep, and short (thanks to her Episcopalian tradition!). Each sermon takes about 7-10 minutes to read, and can be read as Advent devotional or Advent “sermon-calendar� of sorts. I didn’t read all the sermons, nor did she intent her readers to finish the collection in one sitting.
Her homilies are rich, deep, and short (thanks to her Episcopalian tradition!). Each sermon takes about 7-10 minutes to read, and can be read as Advent devotional or Advent “sermon-calendar� of sorts. I didn’t read all the sermons, nor did she intent her readers to finish the collection in one sitting.
February 22, 2024
I promise I read most of this book during advent. But honestly I could read it year round because this book is the Christian life. This collection of sermons preceded by a 15 page intro to the season of advent makes almost everything else I’ve read about advent feel like mud pies. Rutledge has changed the way I view the season in meaningful ways, and more importantly she has infused my spirit with resilient HOPE for the redemption of all things.
December 23, 2018
“Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light � but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness.�
December 5, 2020
Exceptional. Rutledge rightly brings awareness of the dark to bear during Advent and illumines hope with the Savior himself.
October 20, 2022
The Advent sermons of Fleming Rutledge are truly magnificent. I recommend reading them out loud.
December 18, 2023
This is some of the most profound (and much needed) theologizing I’ve ever read—and of all places, in a collection of sermons (I say that tongue in cheek)! Highly accessible and beautifully crafted. A masterclass in homiletics. Rutledge is the quintessential pastor-theologian.
December 30, 2019
Fleming Rutledge is one of my heroes in preaching. Her messages are intelligent, thoughtful, relevant, and artful. Every sermon she preaches is deeply rooted both in the specifics of a particular scriptural passage and the overarching themes and spirit of the word of God as a whole. Reading a collection of her sermons from over the years was the perfect way to enter into and savor the Advent season!
December 17, 2021
Absolutely incredible read. She's another Dorothy L. Sayers.
January 2, 2021
A must to re-read in future Advents, starting before the season.
September 11, 2018
This book is going to be key to me "taking back Christmas" this year. The past few years, I have been on a mission, a mission to "take back Christmas" from the overly merchandising of the season, the rushrushrush and less than jolly and Holy feelings that I have been prey to as an adult during the Christmas season.
This book kind of pointed out to me that I was looking at Christmas, specifically the season leading up to it, Advent, all wrong. Christmas is Christmas eve and the day itself. Leading up to it, Advent, is a solemn time, to look without flinching at the darkness in life and the glory and hope of the Second Coming, not just the first.
Let me tell you, this book TOUCHED me. It SPOKE to me. I am not from the "flavor" of Christianity that this author is, but if my brand decides to cross over a non-negotiable line for me, I am switching over to this one! THAT is how much this book spoke to me. I'm not converting, but I would be willing to under the right, or wrong depends on how you look at it, circumstances.
This is basically a book of sermons. Sounds dry, dusty and sooooo boring, right? WRONG! These sermons were alive, vital and each made me think and want to keep on reading. I would LOVE to hear this author preach.
I really liked the set up of the book, especially the footnotes. Sigh, footnotes are a dying breed. I especially like them in an eBook, because with regular notes, it is more of a pain to flip to the back to read them and then flip back to where I left off. It's harder for me at any rate. Footnotes put the notes right where it is easiest to read them. LOVE IT!
I also really liked how the title of the sermon, as well as the location and when it was given are included at the beginning of the sermon, as well as background information, such as for a pastor's ordination, or the week after 9/11.
Also, may I add/complain, that she footnoted some really interesting sounding books, so my TBR Mountain has grown. Great, but also frustrating, because no time to read as it is!
This book was fascinating and completely the right book at the right time for me. I have ordered copies for my store and plan to buy two of them. One for me and one for my church library. I discussed it with my church's Christian Ed Committee co-chair and hope to see Advent as a theme in Adult Ed in the future.
Recommended for all who have lost the "Christmas spirit" and who want to know more about the waiting period before Christmas. 5, HUGE hope-filled, stars. I can't recommend this enough!
My thanks to NetGalley and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
This book kind of pointed out to me that I was looking at Christmas, specifically the season leading up to it, Advent, all wrong. Christmas is Christmas eve and the day itself. Leading up to it, Advent, is a solemn time, to look without flinching at the darkness in life and the glory and hope of the Second Coming, not just the first.
Let me tell you, this book TOUCHED me. It SPOKE to me. I am not from the "flavor" of Christianity that this author is, but if my brand decides to cross over a non-negotiable line for me, I am switching over to this one! THAT is how much this book spoke to me. I'm not converting, but I would be willing to under the right, or wrong depends on how you look at it, circumstances.
This is basically a book of sermons. Sounds dry, dusty and sooooo boring, right? WRONG! These sermons were alive, vital and each made me think and want to keep on reading. I would LOVE to hear this author preach.
I really liked the set up of the book, especially the footnotes. Sigh, footnotes are a dying breed. I especially like them in an eBook, because with regular notes, it is more of a pain to flip to the back to read them and then flip back to where I left off. It's harder for me at any rate. Footnotes put the notes right where it is easiest to read them. LOVE IT!
I also really liked how the title of the sermon, as well as the location and when it was given are included at the beginning of the sermon, as well as background information, such as for a pastor's ordination, or the week after 9/11.
Also, may I add/complain, that she footnoted some really interesting sounding books, so my TBR Mountain has grown. Great, but also frustrating, because no time to read as it is!
This book was fascinating and completely the right book at the right time for me. I have ordered copies for my store and plan to buy two of them. One for me and one for my church library. I discussed it with my church's Christian Ed Committee co-chair and hope to see Advent as a theme in Adult Ed in the future.
Recommended for all who have lost the "Christmas spirit" and who want to know more about the waiting period before Christmas. 5, HUGE hope-filled, stars. I can't recommend this enough!
My thanks to NetGalley and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
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November 15, 2023Zie ‘de nieuwe koers� van december 23
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