Advent Letter 2022
A pastoral letter from Bishop Dan.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I wish you all a blessed new year, as we enter this season of Advent. This is a wonderful season because God uses it to reorient our lives in the coming year around Jesus’ advent; his coming. I notice that Advent seems to be cropping up more in our culture, but, sadly, mostly for the purpose of selling things. This week I have seen Advent calendars selling dog treats, cars, and even cannabis. But, this means there is a real opportunity here for us to explain the actual meaning of the Advent season!
Our collect for the 1st Sunday of Advent helps us with its meaning very well:
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
This prayer tells us that we live our lives between the two comings of Jesus: when Jesus came to visit us in great humility in his incarnation in Bethlehem, and when Jesus shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead.
The great compass that orients each of our lives is that Jesus has come into our lives as Lord, and he will come again in glory to judge each of us and all things in creation. The whole universe will know that he is Lord of all, and he will make all things new and right forever.
The collect for Advent is shaped by Romans 13:8-14 and verse 11 calls us to “wake up”, because God’s salvation is nearer and nearer to each of us: “The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” In this one verse you can see the past, present, and future dimensions of our salvation:
Past: When you first believed you were saved by God’s forgiveness of your sin from the penalty of being separated from Him. Jesus died your death for you on the cross and you were adopted by God forever.
Present: Now is the hour for you to wake from sleep. Every day God is saving you by freeing you from the power of sin so that you can worship God as you love others in the power of his grace and truth (verse 9). God shapes us every day for heaven as we grow in this life.
Future: Your salvation is nearer to you. The day of the Lord is coming when we shall be saved, not only from the penalty and power of sin, but finally from the presence of sin. Jesus will make all things new and will heal creation forever. There will be no more death, sorrow, or sickness or evil of any kind. We will be brought into the glory of Jesus, and we'll receive the redemption of our bodies.
God urgently calls us in this Advent season to unwrap His gift of salvation to you by casting off the works of darkness—the sin that so easily entangles our life. And by putting on the armour of His light—which verse 14 says is putting on the Lord Jesus himself, as you trust him by desiring what He desires, doing what he commands, and loving as He has first loved us.
May God give each of us in this diocesan family of ANiC grace to live the life of wakefulness to Him this Advent, as we orient our lives to Jesus coming again in glory.
Yours in His mercy, grace and love,
+Dan
The Right Reverend Dan Gifford
Diocesan Bishop of the Anglican Network in Canada