The good former bishop of Durham opines on how and why to read the Bible. Check him out and see what you think.
Daily Archives: December 4, 2012
Advent 2012 Letter from Bishop Roger Ames
Read my bishop, Roger’s, Advent letter. From the ADGL’s website.
The season of Advent will soon be upon us and with it the start of a new liturgical year. So much has happened in our shared life together in the past year. We have seen our diocese more than double in size. There is such a spirit of joyful expectation and possibility in our midst. It is no coincidence that we find ourselves on the entrance into the season of Advent.
The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God. That is a process in which we now participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate. Scripture reading for Advent will reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent, including themes of accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life.
In this double focus on past and future, Advent also symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and a congregation, as they affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power. That acknowledgment provides a basis for Kingdom ethics, for holy living arising from a profound sense that we live “between the times” and are called to be faithful stewards of what is entrusted to us as God’s people. So, as the church celebrates God’s inbreaking into history in the Incarnation, and anticipates a future consummation to that history for which “all creation is groaning awaiting its redemption,” it also confesses its own responsibility as a people commissioned to “love the Lord your God with all your heart” and to “love your neighbor as yourself.”