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TRANSCRIPT
December 2013
First Matters____________________________
Advent
Advent is known but unknown. To some it is merely a name, to others it is a beautiful custom with all
its symbols, and to others, it is a significant practice in their lives as Christians in preparation for the
coming of Christ. In the church’s liturgical calendar, it is the beginning of a new year that begins on
the first Sunday after November 26thth and ends on Christmas
Day.
The Advent season as we now know it doesn’t go back to the
beginning of the Christian era. The early church did not cele-
brate the birth of Christ, observing his baptism on January 6th,
his crucifixion and resurrection. During times of persecution it
was unwise for Christians to attract attention to themselves by
celebrating a special day for Christ’s birth. It was not until 300
years after his birth that the church held its first Christmas Day
on December 25th.
What is Advent? The word ‘Advent’ is from the Latin ‘Adventus’ which
means “coming.” Like Lent, it is a preparatory season, specifically one of
looking forward and waiting for something greater. To the believer, Advent is
the season of rejoicing in his birth, his birth in us, and in his final coming to
judge the world. In its observance are elements of seriousness and joy, but joy
is the most characteristic of the season.
Most of us are familiar with the Advent Wreath and Calendar, but there are
other historical symbols of the season,
such as the “Advent Rose,” the “Advent
Log,” the “Tau Cross” and the “Jesse
Tree.” Violet is the traditional color for Advent. It is a royal color
that is a symbol of humility and penitence which sets the mood
for Advent. Only in recent decades have churches used blue as
the color for the Advent Season. The Advent wreath is the most
popular recent tradition and is used in
both the church and home. Many Chris-
tian families set aside a period each day
for Advent worship in the home that includes Bible readings, meditation,
songs and prayers.
Christmas in America is especially rich with hundreds of ancient customs
and legends from other lands brought by immigrants to this country. All the-
se traditions have been melded into a festival season that holds out love and
acceptance to everyone through the joy of Christ’s coming.
The Story of Advent
By Kathryn Focke, Director of Evangelical Outreach
Two Sisters
By Pastor Keith Wiens
The season of Advent comes at the darkest time of the year. The short days and the long nights re-mind us of the darkness of our world. The darkness of 250 homeless children and youth right here in our own community. The darkness of broken relationships, broken promises, broken hopes. The darkness of hostility, violence, war that never seems to stop. And much, much more.
Advent announces that light is coming - the light of Christ! At first it is just a glimmer of light. But with each passing week, the light grows stronger. And then when we go to Bethlehem and see the Christ Child we burst into song because the light has come:
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by;
yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
Two sisters saw the light of Christ and their lives reflected that light. Doris and Leona Velen grew up on a farm at Cleburne, KS, in the beautiful, rich Blue Valley north of Manhattan. They were gifted teachers, both receiving the Kansas Master Teacher Award. They began their teaching careers at the Mariadahl Lutheran Children’s Home and then continued for many years in the Manhattan schools.
Doris and Leona were leaders during the difficult struggle of the early 1950's to save the Blue Valley from the Tuttle Creek Dam. When it became evident that the battle was not to be won, they spear-headed an effort to publish a history of every farm, every home, and every family in the Blue Valley, as well as that of Mariadahl Lutheran Church.
Long time members of First Lutheran, they were strong advocates for Christian education. They taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. They were tireless participants in our bus ministry. They walked through many neighborhoods, knocking on doors, reaching out to children who had no church home, and arranging for our church bus to pick them up on Sunday mornings so that they could come to Sunday school and learn about Jesus, the Light of the world.
Through their care for their neighbors, their deep commitment to teaching children, their love of books and learning, and above all, their strong and unwavering faith in Christ, they touched countless lives and gave hope to many in the midst of darkness.
The prophet Isaiah said, “Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” (Isaiah 2:5) Doris and Leona did just that! They were Advent people!
Advent Traditions
By Sarah Diamond, Director of Congregational Life
To celebrate Advent, families can create a wreath, calendar, sing songs, make scrapbooks, write poems, or decorate their home together each year.
~At Home Activities guide
“Each December, as I was growing up my mother, although Episcopalian, always set out in middle of the dining table was an Advent Wreath with four candles. Each Sunday dinner, after church my father lit one additional of candle. Breaking with tradition, all the candles were white and there was no candle in the middle. However, in the middle was a small, porcelain crèche scene.
Only on Christmas Eve would mom place the little baby Jesus in the manger as we left for midnight services.” Tweed Ross – First Lutheran Church President “Growing up, my family did a nightly Advent devo-tional together. These were some of my favorite Christmas time memories! When I had my own little family, we started the same tradition. Every night, we lit the wreath, read the devotional and sang Christmas carols. This has been a great way to end each day fo-cusing on the true meaning of Christmas.” ~Sarah Briggeman “Many Catholics may be surprised to learn that the Advent wreath actually came from Lutherans living in east Germany. Yet though this custom is relatively re-cent as far as tradition goes, it has rightly earned a place of prominence among our Advent customs. A simple wreath made of evergreen (yew or fir or laurel) is adorned with four candles equidistant from each other. These candles may be of any color: in some European countries they are all white, though in the U.S. they generally correspond to the liturgical colors of the four Sundays of Advent (three purple and one pink or rose). Another popular Advent custom, also from Germany, creates a similar build-up of anticipation. Advent calendars are colorful pieces of cardboard on which is depicted a many-windowed house. Behind the shutters of each house is a picture or symbol that point to the coming of Christmas. Beginning December 1, the children are
allowed to open the shutters of one window per day. Finally, on Decem-ber 24, the front door of the house is opened, showing the nativity.” ~Found at http://www.holytrinitygerman.org/adventcustoms.html#adventwreath “The size of the Advent wreath should be scaled to the size of the wor-
ship space. The Advent wreath is most appropriate for use daily in home
devotions. The making of the wreath can be a family activity, materials
often gathered from the family yard or garden. Advent also means…
waiting, giving, preparing. Come, Lord Jesus!” ~ELCA Worship Staff
Keegan, Sarah, Brian and Pete Briggeman
As you have been reading these last weeks, this year on the Wednesdays of Advent First Lutheran will offer portions of the Liturgy of the Hours - the recitation of daily prayers. While the term Liturgy of the Hours may not be familiar to many Lutherans, its roots are part of our spiritual heritage. You likely are more familiar with it than you know. Over the centuries the Liturgy of the Hours developed from the Jewish practice of reciting prayers at certain hours of the day or night; a response to God's command in the book of Exodus to offer a morn-ing and evening sacrifice. During the Babylonian Exile when the Temple was not in existence, syna-gogue services consisted of readings from the Torah, (what we know as the first five books of the Bi-ble), psalms and hymns. These services became a "sacrifice of praise", a substitute for the previous sacrificing of animals. Many biblical references, particularly in the Psalms of David, speak of prayers throughout the day and night. "Seven times a day I praise you", and "The just man meditates on the law day and night." "In the morning I offer you my prayer"; "At midnight I will rise and thank you"; "Evening, morning and at noon I will cry and lament." After the return to Judea and the rebuilding of the Temple, the prayer services developed in Babylon were brought into the Temple. Later the early Christians continued to observe the Jewish custom, praying at the third, sixth and ninth hour and at midnight. We find recorded in the Acts of the Apos-tles, Chapter 2, "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place....v. 15, "these are not drunk as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning." The story of Peter and Cornelius, Acts: 10:9 "About noon the next day....Peter went up on the roof to pray"; and the story of Paul and Silas in jail in Acts 16:25, "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God..." Christian prayer consisted of the same basic elements of Jewish prayer - recital or chanting of psalms, and readings from the Old Testament. Soon readings from the Gospels, Acts, and the epistles were added, as well as the inclusion of canticles - hymns or other songs of praise taken from biblical texts other than the Psalms. Gloria in Excelsis Deo is one example. The Didache, which is the oldest known liturgical manual for Christians, recommended that disciples pray the Lord's Prayer three times a day, and the practice of Morning and Evening Prayer was record-ed in the writings of the Church Fathers of the second and third centuries. And, in the third century, the Desert Fathers, the earliest monks, began to live out the command of St. Paul in 1 Thessalonians to "pray without ceasing." While the Liturgy of the Hours is the official set of daily prayers of the Roman Catholic Church, Lutherans and many other church-es of various traditions celebrate it under various names. Lutheran hymnals from the previous and current centuries contain the most common portions of Daily Prayer – Matins (Morning Prayer), Vespers (Evening Prayer), and Compline (Night Prayer or Prayer at the Close of the Day.) This year there are only three Wednesdays in Advent - December 4, 11, and 18. We will observe Vespers at 5:00 pm and Compline at 7:00 pm, both in the chapel. We hope you will join us.
The Liturgy of the Hours
By Karen Jerabek
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“Rooted In
Christ, we are
growing in faith
to bear fruit in
the world.”
Pastor Keith E. Wiens
Kyle Olson
Director of Spiritual Growth
Sarah Diamond
Church Admin./Dir. Of Congregational Life
Kathryn Focke
Director of Evangelical Outreach
Becky Marsh
Communication Specialist
Susan Schindler
Bookkeeper