“Does anybody really know what time it is?” That was the question the rock band Chicago asked back in 1969. Does anybody really, really know what time it is?
If they had asked the Apostle Paul, he would have answered without hesitation. He would have told them it’s the dawn of a new day. It’s the dawn of the new era of the reality of forgiveness for sins and resurrection in Jesus Christ. Paul would have told them that every day – his day, 1969, and today – every day is the dawn of the Christian Era.
Unlike Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, the Christian era has no designated end date. We don’t know when or where the closing act will be. All we know is that the era in whose dawn we are now living will end when God decides it should and not a moment before. The date can’t be found in ancient calendars or by perusing the book of Revelations. Only God knows when this era of human history will end.
Until then, our call is to put aside those thoughts and behaviors from before Jesus showed us God’s love in the flesh. Those desires and behaviors driven by our ego rather than by love for God and our neighbor. Instead, we are to live as Jesus would have us live: lives of constantly expanding, self-giving love.
In our day-in and day-out lives, it’s easy to get used to the status quo. It’s sometimes hard to live the reality that each day is the dawn of this new era. That’s one of the reasons why Advent is such a joy.
Advent gives us a chance to recommit ourselves to lives of constantly expanding, self-giving love. Yes, Advent is partly about looking back with joy and thanksgiving for Jesus’ birth. It is also a time of looking forward with joyful anticipation to his return, to the end of the Christian era and the start of eternal life in God.
This year, may we use Advent as a time to both look back with thanksgiving and also a time to look forward to Christ’ return and to recommit ourselves to living each day in this new era.
Do you know what time it is?
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