Answer: The Lutheran Encyclopedia describes Advent thus: "Just as Easter had its special season of preparation, so a similar period was set aside before Christmas." As with many liturgical matters, the Advent season was a gradual development of the church. At first it varied in length between four or five Sundays before Christmas. For many years now the Advent season has consisted of four Sundays before Christmas.

The Advent and Christmas seasons were used by Christians to prepare for and to celebrate the greatest birth in history. We cannot recreate the events of Christmas but we can worship and praise God for sending His Son to be the Savior of the world.

The main purpose of Advent is "preparation." On the Sundays in Advent, the Scriptural focus can vary considerably, ranging from echoes of judgment day and the second coming of the Savior, as taught on the previous Sundays, to an emphasis on prophecies about the first coming of the Savior. But whatever the emphasis might be, the point is still that "these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31).

The point of Advent is not to give us four extra weeks of Christmas celebration. Rather, the hearing of God's word during Advent is intended to help us see our need for a savior through repentance of our sins, to know God's promises about sending a Savior, and to appreciate God's mercy in rescuing us from death.

The season Advent is intended to have us enjoy a richer and more meaningful celebration of Christmas when that holiday finally arrives in December. Hearing John the Baptizer's call to repentance, recalling the imminence of judgment day, and reviewing the ancient prophecies about the Savior and His work to save sinners all combine to make singing of "Joy to the Word" that much more meaningful when the Christmas emphasis is put on hold until the end of Advent.

A more recent trend in the preparation season of Advent is the inclusion of special Wednesday night services. As the definition from the Lutheran Encyclopedia suggests, this might be because the Advent season is patterned after the season of Lent, where we have for many years had a series of special mid-week services to put our hearts and minds in the proper frame of mind for celebrating and appreciating the resurrection of our Lord from the dead. However the readings and sermons of the mid-week Advent services should still emphasize the preparation of our hearts and minds for celebrating the coming of our Holy God and Savior into our sinful world to carry out the work of salvation. Let Christmas be Christmas! Celebrate the birth of the Savior in its appropriate season, the twelve days between December 25 and January 6.

Make the most of Advent by letting God's Word remind us why the incarnation of God's Son was necessary. To that end the Psalmist wrote, "Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle" (Psalm 24:7,8).

Paul Zager is pastor of Holton Lutheran Church in Holton, Michigan and is a member of the ELS Doctrine Committee.