The advent season is upon us and this blog post will explore how advent expresses God’s educational heart for humanity.
You are likely familiar with the following stanza:
O come! O come! Emmanuel!
And ransom captive Israel;
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
This hymn speaks both to the longing we all have to be reached by God and to the manner in which he reaches us: through his Son, Jesus Christ. So the first point to establish is more than just a theological dogma, but a profound existential reality. We are limited people who mourn due to our ignorance, weakness and rebellion. Understanding the advent season as a time of preparation for celebrating the birth of Christ drills down into this sense we have that apart from God, all is lost.
And yet as we recollect so many advent hymns and carols, they are rich in the testimony of scripture. God has already spoken abundantly to give us a promise and a hope. Consider some of these verses:
Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Zechariah 6:12 – Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD
Isaiah 9:6 – For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Micah 5:2 – But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
Together these verses and many others are clues to God’s plan. He has taught his people his thoughts. Yet, the verses require of the reader a heart that is open to receive knowledge from God. As captive as we are to ignorance, weakness and rebellion, we might be prone to ignore or discount what it is that God has taught. And so this advent season as a time of preparation rehearses the many passages that point to the revelation of Christ, reminds us of how we are prone to go astray and requires of us the mindset and disposition to receive from God.
The Educational Heart of God
In my reflection on God over the years, a key idea has emerged: God is an educator. God has revealed himself to us verbally. This implies that he communicates in such a way that he expects some amount of comprehension. It also implies that we have been made to comprehend what he communicates. Praise God for not keeping his thoughts to himself. He has made known his intentions. Praise God also for making us receptors of his communication, fallen though we may be. We turn with gratitude to our creator and redeemer for telling us our condition, for sharing with us our salvation plan, and for instructing us in the best way to live. This is the educational heart of God.
The repeated refrain of Genesis 1 is “And God said.” (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26) All of creation was spoken into existence; the universe is an act of communication. The heavens and earth show for God’s glory. It is no surprise that we have gleaned so much from scientific study, all of nature is packed with meaning. What a shame that the scientific method has been so based on atheistic assumptions. In bringing up science, it is not my intention to pit faith against science. Rather, it is to point to an alternative epistemology, one in which science can fully flourish on the basis of theistic assumptions. It seems arbitrary that Enlightenment scientism concluded that because God cannot be proven by reason or evidence, one must rule God out as a fundamental tenet of the method. Yet, could one not also conclude that if God cannot be proven, perhaps it is best to assume God’s existence? Does it not take an equal amount of faith to accept or reject God’s existence? And is there not compelling evidence for our faith?
“Every conclusion of science requires presuppositions, just as necessarily as every conclusion of science requires evidence. Indeed, without appropriate presuppositions, evidence loses its evidential role, and that undoes science.”
Hugh Gauch, Scientific Method in Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 112
If we take the alternative presupposition that the natural world is an act of communication, the evidence of all of our fields of scientific enquiry point not only to new understandings in the natural realm, but also to ultimate meaning as communicated by God.
Creation, as magnificent as it is as an act of communication, pales in comparison to the clarity and specificity we gain from God’s communication through scripture. The Westminster Confession is so helpful at expressing this, “Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation.” (1.1) We need something more sufficient than the general revelation of nature can provide. And thus God has spoken through scripture to spell out for us everything necessary for a right relationship with God. The Psalmist writes: “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;” (Ps 19:7-8) Notice how God’s communication to us addresses us as whole persons. Every part of us is nourished by the education God provides. We see this also in the New Testament: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb 4:12) And also in Paul’s writings: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17). God’s educational program is not to get some sort of certification or occupational outcome. Instead, it is an education fitted to propel us into lives of flourishing.
The Advent of Christ as an Act of Teaching
John’s gospel presents the incarnation in profound theological terms. Jesus is presented as “the Word” in language echoing Genesis 1. The person of Jesus Christ is a speech act. He is not merely a mouthpiece, he is the essence of God, the impulse behind all of creation as well as the centerpiece of God’s salvation plan. Just as creation was an act of communication, so salvation is likewise an act of communication. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,” (Isa 52:7) The good news speaks to the verbal transaction of speaker and listener. Consider how frequently Jesus says in the gospels, “Truly, I say to you.” So when John calls Jesus the Word, he is encapsulating the dynamic of the incarnation as God’s most profound verbal communication to us.
To go a step further, we can add that God as a communicator has not simply spoken esoteric messages that tickle our highest thoughts. His communication is to be lived out. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14) God’s communication is embodied, living and active. The thrust here is that God is not some distant professor lecturing on and on. Instead, God shares with us his very heart and does so in such a way that it meets our most fundamental needs, giving us guidance as to how to best live our lives. John calls Jesus the “light that shines in the darkness.” (John 1:5) He illumines our pathway. This is exactly what Zechariah expresses about Jesus in the gospel of Luke: “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79)
This season as we celebrate the advent of Christ, we should reflect on how much Jesus’ incarnation is an act of teaching. Christ comes into our world to illumine our hearts and minds; to enlighten us. The incarnation is the inflection point of salvation history. God made man, dwelling among us, Immanuel; this is the act of teaching. What we are talking about here is not simply anticipating the teachings of Jesus, although that is both important and relevant. At a deeper level, the moment of the incarnation is mystery made obvious all along in the testimony of the Old Testament. It is the connection between heaven and earth that is impossible apart from a miraculous act of God. This embodied Word in and of itself is the grand act of teaching.
Advent and Our Educational Program
There are three calendars in my life that are asynchronous. There is the civil calendar which starts in January, ends in December and is celebrated on New Year’s Day. In many ways this is the least relevant time-telling calendar in my life. The second calendar is the school year. It starts with the first day of school in August and ends with graduation in June. This is the calendar that most impacts my working life. The third calendar is the church year. It begins with Advent in December and drives toward Easter in the Spring. This is the calendar that most impacts my devotional life. These offset cycles of time-telling demonstrate how the different aspects of our lives can get out of sync. Perhaps that is not an altogether bad thing, just a reality of being in the world and not of it.
The three calendars illustrate for me the three kinds of knowledge we work with as educators. The knowledge of the universe, the knowledge of man, and the knowledge of God. I am drawing these categories from Charlotte Mason, who writes:
“Of the three sorts of knowledge proper to a child, the knowledge of God, of man, and of the universe,––the knowledge of God ranks first in importance, is indispensable, and most happy-making.”
Charlotte Mason, Towards A Philosophy of Education (Volume 6, 158)
Even though the knowledge of God is ranked first in importance, it is often out of sync with the other objectives in our curriculum. Reading, writing and arithmetic have well defined texts and methods of instruction. This means that the knowledge of God takes second, even third place when it comes to the daily warp and woof of school life.
Mason recommends a very thorough reading of the Old and New Testaments throughout the educational program. If we believe that God makes himself known through his Word, and if we believe that he has made us in such a way that we can respond to this knowledge, then we really can do nothing less than provide as much of God’s revelation as we can to them. The result, when they truly encounter the stories and poetry of the Bible, is a training not only in intellectual knowledge, but also the affections.
“By degrees the Person of Our Lord as revealed in His words and His works becomes real and dear to them, not through emotional appeals but through the impression left by accurate and detailed knowledge concerning the Saviour of the World.”
Charlotte Mason, Towards A Philosophy of Education (Vol 6, 165)
Reading the Bible in order to know a Person is such a compelling educational objective!
One of the traditions we practice every year during advent is a course of readings that guide our devotions and prepare our hearts for Christmas. There are many different listings of readings available online. We place an advent wreath in the center of the table and light the proper candles following the weeks of advent. What I love about this practice is the way we as a family prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ. What we are doing is opening ourselves to a deeper knowledge of God. It is not as though we have not already received Christ. But through this practice we make ourselves available to know him in a deeper and more personal way.
Simple practices like these can likewise be implemented in the classroom. As educators, we can establish traditions that enable an encounter with God. The season of advent is particularly enticing as it has such a wide array of affections associated with it: awe, silence, joy, simplicity, humility, majesty, wonder. Even though the school calendar and church calendar are sometimes out of sync, we can still take advantage of moments when the church calendar offers up new seasons for us to practice our faith in new ways.
I conclude with this beautiful and profound hymn written by Ambrose of Milan, usually set to the tune Puer Nobis Nascitur. This link will take you to a lovely recording by The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge.
| Come, Thou Redeemer Of The Earth The English Hymnal (Oxford University Press, 1906), #14, pp. 11-12. | Veni, Redemptor Gentium Hermann Daniel, Theusaurus Hymnologicus, Vol. 1, 1855, p. 12 |
| 1. Come, Thou Redeemer of the earth, And manifest Thy virgin birth: Let every age adoring fall; Such birth befits the God of all. 2. Begotten of no human will, But of the Spirit, Thou art still The Word of God in flesh arrayed, The promised Fruit to man displayed. 3. The virgin womb that burden gained With virgin honor all unstained; The banners there of virtue glow; God in His temple dwells below. 4. Forth from His chamber goeth He, That royal home of purity, A giant in twofold substance one, Rejoicing now His course to run. 5. From God the Father He proceeds, To God the Father back He speeds; His course He runs to death and hell, Returning on God’s throne to dwell. 6. O equal to the Father, Thou! Gird on Thy fleshly mantle now; The weakness of our mortal state With deathless might invigorate. 7. Thy cradle here shall glitter bright, And darkness breathe a newer light, Where endless faith shall shine serene, And twilight never intervene. 8. All laud to God the Father be, All praise, eternal Son, to Thee; All glory, as is ever meet, To God the Holy Paraclete. | 1. Veni, Redemptor gentium; Ostende partum virginis; Miretur omne saeculum. Talis decet partus Deo. 2. Non ex virili semine, Sed mystico spiramine Verbum Dei tactum est caro, Fructusque ventris floruit. 3. Alvus tumescit virginis. Claustrum pudoris permanet; Vexilla virtutum micant, Versatur in templo Deus. 4. Procedit e thalamo suo, Pudoris aulo regia, Geminae gigans substantiae Alacris ut currat viam. 5. Egressus eius a Patre, Regressus eius ad Patrem; Excursus usque ad inferos Recursus ad sedem Dei. 6. Aequalis aeterno Patri, Carnis tropaeo accingere, Infirma nostri corporis Virtute firmans perpeti. 7. Praesepe iam fulget tuum, Lumenque nox spirat novum, Quad nulla nox interpolet Fideque iugi luceat. 8. Gloria tibi, Domine, Qui natus es de virgine, Cum Patre et saneto Spiritu, In sempiterna saecula. |
