“Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scripture to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and the comfort of your holy Word we may embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ.” —Collect for the second Sunday in Advent.

In the season of Christmas cookies, pumpkin pies, and roasted turkey, it seems strange to talk about eating Scripture. This Collect has always jumped out of the liturgy and gotten my attention. It has recently been moved to the Second Sunday of Advent and upon reflection, I believe it is a good match for this Sunday. Too often I have paid attention to “eating the Word” to see the benefit mentioned in the second half of the Collect. We are to be filled with the Word so that we might “with patience and comfort hold fast the hope of everlasting life in Christ.” Advent is a season of patience and comfort as we wait for the arrival of the King. As a child, it seemed like it took forever for Christmas to arrive. As an adult, I patiently wait for Christ’s return to save this world that we have managed to mess up so badly. When I was little I waited for Christmas morning and what was under the tree. As an adult, I long for the wedding feast of the Lamb and the return of the king — a scene like the crowning of Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings. I am far more comforted by the thought of Christ’s eternal rule than any toys that might be left by Santa.

Feasting on the Word…
Advent is a season of preparation. It has many parallels to Lent. One prepares us for the atonement and resurrection of the King, the other prepares us for the incarnation and the birth of the King. Both seasons use purple (the color of a king) in our liturgy. Both seasons are a great time to use spiritual disciplines to help us prepare. The disciplines of fasting, silence, and solitude help us to create an emptiness in our spirit, a type of spiritual vacuum, that we then long to fill with the truth of God’s love as found in his Word. This is precisely why this collect is perfect for Advent. The more we can be filled with the love of God in his Word, the more blessed and fervent will be our hope of spending eternity with Him. The increasing light of the Advent wreath is to be symbolic of the hope that is growing as the light of the Word overcomes the darkness.

We would do well to practice a bit of fasting this season, to make room for feasting on the Word more intentionally. There are some wonderful resources available to help on this journey. One that I especially love is Ann Voskamp’s book, The Greatest Gift. Ann dips into the Scriptures in-depth and gives great insight into the Old Testament pointing toward the arrival of the King. It is sweet reading. I also love The Advent Project (a study of Scripture through music and art) put together by Biola University. The Advent Project is available here.

The choice is pretty clear. We can feast on cookies and always end up hungry for more, or we can feast on the Word. It will spring up in us like streams of living waters, and when we eat of this food, we will hunger no more.