There are a number of different themes that can be used to lead us through the four Sundays of Advent. Probably the most commonly used themes today are Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Sometimes these might be found in differing orders, sometimes one or the other is replaced by Faith. But, at least in recent years, these four themes set the basic thematic structure for Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.

Another popular set of themes focuses on the characters in the story of the wait for the promised arrival of Christ. We start with the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), then move to the prophets of Israel, then John the Baptist, and finally Mary the mother of Jesus. Each set of characters serve the purpose of preparing us for the birth of Jesus.

To my understanding, the oldest set of Advent themes, though rarely used today, are what we call the “four last things”: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. Why are these themes rarely used anymore? My hunch is that most people do not want to hear a sermon about Hell on the Sunday before Christmas. Surprise! As the joyful, celebratory tone of Christmas has encroached upon the season of Advent, topics such as death and judgment have gone out of style. This is understandable, thought it may very well be a missed opportunity.

While it has never been used, I think a good set of Advent themes would be the title of the Foo Fighter’s 2007 album (and my personal favorite of theirs) Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace. We begin with echoes: echoes of God’s promises from long ago. But now we have entered into a long period of silence as we wait for those promises to be fulfilled. Then we find that patience is required during the wait. Finally, we have the grace of God that meets us in the waiting. Echoes, Silence, Patience, Grace.

The final song on the album, “Home”, is next on my list of Advent songs that we did not know were Advent songs.

Many of the songs on my Advent playlist are about longing for something that is not yet here. One example is “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2 (I wrote about this classic last March.) Foo Fighter’s “Home” continues this theme. The song begins, “Wish I were with you, but I couldn’t stay/Every direction leads me away/Pray for tomorrow but for today/All I want/Is to be home.”

Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters wrote this album around the time of the birth of Dave’s daughter, Violet. I picture Grohl singing these words on tour or in a recording studio — in one place but wishing to be somewhere else with someone else. But, as with all great songs and poems, the interpretation cannot be confined to one perspective. As the song reaches its conclusion, the longing becomes more than for one person but for many: “People I’ve loved, I have no regrets/Some I remember, some I forget/Some of them livin’, some of them dead/All I want/Is to be home.”

Advent is a season of longing for something that is not yet here: Home. There is an often cited cliché used in Christian circles that says, “This world is not our home.” A better way of putting this would be: this world, as it is, is not our home. The preacher to the Hebrews says, “For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14, NRSV). The cities, nations, and kingdoms of this world are passing away, but the Kingdom of God will endure forever. But the good news is not so much that we are going to be whisked away to some faraway place called heaven, but that God’s Kingdom will come and be present “On earth as it is in heaven.” We are not waiting to go somewhere, we are waiting for an advent, a coming, an arrival.

This world may not currently be our home — but it will be when Christ comes.

What we are looking for in our home is not someplace but someone. As Grohl sings: “Just looking for shelter from the cold and the pain/someone to cover safe from the rain.” While the image of longing is described in the song as “Home”, there are no descriptions of walls or a roof. The images are full of people, “People I’ve loved.” Grohl longs for someone to bring shelter from the rain, not something. “Home” is not about a particular place but a particular person.

Regardless of which Advent themes we use, Advent serves as a kind of countdown. We are counting down the weeks, counting down the days until Christmas. The countdown reminds us that this time we find ourselves in has a limit. There is an end to it. And it will end with the arrival of Jesus.

When Jesus arrives, it does not matter so much where we are. We may very well find ourselves in a field with sheep and shepherds, we may find ourselves by a feeding trough for animals. When Jesus arrives, we are home.

For now, we wait.

My full Advent playlist can be accessed here.

Note: I am a week behind in this Advent Music series as I was quite sick last week. I will try to have Part III before this week is over and the final part out next Monday, December 23rd.