I have very little tolerance for people who skip to the end of a novel to see how it all comes out, especially with a mystery. Knowing the ending often defeats the reason to hear the story in the first place. I have no interest in watching the replay of a sporting event when I already know the outcome. This makes Christmas and Easter really hard for me.

In my experience, both Advent and Lent are much like the 3-hour trip to grandma’s house where the kids in the back seat start chanting, “Are we there yet?’” a block-and-a-half after leaving the driveway. We cannot WAIT to get to the destination, so we race/jump/leap to the conclusion. Singing Joy to the World the second Sunday of Advent drives me nuts. Preaching post-resurrection Easter-people messages during Lent yields a similar response.

No, I get it. Birth of Jesus is so exciting and cool. Hard to believe that it wasn’t much celebrated for the first five centuries or so of the Christian movement. Resurrection? In many ways, this is the whole ball of wax – we are Christian because of it.

But why, then, does the Christian year include the month of Advent and the forty-plus days of Lent in the liturgical calendar. Is the intention really that we should ignore them and simply make Christmas and Easter six-week events? I. Don’t. Think. So.

Advent is a time of preparation, expectation, anticipation, adoration, and other forms of -tion. Lent is a time of introspection, contemplation, exploration, reflection, and the remaining forms of -tion. When we encounter the lectionary stories of Lent it is very tempting to focus on the miracles, the healings, the resurrection, and salvation. But the forty-plus days of Lent are reminiscent of wilderness time, of temptation, of sacrifice, of fasting, and the scriptures focus on blindness, misunderstanding, grief, doubt, resentment, prejudice, despair, and judgment that will, in time, be addressed by the grace of God in Christ affirmed and confirmed by the Easter miracle. The Samaritan woman at the well is confronted with her past and the patriarchal futility of her present. Nicodemus is at a loss how God really works in the world. The man blind from birth is judged a sinner or the scion of sin instead of a child of God who shoulders a very real disability. Mary and Martha are angry with a Jesus who left them hanging in days of grief and despair that apparently weren’t necessary. Jesus himself wandered alone, hungry and thirsty, in desert wilderness with only infrequent visits from Satan intending to undermine and discredit a Messiah wannabe. Yes, in every story God’s grace emerges, but in Lent we are to relate more closely to those in their need rather than those whose needs are met. Lent is the time for us to remember those times we were outcast, judged, confused, conflicted, despairing, grieving, tempted, taunted, insulted, discredited, wrongly accused, and/or disbelieved. It is a time for us to remember in very tangible, real, and concrete ways why we need a Savior.

If we refuse to jump to the end we will appreciate the end all the more. Easter will truly be a joyous celebration of second chances and new beginnings. Christmas will once more become an overwhelming miracle of hope and promise. I am not trying to spoil anyone’s good feeling; I simply want us to stop asking “Are we there yet?” and appreciate the journey that gets us to the destination we desire. The greater the Advent, the greater the Lent, the deeper, wider, and higher we value the gift, as well as our sense of gratitude and thanksgiving, and our commitment to the new covenant in Christ Jesus (both born and raised).