old and unimproved

 I bought a 4 pack of Irn Bru 1901 the other day and was intrigued by the strapline on the packaging - Old and Unimproved. It is a very clever marketing strategy, springing from a belief that this Barr’s product is quite exceptional. Why change what has become a national institution?

Let’s borrow that slogan and consider how it matches perfectly with the message of Advent.

First, the message of Advent is OLD.

When we use the word old we do so on two levels. 

Old could, in one sense, refer to something that is beyond its sell-by-date, tired or broken and no lower fit for purpose.

Alternatively, it can describe that which is enduring, lasting; something that time honours.

The message of Christmas is old. It’s comes to us from another time and place. But it speaks with tremendous power and relevance to our lives in the 21st century. 

700 years before the birth of Christ one of the Hebrew prophets, Micah, described his advent in this way:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2). 

Jesus, the Messiah’s “coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (ESV). And Micah says of him, “he shall be their peace” (5:5). He is the one who speaks peace into our troubled souls. 

Inner peace has to be one of the most elusive qualities of life in our modern world. Has there ever been a generation that is more restless and therefore lacking in peace than this one? 

The ancient prophet Isaiah speaks into our age when he says, “You will guard him and keep him in perfect peace whose mind (both in its inclinations and in its character) is stayed on you, because he commits himself to you, leans on you and hopes confidently in you” (Isaiah 26:3).

This advent season may our minds be fixed on the promises of God so that when the storms of life buffet us we can draw on those promises and find rest for our souls.

The message of Christmas is old but ever new.

Second, it’s UNIMPROVED

How could it be otherwise when we read again from the prophet Isaiah:

“For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”.

(Isaiah 9:6)

The coming child would be given titles that could only be attributed to God. He is truly, “Immanuel God with us” (Matthew 1:23). The mystery and wonder of that truth is captured in a sentence by Charles Wesley, “our God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man”.

The message of advent is old (it’s enduring) and unimproved (the greatest story ever told). 

(Picture - Ben A'an)