As I mentioned in that post, Advent has suffered from "Christmas capture" in our churches. We look solely toward the past during this season and thereby lose the future-oriented, eschatological aspect of Advent.
To illustrate this focus upon the Second Coming of Christ during Advent, and its impact upon our lives, Rutledge shares this quote from Will Willimon at the start of her book:
Our lives are eschatologically stretched between the sneak preview of the new world being born among us in the church, and the old world where the principalities and powers are reluctant to give way. In the meantime, which is the only time the church has ever known, we live as those who know something about the fate of the world that the world does not yet know. And that makes us different.
