First Sunday of Advent 2009

Advent 1C 2009

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN

One of the things that most of the writers of the New Testament held in common was that they believed that Jesus was going to come back sooner rather than later.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection and ascension, he was going to come back, within a generation or two, for the final judgment, for the second coming, for the parousia. The world as we know it would end and the culmination of history and the new creation would be established by God.

Several of the gospels give signs and portents of what it will be like and how we can anticipate the second coming. In our gospel reading today, Luke’s Jesus says, “So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

So, it feels a bit odd to be reading about the expected second-coming, the anticipation of the end, the final judgment by Jesus when we’ve been waiting around for it for a couple of millennia rather than a couple of generations.

Now, there are those who would suggest our concept of time is different than the divine concept of time, so really two millennia are more like two days in the eyes of God. And while that may be true, we’re still here waiting and wondering.

And we’re waiting and wondering as we begin a new liturgical year. Today is the first Sunday of Advent. We are starting our yearly cycle of seasons and bible readings over again, for another year. Today marks the day of time of preparation for the advent, the coming, of Christmas, of the nativity of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

So, do you think this year will be the same? We’ll go through the liturgical motions- we’ll have advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost. And we’ll we come again to advent next year in the same frame of mind, wondering and waiting when things are really going to happen. Is this the year that Jesus will come back? Is this the year that everything will fall apart? Is this the year that things are really going to take off?

Regardless of what happens, there are expectations for us. We begin each liturgical year with Advent- and it makes sense- not just chronological sense as we go through Jesus’ life every year, but as we continue to prepare in our own lives for the coming of Jesus, or for our going to him. Luke warns that we ought to be prepared; we need to be ready for the coming of the Lord, for it comes on all of us, not just a select few, not just the chosen, but the whole creation will experience the coming of the Lord.

And Luke makes it sound a bit foreboding, doesn’t he? You need to be ready so you can avoid the bad things, so you don’t suffer when the Son of Man comes and so that you may stand before him, ready to go with him.

And so, in the wisdom of our ancestors, they created a way to mark time, a way to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord in the form of the liturgical calendar. For, Advent is not only the twenty-four days before Christmas, it’s not the countdown to gift exchange and snowy holidays of yore, it’s not only the time that we prepare our hearts for the baby Jesus to come and dwell in us. It is also the time that we remind ourselves, that we exhort one another to be prepared for the end, for the end of all time, for the culmination of history and for the final coming of Jesus Christ, to give a final accounting of what we have done in this life and a time to prepare our hearts to go with Christ into the new creation.

So, how are you doing?
Are you aware that the end is near?
Have you accounted for all your sins and deeds?
Will God find you acceptable, can you avoid the final wrath?

At one level the answer for all of us ought be “no.” Not one of us in this room is ready, for as human beings we have been condemned in our sin. The sin that we know that we do and the sin that we don’t know that we do. Not one of us should be able to stand before the Son of Man when he comes and say, “you ought to reward me because I have lead the perfect life- I have followed completely in your way.” We can’t do it.

And so, how do we respond?
Some of us beat ourselves up, and live in despair hoping that there is something we could do to merit our salvation.
Some of us disregard and say- well… it hasn’t happened yet, no need to worry now- and so we live according to the world. Who needs a time of preparation when the world is already celebrating Christmas? Why can’t we sing Christmas carols all December long? Christmas is coming earlier and earlier, isn’t it? It used to start the day after Thanksgiving, black Friday. And now it apparently starts right after Halloween.

But the world won’t give you a gift for Christmas. Christmas starts after Halloween so you will consume, so you will buy what they want you to buy because obviously you don’t have enough already. They don’t care about baby Jesus, and they certainly don’t care about the second coming.

And so, our Christian witness to the world is this:
The end is coming, Jesus will make his final appearance. We don’t know when- but we need to be ready. We practice a time of preparation, of readying ourselves for the nativity, for the advent of Jesus and for his final coming, the full realization that he is the Son of God and he will come again to judge the living and the end and we will gather into one great feast to worship him.

So, we keep Advent. Not to thumb our nose at the world’s celebration of Christmas, but to say, look- do you know what has happened? Jesus Christ came to the world as a baby, as a little infant, helpless and in poverty, and he is the son of God, he is the true lord and giver of life, and it is only through him that we will have true life and joy and salvation.

Make yourselves ready- because he is coming. And although none of us can stand before him and say, yes, I did everything you asked me and I didn’t sin at all. We still have the ability to stand before him with confidence.
Martin Luther wrote in his sermon on this passage in Luke:

"Could he admonish, comfort, and strengthen you in a more delicate and loving manner? In the first place he says, You will hear of wars, but you should have no fears. And when he tells you to have no fears, what else does he mean than that he commands you to be of good cheer and to discern the signs with joy? Secondly, he tells you to look up; thirdly, to lift up your heads; and fourthly, he speaks of your redemption. What can comfort and strengthen you if such a word does not? Do you think he would deceive you and try to lead you into a false confidence? My dear hearer, let such a word not have been said in vain: thank God and trust in it -- there is no other comfort or advice if you cast this to the winds.

"It is not your condemnation but your redemption of which Christ speaks. Will you turn his words around and say, It is not your redemption but your condemnation? Will you flee from your own salvation? Will you not greet and thank your God who comes out to meet and to greet you?"

Jesus comes to us, he comes for us, he comes to save us- both as a baby born into a feed trough and as the son of man coming in all his glory with his saints.
So, we prepare our hearts and our minds to meet him, fully confident that we will enter into his embrace and that we may go forth with joy to proclaim this reality to our brother and sisters in the world.
Come Lord Jesus. AMEN