Sunday, December 3, 2023

Advent 1

Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37

The Rev. Clint Brown

One way we might think about Advent is to think of it as the start of a journey, and what that journey is is the telling of the whole Christian story once again. Its general outline is fairly well known. On our way there will be a miraculous birth and then a baptism that inaugurates a ministry, a temptation, a calling of a small band of disciples, a Sermon on the Mount, various confrontations and controversies with the religious and political authorities, a series of miracles and awesome displays of power but also tender moments of intimate connection where the broken, of every ilk and stripe, are made whole, a triumphal entry, a last supper, a clandestine arrest, a betrayal by a trusted friend, a rushed trial, Pilate will wash hands, a long, tortuous walk to a hill outside the city walls, and then a gruesome execution spelling the end to all that had been hoped for, all that had been promised…except that it wasn’t the end. Early in morning, on the first day of the week, the women will rush back from their visit to the tomb to exclaim to the bewildered disciples, “He is risen!” – and then the whole story changes. A tiny band of defeated and demoralized nobodies will burst forth from the Upper Room to change the world. Today the Church begins anew to tell that story: to hand down the precious deposit of faith that we have received, that we, in our turn, will hand on to others. So what is Advent? Advent is for beginning.

But like any journey we may contemplate, we must prepare. We must check our gear and go shopping for essentials and sit down to chart our route and take account of the weather forecast. That’s Advent, too. Advent is for checking in with ourselves to see where we are in our spiritual journey. A whole new church year stretches out before us promising both the expected and familiar but also the potential to be touched differently at different points along the way as we experience the familiar anew. We are both the same and different from the last time we passed this way, so before we take another turn through the Christian year, we need to establish our base line, the condition in which we find ourselves as we make the start. Advent is for preparation.

The words we associate with Advent help us get a sense for the kind of preparation we are meant to do. Words like anticipation, apocalypse, second coming, deliverance, eschaton, expectation, fulfillment, hope, judgment, light of the world, longing, redemption, Messiah, peace, preparation, promise, prophet, repentance, and waiting. The season gets its name from the Latin word for “coming” – adventus – and the church has long understood that there are, in fact, two “comings” to prepare for. One is the coming of the baby in the manger, to be sure, the highly anticipated arrival that already has the world in a frenzy of shopping and preparation. And as has been the case for centuries, the challenge for us is to see, through all that noise and bustle, the coming of a Savior. Because if we’re not careful, it is so easy to miss him and allow the meaning of this season to get crowded out by all the other things we are doing. But if it’s any consolation, this is nothing new to Jesus. He always seems to be having trouble getting recognized and noticed. He was overlooked and pushed aside from the very start when his parents were consigned to a cattle stall because there was no room for them in the inn. Jesus, unfortunately, is no stranger to being brushed off. What a way to welcome God into the world! So let us do better, shall we? Advent is for recognizing what’s really going on.

But just as important as Christ's first advent, and equally the focus of this season, the Church takes heed of his second advent, the Second Coming of Christ, when he returns as the mighty King in the fullness of his power and glory. At this second advent he will be without any of the limitations he took on before, and there will be no possibility of mistaking him or ignoring him because he will be riding the clouds as if on a chariot. Every eye shall turn to see him, even those that pierced him. He is coming again to rule and reign, rightfully, as Lord of all. He who is the hope of the nations. He who is the righteous judge. He who is the conquering lamb. His return spells doom for all the complacent, the distracted, and the unkind, and means that all that is upside down and wrong side out in this world will be put to rights. And so Advent is, especially, for giving our whole selves over to his penetrating gaze as our judge. In the midst of excess, we become repentant. In the midst of frenzy and disproportion, we aim to grow a little more quiet. We do this because we recognize that before he comes in a manger, before he comes in the clouds, Jesus Christ must come into our hearts. Advent is for turning our whole selves to Jesus to be both savior and judge. So I commend to you, in closing, those ancient words of the Church that express all our hope and longing in this and every season of Advent – Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!

 Amen.