Welcome to the season of Advent! As you can see, our paraments have been changed to blue, a color that evokes the darkness of the night sky and the feeling of hope. Our wreath of candles will help us mark the time until Christmas Eve, growing in brightness as the weeks pass. Our decorations are up but not quite in their full glory - a sign that there is more to come, that it’s not yet time. Advent is a season of waiting, and watching, and preparation. It is a season that draws our attention to the past, the present, and the future. It is an in-between time, during which we experience both the “now” and the “not yet” of Christ’s coming.
 |
| Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash |
During Advent, we are waiting and watching for Christmas. We will hear again the story of Christ’s coming as a baby born at a specific time and place in history, a story told in carols and paintings, picture books and nativity scenes. Together, we remember and rejoice in the ways God chose to be made known - small and vulnerable, in a body like ours, to people on the margins, in a small town. Looking to the past, we are reminded again that we worship a God who came to dwell with us, a God who is with us in the challenges and uncertainty that are characteristic of life in every time and place.
While the familiar Christmas story is probably what first comes to mind when we think of the season of Advent, our readings for this first Sunday draw our attention not to the past, but rather toward the future. In these weeks, we are also waiting and watching for Christ’s coming again, “in a cloud with power and great glory” as we heard in the Gospel reading.
From Jeremiah we hear about the days that are surely coming - days when God’s promises will be fulfilled; days when new life will sprout forth; and days when justice, righteousness, and salvation will be made known. In Luke, Jesus instructs the disciples about the signs that will herald the coming kingdom of God. From signs in the heavens to chaos and disruption on the earth, it seems that the reign of God will not sneak in unannounced. When the time comes, Jesus says, the faithful are to be neither fearful nor ignorant, but rather alert and resolute. Like buds on a fig tree point to the arrival of summer, so too will there be signs that point to the increasing nearness of God’s reign.
Yes, Advent is a time of remembering the past as well as looking to the future, but it also points to our present reality, as we wait and watch for Christ’s coming among us here and now.
Jesus comes to us here and now in the communion meal, his body and blood. In ordinary bread and wine, we are forgiven, strengthened, and nourished, reminded that this is really Jesus, for you. Gathered for this meal, we eat and drink together now in anticipation of the great heavenly feast that will be spread before all peoples.
Jesus also comes to us here and now in the waters of baptism. Each time we touch water, we are reminded of God’s mercy and grace, new each day. Each time we trace the cross marked on our forehead, we are reminded of God’s indelible claim on us, no matter what comes.
Jesus comes to us here and now through the gift of community. As members of the Body of Christ, we belong to Christ and belong to one another. We give thanks for friends and strangers alike who reflect God’s love, show encouragement and support, offer grace and forgiveness, and walk alongside us when the way forward is unclear.
Today’s readings might not be what we expect as we get ready for Christmas. In some ways, the signs, distress, fear, foreboding, and burdened hearts that we hear from Luke’s Gospel seem to clash with the joyful carols on the radio and the festive preparations shown in commercials and ads. In other ways, though, signs, distress, fear, foreboding, and burdened hearts seem to hit awfully close to home these days, as we hear news from around the world of climate disaster, political unrest, economic hardship, and never-ending pandemic.
The good news today is that God’s reign has already begun breaking into our world, that God’s promises will be fulfilled, and that God is with us in the meantime. As we wait and watch and hope, we are not alone. In the midst of chaos, fear, and destruction, God is present. In word and water, bread and wine, and through the gathered community, Jesus is made known to us. In this season of Advent, as we look back and look ahead, we give thanks for reminders that God is at work in the world. Even now, God is with us. Even now, God is bringing forth a reign of justice, truth, and love that includes all people and all creation.
Comments
Post a Comment