O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
One way to describe the Season of Advent - which has begun this day, is to say that Advent operates in three tenses all at once.
In Advent we await the birth of the Christ child as the recollection of a past event, of a birth that happened over 2000 years ago - and a celebration that will happen - is beginning to happen - right now.
This past event has great significance in the present. In Advent we once again await the birth of the Christ Child into our lives, into our families, into our church community. We await this Christmas - and a Holy Evening, not 24days away, where - bathed in candlelight - we will say: "Yes Lord! Thank You Lord" and rejoice in his presence, his having come among us as a babe, a child, a man, a human like us - to love us.
And as we wait we savour those things that remind us of all the good Christmas's that have past. We savour them and make them part of this Christmas - songs and carols, special dinner dishes and treats, candle lit worship, visits and phone calls, prayers and readings, and cards and notes, and the wonderful smells of the season.
In Advent we await a past event and indeed we prepare our lives for it. And the preparation we do enriches our lives and makes this time a special time.
And, in Advent we await the future - a special future: we await the unveiling of the reign of God, something which is continually being revealed, but is yet to be fully realized.
We await a time that Isaiah, and Jesus, and Paul describe as a time of judgement: a time when accounts are settled - not always comfortably - but always rightly - a time when two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left, and a time when at long last all the swords are beaten into plowshares and all spears into pruning hooks, and peace - lasting peace - comes at last.
We await a time of judgement and a time of salvation, the time of Christ's return - the time when the whole world is of God's Kingdom - the time when all who have passed through judgement are as one, one in joy - and in faith - and in hope - and in love - the time when sin, suffering, pain, and death are no more.
Come, says Isaiah as he proclaims the word of judgement and of salvation in today's reading, "Come - let us walk in the light of the Lord!"
That "come" is a word about what to do now - today, as we await tomorrow.
"Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord" says Isaiah, "Stay awake, be alert", says Jesus. "Put on the armour of light." says Paul, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."
That is the third tense of Advent. The present tense. The active tense.
Advent is not just about preparing for Christ's coming as a child from the past.
Nor is Advent just about preparing for Christ's coming as the righteous king in the future.
Advent is also - and primarily - about preparing for Christ's coming in our lives - right now.
For his light to be around us and shining from within us - today. For his spirit to be dwelling in our hearts and our minds - this minute. For his living presence to be seen in all that we say and do and all that we see and hear - second by precious second..
In this sense advent memory and advent hope are joined together: together our past experience and our future expectations about the reign of God and about the Christ, the Messiah, are realized now, not simply because of our preparation for it; but because of the divine truth about God's past and God's present and God's future: the truth that God has been with us - and will yet be with us - and even now is with us.
Advent as a season of the church year helps us to be prepared, it reminds us to keep our ears, eyes and our hearts open, open for the in-breaking of the saving presence and power of Almighty God.
These are indeed times like the times of Noah. Ordinary times:
- times when men and women marry and are given in marriage;
- and children play games and go to school;
- and adults go to work or to the market every day.
These are ordinary times with our wars and our rumours of war - ordinary times with our good - and with our evil - with our love and with our hate, the ordinary times - when it is easy to forget the extraordinary - and to forget to be ready for it.
For all time, but especially for this time, this ordinary time, this time right now - the question is: is your home in order? Is it ready? Does it even now embrace our Saviour?
Look around you.
I think you know and I think the church knows how to embrace the coming of the Christ Child. How to be ready for the celebration. How to decorate that which is outside - and how to decorate, how to hallow, that which is inside.
And I think as I listen to you pray at your homes and here in this sanctuary that you know how to read the signs of times - and to pray for God's kingdom to come and for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
I know your longing for peace as you hear the news from the mid-east about all the turmoils going on over there, and as you think of the children who go hungry, and of the recent typhoon which hits the Philippines, the recent earthquakes and floods that afflict the world. I know what you hope - for we all hope for it - we all hope for the time of eternal blessing - we hope for us and we hope for the world for the Christ to return in power and in glory.
But what about now?
What about the God who is here now?
The Christ who is here now?
Is our house completely ready for him?
Are we making him comfortable?
Do we let him live with us - and own us completely?
Are we able to invite him into every nook and cranny of our homes - or are there beds we hope he will not look under and rooms that we hope he will not enter.
The room where we hide our anger and resentment at someone. The chamber which we often disappear into when it seems that doing the right thing might cost us more time, or more comfort, or more money than we care to think about. That area where we separate out people - one from the other; that place where we make judgements about people and what they need and what they deserve.
Advent speaks to us about God's coming to us, about Christ coming to us, about light shining into the darkness, and spears being turned into pruning hooks, and about judgement coming upon the earth, and salvation to the people of God.
That speaking is for yesterday - and for tomorrow - and - most of all - it is for today.
Thank you Isaiah - thank you Matthew - thank you Jesus - for this word - for this promise.
And thank you Isaiah, thank you Matthew, thank you Jesus, thank you Paul for the call to keep awake and to walk in the light - clad in the armour of light.
We have good words - and good advice in our readings today. This is a good words and good advice from God. Not just for the coming of the Kingdom over all the world, But for the coming of Christ in our lives today.
Clean house. Open the doors to the secret places. Let the Lord who knocks come in and dine with you. Let him ready you for the fullness of his promises, day by day. Amen....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment