“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
(Luke 21:25-36)
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It occurs to me today that I’ve never in my life heard Bing Crosby sing “I’m Dreaming Of A White Advent.” When I see Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer on TV I don’t notice Burl Ives singing “Have A Holly, Jolly Advent.” Nor was there ever a movie called “National Lampoon’s Advent Vacation.” Advent is perhaps the only “season” of the Christian year that people - even Christians - prefer to just ignore. Lent may not be fun, but there are all sorts of traditions around Lent that people get involved with. Christmas and Easter are times of great joy. Pentecost only lasts a single day - but it’s a party, at least in church, where it’s a celebration of the birthday of the church. And then there’s Advent. Poor, little noticed and barely remembered Advent. There are some Advent songs, but they really haven’t entered the popular imagination like Christmas carols have, there are no Advent TV specials, and nobody makes Advent themed movies. It’s the forgotten season. In the world - out there, that scary place beyond these walls - people call this the Christmas season. And we’d kind of like it to be that way, too. Actually, there have been signs of Christmas around us for a while - Costco usually puts its Christmas trees and assorted other Christmas items out around August or so. About the only Advent themed item you see in stores are the ever-present Advent calendars, which most people associate with chocolate and a countdown to what really counts - Christmas!
But Advent is about more than just getting ready for Christmas. Christmas, after all, wasn’t the end - it was only the beginning. It was the appearance of grace in Jesus Christ, as we’re told in the letter to Titus; it was the incarnation of God in human flesh. But not everything was accomplished with the birth of Jesus. Much is left to be done; much remains to happen. If I can be forgiven for paraphrasing Winston Churchill, who spoke these words in obviously very different circumstances, Christmas is not the end, and it’s not even the beginning of the end, but it may be the end of the beginning. And if that’s Christmas - then what’s Advent?
The birth of Jesus didn’t happen out of the blue. The coming of Messiah had been prophesied for centuries. Every generation was looked to as the generation from which Messiah would spring forth. People watched and waited with great expectation and hope. People read the prophecies. As the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed:
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfil the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. ‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.’”
The days are coming, surely - but they haven’t yet arrived. The birth of Jesus was yet another foreshadowing; the life of Jesus was yet another foreshadowing; the resurrection of Jesus was yet another foreshadowing. Much remains to be accomplished. And so Advent not only directs our attention to Christmas - it directs us far beyond Christmas.
Advent isn’t supposed to focus our attention on what we already know - that Christ was born, that Christ is “God in flesh made manifest,” as one hymn tells us. Advent pushes us yet farther. Advent pushes us to consider the ultimate and complete fulfilment of God’s promises to us. Advent pushes us to recognize God’s coming reign as one in which perfect hope, complete joy, unconditional love and unending peace will be the ever-present realities. What we see in Jesus is a taste - a mere hint of what it will look like when all things are completed. The example of Jesus - that sample of God’s reign lived out in one brief life so long ago - pushes us to say with the author of Psalm 25 that “you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.”
“For you I wait.” That’s Advent. We wait; we watch; we make ourselves ready - not for Christmas, but for God! Not for the birth of Christ, but for the coming of Christ again! Jesus said in today’s Gospel reading that “... when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.” A couple of weeks ago I pointed out that such words in one sense don’t mean a lot . The things described by Jesus don’t help us set a time, because these things have always been happening. Maybe the point Jesus is making is that even as these things are happening, you shouldn’t doubt that the Kingdom of God is near. And maybe the nearness isn’t necessarily in time - but in space. Maybe Jesus’ point is that the Kingdom of God is all around us - even within us - and that we just have to reach out and grasp it and commit ourselves to living in it. Maybe that’s the point, and maybe that’s what Advent is to remind us of. Many people read passages like today’s and think of “the end times.” But Advent is really about “the beginning times,” as we look ahead constantly with hope about what God is going to do, and our passage really tells us not to be afraid. Don’t be “weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life …” Don’t let it get to you in other words. The hope God gives is right there with you, and will always be there. Advent reminds us of all that.
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