Advent 1- How do we prepare for Christ to come?

 

Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44

In Advent we begin the church year once again. We enter into a season of longing. Advent is about expectation. It is about anticipation. We have no control over this. We are waiting for a door to open, and we have no key to unlock it. …

With ancient Israel, we will yearn for the messiah to come. We yearn for the kingdom that will come with him. … The prophet Isaiah expresses this longing. He reminds us of the cries of humanity throughout history. A history that is filled with war, violence, disease, and all kinds of suffering. We are reminded to not be naïve about the world we live in. Isaiah expresses a yearning for a time when the ways of God would be respected by a united humanity. The profound peace that would be found on the earth would render weapons useless and they would be refashioned into farm tools. This yearning stands against the reality that humanity lives in- that of violence, conflict, disunity, and the rejection of God’s ways. We hear Isaiah’s voice crying out with hope for a time when things will be made right.

We watch the news and I think we can understand this yearning. We see nations dancing towards nuclear war or World War 3 as they engage the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. … We might be suspicious that the military industrial complex that profits from military engagements might have less that altruistic motives. … but we also suspect that Putin is a megalomaniac that is driving a nation to serve his own ego. … We struggle to get accurate information as various news media outlets are driven by corporations and political ideals that desire to manipulate the public will and create the “virtuous” narrative. The concept of objective journalism seems to be increasingly elusive. … We seem to be increasingly divided, with “hot button” issues multiplying, and very little middle ground on which to stand so one side can talk to the other to create mutual understanding.

Ancient Israel’s yearning for the Messiah and his kingdom parallels our own anticipation of the day when Christ will come again. … During Advent we will hear Jesus warn us about being prepared for that unknown hour when he will return. This is one of the themes that Jesus comes back to again and again. Sometimes he will talk about a wedding and being prepared with enough lamp oil for when the groom arrives, or risk being locked out. He will talk about a thief coming in the night. Paul will talk about birth pains suddenly coming upon a pregnant woman.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus points to the Noah story. While Noah and his family built the ark, the people were unaware that a flood was coming. Or, maybe they didn’t believe that a flood was coming, as they watched Noah’s family seemingly wasting their time building a massive boat on dry land. Jesus says, 

“For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt 24:37-39).

 … Jesus wants us to live in a way that expects his coming at any moment. He, and his apostles, will constantly remind us to stay awake- to be ready- to be vigilant.

How do we stay awake? Obviously, he doesn’t mean that literally. … He means “be prepared”, “be vigilant”. … How does Jesus want us to be prepared though? I don’t think he wants us to just be in a constant state of anxiety. He doesn’t want us to start building an ark. … I saw a bumper sticker once that said, “Jesus is coming. Quick, look busy”. … I don’t think he is that concerned about the sheer quantity of activity, or of not looking lazy.

To come back to the Noah’s Ark image again, I think he is saying that whatever is not in accordance with the kingdom will be washed away. And to switch again to our image of sleep- To be “awake” then, is to have our eyes focused on the things of the kingdom. …

Paul, thinking about being awake and not being asleep, uses the image of day and night. The darkness of night is when we sleep, or are out doing things we shouldn’t. The light of day is when we are awake. Paul says, 

“Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Rom 13:12-14).

Night is when people get drunk, and go to wild parties. Night is associated with sexual immorality. We don’t usually associate that behaviour with 8am breakfast. Nighttime is often associated with activities we might be ashamed of. If your son or daughter is out after midnight, you are probably going to be more concerned than if they go out just after breakfast. So, Paul is using the symbols of night and day to speak about ways that are of the kingdom of Christ, and contrasting them with ways that are of a doomed reality, a reality that has no future. Quarrelling and jealousy are not necessarily associated with night, but they do point to the kind of behaviours that are not of the kingdom.

The works of darkness are all those choices we make that draw us away from God, and draw us away from the love of our neighbour. These have been systematized as the Seven Deadly Sins. These sins cause us to be asleep to the Spirit.

How do we become people of the day? People of the kingdom of Christ? Paul says, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”. When we get up in the morning, one of the first things we do is get dressed. We might think of ‘putting on Christ’ as parallel to putting on the ‘armour of light’ which he mentions a few lines earlier. We do this by continually fixing our gaze on Jesus. Just like we get up and get dressed every morning, so we get up and fix our gaze on Jesus. …

We remember that we are baptized into his life, death, and resurrection. We continuously invite his Spirit to live in us and enliven us. We constantly place the Gospels into our minds, with the intention of applying the character of Christ to our own character. …

Morality is a by-product of this, It’s not necessarily the goal. The goal is to be awake to Christ. We are to be de-centered from self-absorption, we become re-centered in God. A by-product is to reflect his character into the world around us. That is what Christian morality is about. It is a by-product of being awake to Christ. Reflecting Christ’s character, we are called to live lives of profound selfless and self-giving love. To be awake to Christ means we live as citizens of heaven, even while we live in this present reality- Even before the darkness is completely taken over by the light.

There will be a time when the night is done, and the day will finally be victorious. All that is associated with the night will have no more place in the world. God’s new world will have dawned. The first light of that day is the resurrection of Christ, and that light has continued to grow. Some day it will overtake the night. … But that is not a door we can open. All we can do is yearn for the day. And be prepared. … Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.