Advent 1 Year A

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

I want to start this morning with a simple prayer.  Jesus be born into my life.  I like this prayer, not only because is short, simple and easy to remember but it contains the essence of Advent.  Whenever we pray this prayer we are asking Jesus to dwell within us and be filled with his love so that we can then in turn be agents of his love in the world.  It is a fitting prayer for the season of Advent because for the next four weeks we will be preparing ourselves to remember Christ’s coming into this world. 

So often we get caught up in the lead up to Christmas that we lose sight of the importance and significance of these next four weeks.  We see ads for all sorts of Christmas goods, presents, trees, lights, food.  We focus so much on December 24th and 25th that these four weeks can go by in the blink of an eye.   We can spend little time thinking about what Advent means and why we take time in our liturgical year to acknowledge and celebrate this period of time.  Advent is more than just preparation for Jesus’ birth it is also a time of preparation for his second coming. 

Our Gospel today speaks to this time of preparation and expectancy. Now one might think that on the first Sunday of Advent we would recount Matthew’s opening chapters leading up to the nativity through the remaining weeks of Advent, but instead we get a story that comes from the end of the Gospel.  Think of this reading as the appetizer, the story to wet your whistle, to get us prepared for the birth of Jesus.  

The message of the story is about the unexpected time when the Son of Man will come, the unexpected time when Jesus will come again. Jesus uses the images of one person being taken and the other being left. And continues with the image of an owner wishing that they had been awake when a thief broke into their home, because if they had been awake their house would have not been broken into.  This sounds like the images we find in Revelations or what takes place in the popular Left Behind series.  That series of books and movies does illustrate one eschatological theology, but there are many other theological positions about the end times.  Regardless of what will actually happen when Jesus comes again, it is clear that no one will know the exact time. And it is clear that he wants us to be ready and prepared.

At this point I am sure you all are scratching your head wondering what does this have to do with Advent.  Well my friends that is what Advent is all about.  There is a kind of duality within this season.  On the one hand we spend these next four weeks patiently, and sometimes impatiently, waiting for the birth of Jesus, and simultaneously we spend this time expectantly waiting for the second coming.  In this story Jesus concludes this teaching by saying “you must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”  Advent is a season of waiting and preparation, a season of anticipation and hope.

So how are we supposed to be prepared for the coming of Christ during the season of Advent? There are a few schools of thought...

One is that we all need to stop focusing on the materialistic notions of the season of Christmas. You know what I mean, remembering that Jesus is the Reason for the Season, not decorations or presents or traveling to see family.  There is great joy that can be found in being generous, festive, and gathering to break bread with family and friends, but this is fleeting.  That joy will wear off only to be grasped again next year. This is often where I find myself, needing to be reminded of and needing to preach, to stop focusing on material things and only focus on Jesus. While this is a powerful message, it’s not always helpful, and certainly not easy. 

And still I implore you not to get caught up in bombardment of ads to buy all sorts of things, from cars to the latest kitchen gadget.  How many were in line at a store on Friday morning?  It is ok, I admit that my fiancé and I went to two stores.  We were not looking for anything particular but we did find some great deals on things we needed, but mostly on things we wanted.  Everyone is susceptible to the pressures of the holidays.  The pressure to get the best deal or the hottest items.  Try not to be pressured to seek out the perfect gift for your family and friends just because that is what we have been conditioned to do, but instead to give gifts from a place of love.  The gifts that I appreciate most, are not the gifts I get because I wanted that item, but the gifts that are given to me because someone saw something and thought of me.  What makes me happy is not the gift but the fact that someone else thought of me at that moment and knew me well enough to think that I would like this gift.  That is a gift coming from a place of love, not desire or perceived necessity.  

I love decorating my Christmas tree.  I love wrapping presents up beautifully.  I love listening to Christmas music around the clock. I love the fact that people all over the world will be gathering around a table in fellowship and have a meal to celebrate being together.  All of these things are what makes Christmas so special for me, and I imagine for a lot of you as well.  But when we focus solely on these things, we forget that Advent is the season of preparing for the birth of our savior and also his second coming, not a season about preparing gifts.

To be prepared for the nativity of our Lord we must not lose sight of the real reason we celebrate Christmas.  We must allow Christ to be born into our lives and now is the time to prepare.  Looking at my own practices has shown me that I too need to shake things up and try some new things in order to help myself prepare in a meaningful way. 

One way to prepare is to take on a new spiritual practice.  It can be as simple as following an online advent calendar or more involved by using a daily meditation guide, such the one offered online by the Society of Saint John the Evangelist brothers. By using an advent calendar or meditation guide we challenge ourselves to set aside a time of the day where we let go of all of the distractions around us and just pray. 

Another way to prepare is by doing charitable acts. Countless times Jesus tells his disciples and us, that when we have done something for the least amongst us, we have done it for him. There are opportunities around All Saints’ during advent to do works of charity. One is to sponsor a senior at Maryland Gardens. Another is to support the effort to finish our companion school at Saint Paul's in Haiti. Still another is to bring a present with you on Christmas Eve for the children of San Pablo Episcopal Church in Phoenix. And of course there are many other organizations in the community that are look for volunteers at this time of the year.

No matter how you get ready to celebrate Christ coming into the world, I invite you to remember things do not always go the way we planned, but that God will indeed show up, in unexpected ways and in unexpected places. My prayer for all of us this advent season is Jesus be born into our lives.