December 2, 2007
(First Sunday of Advent)

A Season for Preparation

by The Rev. Carol Sanford, Priest Associate

Isaiah 2:1-5  •  Psalm 122  •  Romans 13:11-14  •  Matthew 24:36-44
(From The Lectionary Page)

Happy New Year! Okay, this greeting is a bit premature according to our day planners and Hallmark calendars, but today is the First Sunday in Advent; the first day of the new cycle of the church calendar, the beginning of our new liturgical year. Our readings from Holy Scripture begin new cycles today, and we have set aside the green hangings and vestments of the season following Pentecost, and have brought out our Advent blue. Greens are hung and the Advent wreath is set up as a visual reminder of the dawning light of Christ as we turn our attention toward celebrating the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.

Keeping track of church time can be a bit confusing, especially during seasons like Advent, when we may seem seriously out of step with the life around us.

We don’t begin our Christmas celebrations, such as the singing of Christmas carols, until the day actually arrives. St. Nicholas, our close relative of Santa Claus, arrives on December 6th not on Christmas Eve. Oh, and our Christmas actually comes on Christmas Eve, since church time is also off the norm in that our liturgical days, like ancient Hebrew days, are counted from evening to evening. Except, of course, when they’re not.

Fortunately, our Anglican sensibilities allow us to be perfectly comfortable with beginning our new year early in December on the first Sunday of Advent, while celebrating New Year’s Eve on December 31st along with everybody else, and all the while knowing that we most fully enter into new life at Easter and then again every Sunday.

This ability to live within paradox and to be fluid in our understanding of time comes close to the heart of our proclamation of faith. As Christians, we are, at any given moment, living not just in the present and not only in the location we physically occupy. As Christians, we occupy the past, present and future because we live always in and with God in Christ, who is within, and yet not bound by what we understand as time and place.

This paradox shows up in the readings chosen for this First Sunday in Advent. Isaiah looks ahead to the day of the Lord’s coming, although certainly the Lord is with the children of Israel already. In Paul’s letter to the Romans there is a clear future expectation, the expectation that new light is near, and yet clearly the light has dawned already, for we are admonished to put on Christ, the armour of light. In Matthew, we are alerted to watch for the unexpected coming of the Son of Man, and yet the very words come from the mouth of the Son of Man already present in our midst.

The first Sunday of Advent, then, points us toward the past, the days before the Nativity of Jesus, before the time on earth when divinity and humanity became fully present in him. We prepare ourselves in this season for this incomprehensible event, the Incarnation of our Lord. Traditionally, this is a time of our own preparation, a season to prepare ourselves through reflection and joyful expectation for a new dawning within our own hearts of Jesus, Son of the Father and bright Sun of Righteousness.

Christ, however, is already with us and so, as we look forward, we also live, with him, firmly in the present. Many of us enter wholeheartedly into pre-December 25th celebrations of the season by decorating trees, going shopping, attending parties, and sneaking in a Christmas carol or two ahead of time. We also put cash in the bell-ringer’s kettle or purchase new hats and gloves for the clients of the Community Kitchen. We offer our various gifts to God in the church and in the world, whether those gifts be formal, designated acts of service, or less obvious but equally important offerings like complimenting a store clerk who has perhaps heard only complaints throughout the day, or slowing down to let someone ahead of us in traffic. We may offer our gifts of intelligence and stewardship, as we keep an eye on political situations throughout the world and prepare ourselves as informed voters, or as we walk those few extra steps to the recycling bin. God is with us here and now, and we act on our awareness of God’s presence by offering to others in some way the light that has already dawned within us.

Church time is tuned to God’s time, so as we live in Christ in both the past and the present, we also acknowledge that there is yet more to come. Our readings all bring our attention to the time of the fulfillment on earth of God’s love for God’s people and all of Creation; a time when the devices of conflict on earth will be transformed into the instruments of abundant peace. Our New Testament readings point to the Second Advent of Christ and the Coming of the Kingdom.

Canon Sue Sommer has a terrific bumper sticker up in her office. It reads: Jesus is Coming, Look Busy! I’ve seen a less humorous version of a similar sentiment on a roadside billboard. That message read, “Jesus is Coming: Are you Ready or Will you Burn in Hell?”

Just a reminder: we consider the coming of Christ in word and in deed, in the past, the present and the future, to be Good News. I think for many of us, the question might be: Jesus is Coming: Will you Notice?

And this, for me, is very much what the season of Advent is about. God has been with us from the beginning; Jesus came to us fully human as well as fully divine and remains with and in and among us in the Holy Spirit; Christ will come again at the fulfillment of every promise, the coming of the Kingdom. If we are overly distracted by the glitter of advertising or demands of perfectionism, whether for our holiday celebrations or for the various facets of our lives, or if we are consumed with resentment at those around us who have failed our expectations for family or friends or governments or church, if our entire focus shrinks to only this time and this place, we may miss the best news and the greatest story ever told.

This Advent season, look within and around you at God’s gifts and prepare yourself to accept and bring the light of Christ into the world; the light that was and is and is to come. While we are waiting for the final day of Peace on Earth, when our swords will be transformed into ploughshares and we shall not learn war anymore, let us bring forth on earth, with God’s help, what peace we may. Yesterday, four persons, including our own Joseph Behen, were ordained as priests here at the Cathedral, and this morning Elle Katherine Pitts was baptized into the body of Christ. We continue to affirm our joy and hope. Decide right now to live in God’s light and to trust in God’s time, and have a very Happy New Year.