Advent People
The days are surely coming, (pause)
What does that mean to you?
The days are surely coming…
In the context of this church, I am sure that many of you would be like our Children have been recently, when I have asked them questions at Children’s time, and do your best to answer with what you might think I want to hear.
Today is of course the first Sunday in Advent, and therefore, here, in this place, we would say “it is Christmas” Christmas is coming in less than a month
The days are surely coming towards the time of the year that we celebrate the birth of our Lord – Jesus Christ
The reason for the season is Jesus, keeping Christ in Christmas
The days are coming toward the time of the year when honour the incredible gift in fragile packaging that is the Baby Jesus
That is of course why this piece of scripture was chosen for today
It speaks of the pending season that we are all anticipating
It was also chosen for the clear prophetic message of the messiah
“A righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”(15b-16)
However if you were to be walking along the streets of your neighborhood this time of the year, and made the statement “the days are surely coming”
You might get a frazzled, glazed-over look from one that is considering the mountain of preparations that go into this special time of the year, when many of us gather with family
For some that idea of ‘the days coming’ might be the inevitable winter that is looming in the near future. Despite having enjoyed un-seasonable temperatures in late fall, the snow will fly and the days will be cold
One look around here, at all the progress that we have seen in the last few weeks, the parking lot paved, some sidewalks being done and others being dug out, the new over-hang roof in the side entrance, the ground floor being installed, the pulpit returned and looking beautiful and the list goes on… despite 10 years in the making and physical start that extended in the late summer, despite that, looking around – one can easily optimistically say “the days are surely coming”
So what was Jeremiah thinking about – when he was called by God to be His spokesmen and make the statement “The days are surely coming”!
With the land of Judea (the southern kingdom) being taken over by the Babylonians,
Many of people taken out of Jerusalem and forced into exile,
With the northern kingdom of Israel haven fallen to the Assyrians over a century ago.
With prophets for the last several generations and earlier prophecy from Jeremiah speaking of how the Jews had failed God in the covenantal relationship,
How they were being plucked up, broken down, overthrown, destroyed, punished for their sins against God,
That God was using the Babylonians, to punish them.
I am sure that Jeremiah and the 6th century B.C. Jews were thinking about their situation, seen a plainly as possible,
That God would begin creating something new.
“The days are surely coming” would have been seen as a message of hope in a time of exile.
Which of these ways are we to understand the Jeremiah’s prophecy?
Does Jeremiah’s words speak to each of those situations, and others?
Is there a right way to understand the notion of the fore coming days?
The answer to this I believe is simply – “Yes”
There is a right way to understand the prophecy and it does speak to those and many more situations
For the ancient Jews, it certainly meant a message of hope in the face of deep despair
For the Christian 2600 years later, it certainly speaks an Advent message
Was it about our construction project or snow in Brant county Canada – probably not – but it a universal truth, it is a message of hope – which is a deeply Christian belief
It is true that just over 2000 years ago Jesus of Nazareth was born, lived by a miraculous birth and then proceeded to teach the good news of God.
To re-right the ship, change the understanding - to a righteous understanding of the relationship that we are to have with God.
He taught – and healed – and challenged the established order
And He died – died for each one of us
Died for each sinful act of: thought, word or deed that we daily commit
And then the greatest of all miracles, He rose from the dead
Thus defeating death for evermore
And so we are a people of the promise… fulfilled
As is said in some Eucharistic prayers – who made there, by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world (BCP-prayer of consecration)
Christians – people of the promise fulfilled
And yet, it does end there does it?
Yes, Christ sacrifice never needs to be repeated
– However the story goes on
– Life goes on
Life did not end there 2000 years ago, but in so many ways life began anew
And here is where we meet up with our gospel passage today
On first reading, it is deeply apocalyptic
“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. (Luke 21:25-26)
These are the words of Jesus – these are placed just prior to the Luke’s version of the passion narrative – the story leading up to the cross
We, who know the ending, might think that Jesus is prophesying His victory over death
But that is not what Jesus is doing
What Jesus is doing is mining deeper in Hebrew prophecy, apocalyptic prophecy, which speaks of the end of time
And in fact Jesus is declaring His second coming
We, Christians are people of the promise realized but we are also people of the promise to come
We live in the now and the not yet
When we Christians proclaim the gospel, the good news of God – the good news of Jesus Christ
We can take great comfort in the fact that Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light
That Jesus has achieved for us what we could not do on our own
BUT we also live in the hope of the promise to come
The days are surely coming speaks not only of the righteous branch of David – which we start to center our attention in Advent, the time leading up to the celebration of the Messiah’s birth
But it also speaks of the fact that Righteous branch will come ultimately and finally at the end of the ages
A Christian, properly understood – is perpetually an Advent person
Until our Lord comes again for the final time
We are people of the promise fulfilled and the promise to come
As people that exist in both plains – How are we to live our lives?
I think that easiest answer to that comes from our Lord’s prayer
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven
We are to live our lives as a heavenly rehearsal
With the goal to: view, to visualize, to see, earth as it could be – as heaven
And to do!
If we believe the words of our Lord – the words that we say more than any others
If we are to have integrity as followers of Christ as Lord – we have a job to do
We have a role to play
It is not ours alone – but prayerfully walking with God
As advent people – pregnant with expectation – and partner with God
There is a story that Mother Teresa told about the time she came down with a terrible fever.
Her temperature climbed and she became delirious.
She had a vision of being at the gates of heaven and telling St. Peter that she was ready to pass from this world to the next.
But St. Peter refused her entry into the high vault of heaven.
Mother Teresa asked why.
Peter replied: "Because there are no slums in heaven."[1]
God made us the invitation of the promise fulfilled 2000 years ago
And God declared that we are also to live transformed by that, working towards the promise yet to come
As we light the candles of Advent, we must acknowledge that we have some of the light but not all of the light.
If Advent is anything, it is a season of painful waiting in the world and not detached from the world;
a season of darkness before the light comes;
a season about a future that is not yet-
-about a redemption that is "drawing near"
It is a time to be alert-
-a time of praying that we will have the "strength to escape" that which is "coming upon the world"
that will cause us to "faint from fear and foreboding."[2]
As we await “the days surely coming” (conclusion - read slowly)
Of Christmas
Of yes, snow
And yes the completion of the construction, which will serve ministry to the glory of God for at least another 176 years
As year-round Advent people
Trusting in the promise yet to come, because we know of the promise fulfilled
Consider how you can respond – now – today
To be God’s visible presence in this age
To show the world,
Your neighborhood,
Your workplace,
To your family and friends
To be witnesses of God’s forgiveness,
Knowing that God will remember no more all that is ugly in you.
To be a witness of the promises
To be a witness of the truth of Christian Hope
To be a witness of what it means to be an advent people
Gracious and loving God, make us willing servants in your world. Help us to find the world enough in all we do. Help us to be in the spirit of Jeremiah, Mother Teresa, as we serve in your name and in the name of Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
----
[1] http://day1.org/1609-advent_waiting_and_working_for_the_kingdom - The Rev. Dr. J. Barney Hawkins IV
[2] http://day1.org/1609-advent_waiting_and_working_for_the_kingdom - The Rev. Dr. J. Barney Hawkins IV
