Today marks the beginning of Advent, a time of waiting, a time of great expectation and great anticipation. But exactly what is it that we anticipate? What do we expect to happen? Are we preparing to receive the Christ child into the world again or are we preparing for yet another four weeks of economic robbery disguised as Christmas shopping? Are we getting ready for the 4–6 pounds of weight that the average Briton will gain during this season or are we getting ready for the anxiety, anger and often loneliness that accompanies the secular holiday season? If we allow ourselves to get caught up in the consumer Christmas, we can easily find that instead of preparing to sing Silent Night, Holy Night, we will find ourselves living out one holy nightmare. For the many who faithfully observe the consumer Christmas, Christmas somehow never measures up to the hype. Even for those who manage to have some of their Christmas wishes fulfilled, the season is over so quickly that the need to make New Year’s resolutions to lose those added pounds is on them even before the decorations come down. But the Advent we celebrate in the church, the one that has nothing at all to do with the number of shopping days left until Christmas, is altogether different. The setting up of the Christmas tree and the lighting of the first Advent candle invite us to dream dreams of a better world, to allow expectant visions that have nothing to do with mince pies and mulled wine to dance in our heads. Advent invites us to fill the cup of today with a full measure of tomorrow. Both the passage from Isaiah and the words from the Gospel of Matthew express the Christian hope for a different, brighter future.
When the prophet Isaiah thought about the advent of God, he imagined a world united in the worship of God and committed to peace. Isaiah dreamt of a time when the nations and people of the world would join together in recognising the sovereignty of God, a world where war was a thing of the past, and the nations of the earth lived together in peace. What sort of images come to your mind when you think about Advent? Maybe you remember pictures of the journey to Bethlehem, with a tired-looking Mary riding a donkey or the adoration of the Christ Child. Or maybe your traditional symbols of the season include a huge, brightly lit Christmas tree at the entrance of shopping malls. The way we see Advent and Christmas will determine our approach to the celebration. Is the essential work of Advent hanging decorations or is it opening our lives to the coming Christ and learning to live in peace? Will Christmas come only if we get ready for it or is Christmas a gift from God that arrives whether we’re ready or not?
Even a casual reading of the Bible reveals that the Advent of God is much more about surprise than predictability, more about revelation than decoration. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I think it’s wonderful that we decorate our church and light Advent candles, but the message of Advent is not: Put up the decorations, here I come! Oh no, it’s Watch and wait! We must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when we do not expect him. Christmas will come whether we get ready for it or not. You need to hear that again: Christmas will come whether we get ready for it or not. I’ve lost count of the times folks have said to me: It can’t be Advent already, I haven’t even made out my shopping list, or I haven’t even brought the decorations down from the loft! Why do we assume that Christmas can only come if we make all the preparations? The truth is, God’s entrance into our lives in the person of Jesus Christ happens at God’s initiative and not ours. Christ arrives in our midst not as a result of our careful preparation for his coming, but as a result of the love and compassion of God. Christ comes to us whether we’re ready or not.
In the Gospel reading, the disciples are talking to Jesus about the Second Coming. They want to know when that’s going to happen, so they can be ready for it. Jesus tells them that life will be going on as usual: people doing ordinary things; taking kids to football, shopping, walking the dog, driving to work and suddenly, without warning, the Lord will return. When that happens, some will be ready, and some will not. Some will remember Jesus’ warning to be ready for the coming of the kingdom, but some will not remember. Those folks who have forgotten or disbelieved will be greatly disappointed. Do you see what Jesus is saying? The disciples asked about the timing of the Second Coming, but Jesus told them that was the wrong question. Their question should have been: what are we supposed to do while we are awaiting? And similarly it is with us. The important question for us as a church in Egerton this morning and indeed throughout this season of Advent is not when Jesus will come again, but what will the quality of our waiting be. Even though Advent invites us to look to the future, its most exciting promise comes in the announcement that the present is Kingdom time as well. The incarnate God lives among us; whether we consider the present to be sunny and bright or dismal and gloomy, God sends the Messiah to come to life in this world. Elsewhere, Matthew describes Jesus with a single but very unique phrase: Emmanuel, God with us. Not God has been with us; not God will be with us; but God with us, right now, today. Like I said last week, the kingdom of God is near you.
And so this morning, the message is that Advent is here; and now is the time to look at the quality of our waiting. Are we passively waiting or are we marching in the light of the Lord? Advent challenges us to hear and believe the promise of Emmanuel, God with us. That challenge doesn’t call us to be so heavenly-minded that we are of no earthly use; it demands that we are practical, sensible and proactive. We cannot know the time or the day of our next encounter with the Lord, neither can we predict the outcome of that meeting, but we know for a fact he is coming and hence the need to keep our lamps topped up with oil. So, now, we’ve decorated the church and the first candle of Advent has been lit and it’s beginning to look like Christmas, as the song says; but are we ready for Christmas yet? I don’t think so. I think that’s why there are four Sundays in Advent... let’s wait a wee longer. Amen.