+ First Sunday in Advent – December 1st, 2019 +
Series A: Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
At the beginning of The Hobbit, the reader is introduced to Tolkien’s beloved character, Bilbo Baggins, who, on the one hand prefers the simple things of life: good food, good drink, good pipe smoke, and the comforts of his hobbit hole. And who, on the other hand, longs for an adventure.
We’re no different, really. We like to be certain about things: what the weather’s like, when your Amazon package will be delivered, that little piece of chocolate we know is hiding behind the door on the Advent calendar.
And yet we also like a little bit of uncertainty in life, at least the good kind. The unexpected phone call from a friend. The new restaurant that looked a bit sketchy but turned out to have amazing fish and chips. Or, the excitement of those unknown treasures under the Christmas tree. So, whether you think of yourself as a planner or the spontaneous type, the truth is, like Bilbo Baggins, we’re often a mix of certainty and uncertainty.
Welcome to the strange, yet beautiful, season of Advent. It’s a season of comfort and joy in Christ who comes, that’s what that little word Advent means. And so, Advent is the Church’s “back to the future” season. We look backwards in the rearview, to Jesus’ first coming in humility – in the Virgin Mary’s womb, in the manger, a home in Nazareth, the suffering servant on the cross. We also look forward to the future - the shout from heaven, the archangel’s trumpet, the clouds, judgment, resurrection, the power and the glory. And as we’re looking backward and forward, Jesus comes to us in the present, his great glory under simple, ordinary, humble words, water, bread and wine.
On this first Sunday in Advent, we’re reminded that this blessed paradox of the certain and the uncertain is at the heart of the Advent season. Listen to the words of Isaiah, St. Paul, and Jesus:
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days, Isaiah declares.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand, St. Paul proclaims.
Be ready, for the Son of Man is coming, Jesus announces. Jesus will return. The Day of the Lord, the consummation of this age will come. Jesus uses the word Parousia to describe his coming, his return in glory. Jesus is coming again. He promises. The Day is coming. It will happen. It’s certain.
And yet, Jesus reminds us, there’s also a certain uncertainty about his Parousia, his second coming. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
Jesus repeats this theme throughout his end times teaching. His coming will be sudden, unknowable, unexpected, uncertain, at least from our perspective. Therefore, he instructs his disciples, and us, watch, wait, be ready. Advent is a season of patient watching and waiting. St. Paul has us imagine the hours of early morning, just before the alarm goes off. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. You open one eye, it’s still dark, but there’s a glint of light on the horizon. You want to roll over and go back to sleep, but it’s time to wake up. Get ready. Your King is coming to you. Salvation is nearer now than when you first believed.
His coming will be, Jesus says, will be as the days of Noah were, “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Now, wait a minute, you might be thinking. Where’s Gabriel, Zechariah, or John the Baptist? I thought this was Advent. What’s Noah doing here? What does the flood have to with Advent?
The point of comparison is this: Jesus’ coming will be sudden and without warning, just as the flood was. Life was business as usual. So too, the timing of Jesus’ return is unexpected, unknowable, and uncertain. So you can safely, and confidently ignore anyone who claims to have some secret code or know the date. They don’t.
Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Watch. Wait. Prepare. Be ready. “But how?” we wonder. Because if it’s up to us to prepare, wait, and watch, let’s be honest, we’re failures and procrastinators. We grow complacent, we’re prone to nodding off, like the disciples in. We’re so full of worries, fears, doubts, sin, and death that anything we do is far too uncertain.
Thankfully, it’s not up to us. We wait, watch, and prepare all by God’s grace, just like Noah. Jesus prepares us. He makes us ready. His Word keeps us awake and our eyes watchful for his coming. His absolution keeps us prepared in his forgiveness. His holy supper feeds us and sustains us on our pilgrimage. We stay awake by receiving his gifts to us in his word, his forgiveness, his body and blood. We stay awake by loving one another, by reflecting Jesus’ light in the darkness. We “walk properly, as in the day…and to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.”
Amidst all the uncertainties of Jesus’ coming, Jesus’ promises are certain. His death and resurrection for you is certain. His body and blood shed for you is certain. His gift of faith in you by water, word, and the Holy Spirit is certain.
In Christ you are already prepared for his coming. You are baptized. You are clothed with Christ. You are children of the light and of the Day. Your sin, with all its uncertainties and unholiness, has been drowned in the flood of Jesus’ word and water at the font. In Christ, you are like Noah, tucked safe in the holy ark of his church while the wicked world around you is swept away and drowned. In Christ, you are brought through all the uncertainties of this world - the hurts, pains, sin, and death – to a new heaven and a new earth where you are made a new creation.
Once He came; soon He comes. Once He came by way of a Virgin mother; soon He comes with the angels. Once He came by way of the crib and cross; soon He comes with the glory of heaven. Once He came riding atop a borrowed donkey; soon He comes with clouds descending. Once He came as a beggar King; soon He comes as the King of kings. Once He came to die; soon He comes to raise the dead. Once He came in weakness; soon He comes in power. Once He came to be judged; soon He comes to judge. Once He came to save us; soon He comes to give us salvation.
That’s the spirit of this the Advent season. Advent sets our eyes on the horizon, on the rising sun, on the coming King, on the mountain of the Lord.
A blessed Advent season to each of you…
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment