First Sunday of Advent, 2016

I hope you all had many opportunities to give thanks this week. It is an antidote to the anxiety and uncertainty of our times. We can always get caught up in the rush and worry that seems to be always present. I hope that many of us had the chance to take a pause, gather with family and friends, and count our blessings.

It may also be helpful to remind ourselves that we are not the first people to live in uncertain times. The first pilgrims had a kind of celebration after their first harvest. They shared it with local Indians as a way to solidify their alliance. We imagine pilgrims feasting. They were probably eating more simply, with whatever they managed to grow over one season. They were sharing with their neighbors because they were desperate for allies. They were still mourning the loss of most of the original settlers who had died of cold or starvation or disease.

Jesus sounds grim as he speaks of the end of the world, but Isaiah sounds hopeful. His promise may have been written just before the fall of Jerusalem or while the people waited to return. He describes a hope that one day all of God’s people would gather on God’s holy mountain. Instruments of war will be turned into farm tools. All the nations of the world will seek God as teacher and judge.

Some of us gathered at Temple B’nai Israel for our Thanksgiving service. We prayed and sang together. We were reminded that God has commanded us to give thanks, to rejoice. We are not yet one people worshipping one God, but we practiced what it might be like.

The early church, which passed down this message of joy, did so in a time of anxiety and fear. They were glad that they knew a word of hope, and they looked around and assumed that their hope would be fulfilled very soon. They faced persecution and punishment for their beliefs. They didn’t know how they could continue to fit in, in their society. They prepared for the return of Jesus.

They prepared for the advent of their King. This is where we get the word. In ancient times, a city would make great plans for a visit from a king or the emperor. They would have to clean up the streets. They might erect monuments to mark the occasion. This extended time, this parousia; this advent suggested that everyone was part of the work of getting ready. The “advent” did not mean simply the day that the king arrived. It encompassed all that had to be done to welcome the king.

The early church felt that they were in that time, and so are we. No matter what the church calendar says, we are getting ready for the return of Jesus. How do we do this? First, we remember what we believe and who we are. We are God’s children, blessed with the good news about God’s love. Second, we do as Paul suggests in his letter to eth Romans. We put on light in a time of darkness. We dress, we act, and we embody what it means to be Christian. We may not be perfect, yet we live the good we know how to do. We share the good news as we can articulate it. Finally, we pray to God to intervene and bring about the promise. This is not our work alone. We call on God to show us the way and we call on God to equip us – and to make a way.

We have been given word that a family may be coming to us from the Congo. New Start Ministries has been scrambling a bit to find interpreters who can speak with them, and we have some possibilities. We were prepared to be ready for the unexpected. We knew from eth start that we would not really know what we needed until we needed it. This is good practice for us. We are so used to efficiency and order that we don’t know what to do with the disorder of life. We believe, we trust, that God will show us what to do.

When Jesus describes the last days, he talks about the days of Noah. Most people didn’t know that their world was about to end. We have to learn to live without expecting a warning. Then Jesus describes pairs of people, suddenly one goes missing. Is this the rapture? It’s difficult to say whether it’s better to be the one missing or the one left behind. (Taken away to be judged or taken away to be saved?) Without explaining, Jesus tells us about a homeowner who would stay awake if they knew when a thief was coming. So we need to stay awake.

We need to keep awake. We need to be aware of what God is doing around us. The exercise of faith is doing, and it is also believing that God will act. The antidote to all our worries is to give thanks for what God has given us. God has blessed us and God has called us. God has also given us gifts to share. We cannot truly be thankful if we hoard our gifts in fear. Generosity is an expression of true faith.

So we will pray for true peace – not calm, but a desire for justice and bounty. We will work for peace – not an acceptance of the status quo but an active seeking of the good of our neighbor and the stranger. It is not easy work. In our day, we will be misunderstood and targets for angry people. We seek God’s peace for them as well. That is who we are. That is where we are headed. We are getting ready for the coming of our king.