Sermon – Advent Sunday 2nd December 2007.
Isaiah 2 v 1 – 5; Matthew 24 v 36-44
Advent - the coming –(it’s from the Latin) begs the question ‘Am I ready?, are you ready?’.
If I was to walk up to someone this coming week and say are you ready? I suppose I might get a variety of answers – ranging from ‘ready for what’ to ‘I have bought all my Christmas cards and presents’ to even ‘yes I have bought the tree and put the decorations up’. But would anyone give me the answer I am seeking, the answer Jesus was seeking?
For these readings are no comfy ‘lets get ready for a party’ readings, they are asking us to really search out our souls to make ourselves ready not just for the birth of the Baby Jesus, but for our meeting, mine and yours, with the Son of Man, whenever that may be. Advent is a waiting period, which must be used well.
Come, says Isaiah as he proclaims the word of judgement and of salvation in today's reading, "Come - let us walk in the light of the Lord!" "Come" is a word about what to do now - today, as we await the tomorrow.
Advent is the link between two worlds, the world of Isaiah and the Old Testament where Christ is unknown, unimaginable, and the New Testament with the message of salvation and the teachings of our Saviour.
Whilst I have never thought of it before I suppose the Old Testament is rather like a long pregnancy, a preparation for the birth of our Saviour, the Messiah so along awaited by the Jewish nation. But is there a warning there for us?
Of course the problem is that when we celebrate this birth in just over three weeks, we are still left with many questions, more questions perhaps than answers, and with a multitude of decisions to make. For we know our Saviour has been born, but we must prepare for our own coming face to face with the Son of Man
So Advent is not just about preparing for Christ's coming as a baby, that story we know so well, nor is Advent just about preparing for Christ's second coming, the coming of God’s kingdom here on earth. Advent is also - and surely first and foremost - about preparation for Christ coming into our lives. It is a waiting and like all periods of waiting time can be wasted or time can be used well.
So Advent joins together our past experiences and our future expectations about the awe and majesty of God the Father and God the Son, and the coming of the Kingdom. The realisation of all the Jesus stands for comes together now, not simply because of our preparation for it; but because of the divine truth about God's past, present and future. The truth is that God has always been with us, always will be with us - and more importantly is with us at this very moment. We are not here worshipping some God up there, we are worshipping this God who is in our midst.
In the Gospel reading Jesus is being asked questions about ‘the end’. He stresses that we will not know when the time will come, it will be sudden and unexpected we will not have time to put our spiritual house in order. Jesus was speaking these words on the Mount of Olives, and he knew exactly what lay ahead of him. But we are human we do not know, but we have to be prepared.
We are told there will be no exceptions, it will affect everyone, no matter who they are, what they are. When the Son of Man returns it will involve each and every one of us.
So we are all responsible for our own preparation Jesus leaves it to us to choose the paths we want to follow, and its more than just following a certain path for two people doing the same thing, one will be saved and one will be left, it is surely how we deal with what we meet along the path.
We are waiting for the time of judgement and the time of salvation, the time of Christ's return - the time when the whole world becomes truly God's Kingdom. A time when all are one in joy, in faith, in hope and in love. A time when sin, suffering, pain, and death are no more.
So in Advent we await a past event and indeed we prepare our lives for it, but in Advent we also await the future - a special future: when we await the unveiling of God’s kingdom here on earth,, something which is gradually being revealed, but is yet to be realized.
We await this time that first Isaiah, and then Jesus, describe as a time of judgement: a time when accounts will be settled, not always comfortably, but always rightly. A time when two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. A time when love will prevail, and peace - lasting peace – will come at last.
So as we enter another Advent let us see it as a season in the churches year which helps us to be prepared. A time which will remind us to keep our ears, our eyes and our hearts open. Keep them wide open to receive the redeeming, saving presence and power of Almighty God.
Our lives don’t suddenly change because it is Advent, we will do the same things each day – go to work, go to school, to the supermarket, whatever. There will be the same pressures and fears around us, we will read of terrorism, persecution, violence, we may feel fearful of the future, and it can be easy to forget what Advent is promising. It is easy to get so caught up in today’s problems that we forget the extraordinary which lies ahead. And when this happens, when we forget God’s promises, then we can forget to keep ourselves prepared, to be ready for what lies ahead.
We know how to prepare for the day when we celebrate the birth of Christ again, but are we ready to greet the Son of Man when he comes again. Will we have our door open to greet him, or will we be rushing around trying to get our spiritual lives in order?
And just as important will we recognise him when he comes. Remember the Jewish people spent a thousand years waiting for the Messiah to come, and what happened when he came - most of them didn’t recognise him. He wasn’t what they expected, they were so sure they knew who to expect that they got it horribly wrong.
Yes surely the thing about being prepared, being ready, is we have to be ready to greet the Son of Man as he really is, not as we imagine him to be, we have to be open to his Holy Spirit, truly let him enter and rule our hearts.
But stop a minute, what am I talking about, for he is here, he is with us now, God is here, Jesus is here. No, we are not being asked to get ready for him to join us, what we are being asked is to get ourselves ready to worthy of joining him. God never leave us but we have to be ready to join him when he comes. We have to prepare ourselves for the time when the whole world will be judged and salvation will come to those whose lives are in order, who are worthy to enter the eternal kingdom.
So Advent speaks to us about waiting, it is in fact a celebration of waiting. It looks back to the old prophecies of the Messiah, forward to the second coming. It challenges us. Do we want to stay in the old life, or are we willing to accept the challenge of the new life. The old life where we know what tomorrow will hold, where we do as we wish or the new life, where our lives may be turned upside down, but where we truly turn to Christ.
So to answer my question at the beginning. Am I ready, no not yet, but with God’s grace I will use this Advent as a time to continue with my preparation. Amen.