My favorite Sunday of the year, last Sunday,
the First Sunday in Advent! Yes, Christmas, Holy Week and Easter are the
foundation of our faith in God through Jesus, but: this Sunday, the beginning of
the Christian Year, gives us a different lens through which to see God. The year
begins at the end, the Second Coming, looking at the mystery of God before and
after the baby, before the birth of the one who is completely God and completely
human. “Come thou long expected Jesus. . . .” We look to the “Second Coming,” the
realization of the dream of God and we are encouraged “to watch, to wait, to be
ready, to stay awake!”
In Matthew 24:36-44 Jesus said
to the disciples, “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels
of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so
will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them
all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. . . . if the owner of
the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would
have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore
you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
Jesus’ message and the Christian New Year beginning in
late November or early December are reminders of how “out of step,” we
Christians are with the rest of the world. This being out of step helps remind
us that if “Jesus is Lord,” then “Caesar,” by whatever name Caesar is called
today, “is not Lord.”
In what would be a prequel in today’s
world, the eighth century BC Prophet, Isaiah son of Amoz proclaimed: “In days
to come the mountain of the Lord’s
house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised
above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come
and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that
he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion
shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the
nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords
into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.(Isaiah 2:1-5)
Again, as we move into the presence and mystery of
God, we begin to see, perhaps darkly at first, the mystery of God’s dream of distributive
Justice, and peace for all of God’s people.
“Come, Thou
long expected Jesus Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins
release us, Let us find our rest in Thee. Israel's strength and consolation, Hope
of all the earth Thou art; Dear desire of every nation, Joy of every longing
heart. Born Thy people to deliver, Born a child and yet a King, Born to reign
in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring. By Thine own eternal Spirit Rule
in all our hearts alone; By Thine all sufficient merit, Raise us to Thy
glorious throne.” (Charles Wesley)
