And So It Begins (at the End)

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)