November 29, 2020
Advent 1
Sermon by the Rev. B. Hartsough
Today we start a new church year. We are now in Year B. The first Sunday of the season of Advent. Christmas decorations fill the stores, the streets, and many homes. Yet today’s readings start with pleads and laments. God has gone. The people are suffering. In Isaiah’s reading God’s people are begging for God to come and deliver them. They write, “You have hidden your face from us.” The prophet Isaiah writes that God has gone away because of the iniquities of the people. Today’s psalm is also a plea, a lament for God to come and to save God’s people. And then there is today’s Gospel reading, “The Little Apocalypse.” Christ’s second coming.
These readings help us to understand the Advent season. In Advent, we count down using our Advent wreaths and calendars to the celebration of Christmas. Christmas as the day when God became incarnate in Jesus. God came physically to earth. Today’s readings remind us that Advent is also the time when we await Christ’s second coming-the Parousia.
Martin B. Copenhaver on his commentary about Advent calls this time “the Already and Not Yet Time.” Christ has already come physically to earth. He came and established how we should live in relation to God. We do not yet live in full communion with God. We already see the realm of God, evident but it is not yet fully established. Jesus is fully among us in scripture and at the Eucharist. Jesus is with us spiritually so we are never really without him and yet we are still waiting for him. Let me say that again. We are never really without him. We sense his presence in the Eucharist. But we long for his full presence. Advent holds this tension. The celebration of Christ’s first arrival on earth and the excited anticipation of the time when God will be fully present among us.
We live in this in-between already and not yet time. Our generation has only known this in-between time. Today’s Gospel is a teaching on how to act in this in-between time. We heard in the gospel a short parable about a master going away and entrusting his slaves with his work. We heard a version of this parable a few weeks ago in the gospel of Matthew. In the Markan version of this parable, the emphasis is on doing the work entrusted to us and waiting for the master to return. Notice that Jesus does not say to focus on the details of his return. Some religions center on Christ’s second coming. Everything they do is looking for signs and warning people. Jesus tells us in the gospel of Mark to do the work entrusted to us, wait, and keep awake.
The work entrusted to us is our work. We have our own lives, our own gifts, and our own work to do. No one can do the work that we are supposed to do. We are to mind our own business. We are not to try to guess or calculate when Christ will return; that’s God’s work. Our work involves managing the master’s assets. We are to manage what has been given to us, our assets, our natural resources, and our talents.
We are to wait. There is passive waiting and there is active waiting. Passive waiting is like waiting for a train or bus. You do not do anything. You just wait. Active waiting is like fishing. Fishermen and fisherwomen prepare their rods and their bait anticipating with excitement the fish they will catch. They never know when the fish will come so they watch carefully and wait. If they don’t watch carefully, they may miss the tug on the rod. That is how we are to wait for the return of Christ, preparing, doing our work while carefully watching.
Finally, we are to stay awake. Jesus’s final words in the gospel today, “and what I say to you I say to all, keep awake.” Jesus is speaking to Jews, Gentiles, and people of every generation with these words. In first century Palestine, there were those who missed Christ’s first coming. They did not see the messiah right in front of them.
We can be asleep spiritually. We can miss Advent. We may just go through the motions year after year. We know the readings and the prayers. Maybe we hear the same sermons and fall asleep. I hope not. This year pay attention to the themes in the prayers and the readings. Take time to feel that anticipation of living in this in-between time. You might want to take time to practice living in the moment. Be intentional about just sitting and noticing the natural beauty in nature. Sitting still without talking builds a mindful appreciation of your surroundings. Look closely at something or someone. Take in your environment. Slow down and notice. It connects us to our full humanity. It reminds us that we are people of the already not yet time. This goes against the rush of the Christmas season that we see in the stores. We do make Christmas preparations, we shop, cook, and make plans. We celebrate Christ’s first coming. But in our hearts, we really long for when God will be fully present among us. So, wait and prepare to celebrate Christmas but feel the longing and anticipation of Christ’s return when God is fully and eternally present among us.