A sermon given by our Reader, Peter Kane
'Ready to greet Jesus?'
Advent – it’s a season of expectation, preparation, anticipation and the start of the new church year, which has been observed since at least the fourth century and originally used to help Christian converts prepare for baptism. It is now seen as a time to look forward, to remember the birth of Jesus – and the celebrations of Christmas Day. In the early days it lasted from the 11th November, the feast of St Martin, up to Christmas. Now it seems a lot longer!
Advent comes from the Latin word for ‘arrival’, or ‘coming’ – ‘The Lord is coming’.
Jesus came to Bethlehem at a specific time in history. He will also come again to judge the living and the dead. He comes to us in grace as our Saviour speaking to us in our hearts. We experience Him through prayer, in the word of God proclaimed and in the Eucharist. Also we meet Him in our many day-to-day experiences and we need to be ready to receive and welcome Him, whenever and however He comes to us.
So, are we ready to greet Jesus? – ready to receive the coming Christ child? Let’s see if our readings can help:
Standing beside the old city of Jerusalem is one of the most poignant memorials of the 1967 six-day war in Israel. It’s a futuristic sculpture made from wrecked military equipment with the words from our passage from Isaiah written below:
‘They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.’
Forty-plus years later these words still seem as far away as ever from fulfilment. Yet as our Gospel reading tells us, like the time of Noah, there is a coming day of reckoning when there will be some incredible surprises. And what we need to realise is that the process begins now in people’s responses to God and Jesus, not some time in the future, otherwise we just might miss the boat.
Imagine that it’s the middle of a hot summer (difficult I’m sure!) you are relaxing in the garden, everything in the house is in a look of cheerful untidiness – cups of half-drunk tea, books and magazines lying about the place. Suddenly there’s a knock on the door and to your horror there are several people outside ready to come in, expecting to participate in that meeting you’d planned some time ago but which you had forgotten about. In the next five minutes you steer your visitors into the garden, scramble the papers together, empty the cups and within minutes everything is neat and tidy and you are ready for things to go ahead.
It’s possible to tidy up a room in a few minutes if you put your mind to it but you can’t reverse the direction of your whole life in five minutes. By the time the knock on the door comes, it’s too late. In our Gospel reading, Jesus is preparing His disciples for His final victory on the cross and His return from heaven. He warns them to ‘Keep awake! For they do not know what day the Lord will come.’ The message in the text is made more complicated because it talks about two different events: the coming judgment of Jerusalem and the final judgment at the close of the world’s history.
Jesus’ message can be applied to either or both. On the one hand it’s a warning to be ready for the second coming and, on the other, a warning to be ready for our own death. The message that Jesus is trying to get across to us is that we should behave like people who know He will be coming sooner or later, but who don’t know exactly when.
Jesus’ return will be visible to all, it will not be to a select group or just to those who know Him. He will return with a resurrected body and show Himself to everybody and we need to prepare ourselves for that day. So how do we go about it? Let’s look at what Paul tells us:
‘Throw off the deeds of darkness – and put on the armour of light.’ Paul tells us we should – take a spiritual shower – and clothe ourselves with Christ. We need to – put on the whole armour of God: The breastpate of righteousness, the shoes of the Gospel of Peace, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit.
He tells us the door is open for us all to enter and we need to live wisely in the light of His return. We need to fulfil our responsibilities outside the church as well as inside.
It’s a human condition – to be superficial about things. If we are asked to explain how we know we are Christians, most of us will answer: we go to church regularly; we read our bible fairly frequently; we try to live a good life. How much better it would be if we could answer: we believe Jesus died on the cross for our salvation; we have chosen to follow Jesus; we have faith that Jesus is the only redeemer.
Jesus loves us so much that He laid down His life so we could be forgiven for our sins. Do we love Jesus enough to be a witness for Him in front of others? We are in a race – not competing against each other but against obstacles that hinder us - and as Christians we know the Spiritual battle has already been won by Jesus on the cross but it cannot be our victory as well until we have accepted His authority over our lives. The day of the Lord will be a day of selection, a day of surprises. In Noah’s time everything perished except what was inside the Ark. Only those who responded and heeded the warnings were saved. It’s not a difference in work or situation that decides it but Jesus Himself and we need to live in His love until that day arrives.
Advent calls us back to the heart of what it is all about, to refocus our expectations, of supposing that we have already experienced all that God has to offer us. To look again for the Glory still to be revealed through us by God. To realise that the gift that Jesus brings us this year will be even greater than we have known so far.
What we need to remember is that the task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us. Believing that He is coming should prompt us into a lifestyle of godliness and service. It will also bring us peace, the peace that only Jesus can provide. When Jesus has us in the palm of His hand we know we are looked after, are we wise enough to accept a baby who has been born to take away our sins? Advent is a time to refocus and regroup, to live in constant readiness, to trust and believe in His promises, to trust and believe in that child.
A little girl came into the room where her father was and said, ‘Daddy, can we play?’
‘Later,’ said her father. ‘I have to finish this first.’
‘OK,’ she said. ‘When you’ve finished I’ll give you a great big hug.’
‘That’s very kind’, said her Dad and as she went to the door, the little girl did a U-turn and came back and gave him the biggest hug she could.
‘Thought you were going to wait till I’d finished’, said her dad. The little girl replied, ‘That’s so you know what you have to look forward to.’
One meaning of Advent and Christmas is that God wants us to know – through His first coming- how much we have to look forward to in His second coming. In Advent and throughout the coming year, we need to pray to the Holy Spirit for strength and power to help us look again at His word and the promises of His kingdom – to change and accept afresh Jesus Christ into our lives and to live in the power of His Spirit.
Jesus brings new life on a worldwide scale – He has opened the way to salvation for all who believe and follow Him. Let’s not waste any more time. Let’s make this Advent the time when the Christ child really does become part of our lives.
Amen