Advent Week 1

Psalm: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 

Old Testament: Isaiah 64:1-9 

Gospel: Mark 13:24-37 

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Welcome to the first week of Advent, the beginning of the Christian Year. I was asked today why we should even celebrate the Christian Calendar. The question wasn’t accusatory, but it still brings up a good point-- why should we celebrate the Church year rather than just doing topical sermons and mini-series? Part of the answer has to do with the consumeristic culture we live in, but it is true across all cultures-- the Christian Calendar reminds us all time is God’s time, not the retail cycle or even our own. The Christian Calendar reminds us that despite Party City advertising that “Nobody has more Christmas for less,” Christmas is fundamentally and firstly about the Incarnation of Almighty God. Hopefully, we can capture that as we gather each week, and then as we spread out into our cities and neighborhoods, we can stand against the consumerism and greed that defines our culture. The Christian calendar is important for other reasons, but particularly at this time of year when we are bombarded with calls to buy, buy, buy we can find our fulfillment in Christ.

It is no surprise that this week continues the theme we have actually been covering the past few weeks. The last few weeks, we have had a number of passages concerning the Day of the Lord and his coming judgment. The theme of God’s coming resounds throughout Scripture. In the reading this week from Psalms and Isaiah, the writers call out for God to come and save his people. Israel and Judah were under pressure and during the ministry of Isaiah, Israel fell to Assyria. Their only hope was in the salvation of God. In these two passages, God’s coming is viewed as good thing when he will deliver his people. We have seen in previous weeks how sometimes the opposite was presented and God’s coming was viewed primarily in terms of his wrath and judgment for an unfaithful people. Both of these elements are true. God will come to judge and to deliver when Christ returns.

This duel rule was true when Jesus first came as well. He declared Judgment for the powerful who oppressed the poor, but salvation for any who would repent and follow him. This dual nature of Jesus’ second coming is presented in the Mark passage as well. In Mark 13:1-23, right before our reading, Jesus discusses a tribulation that would come at the end, but also a gathering of the “elect” when the Son of Man comes on the clouds. One theme that always seems to emerge when Jesus teaches on his second coming is to always be ready because no one knows when it will happen. So it is in this passage. It will be like a man who goes on a journey and puts his slaves in charge of the house. The slaves can’t let the house fall in disrepair and fail to watch the door. They must be ready for the master to return and answer the door for him and have the house in as pristine shape as when he was there. (It reminds me of the servants on Downton Abbey and the expectation that the house would always be in order whether the family was present or not.) Jesus will return when the Father says it is time and our task is to be about the Father’s business so we will be ready when that time comes.

The reading from 1 Corinthians reminds us that we don’t have to worry, however, about how God will view us when he returns. Paul writes that Jesus “will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 1:8) Jesus is our hope and our salvation. Whereas we are imperfect, sinful, and underserving to share in the Kingdom of God, in Jesus we are washed clean and sanctified. Thanks be to God that Jesus has provided the atonement for our sin once and for all. As Paul says, God is faithful and through Jesus we have the power to serve him.

This Advent season, let us remember and live as if Jesus truly did come and that he will come again. Let us seek first God and his Kingdom, even in midst of a culture that tries to pull us in the opposite direction. We have something that can provide way more satisfaction than a new electronic gadget or toy. God has become fully human so that we also may become fully human in the way we were made to be and participate fully in the image of God in which we were created. Let us wait and hope for Christ’s return.

Grace and Peace.