The lessons for the First Sunday of Advent every year, the beginning of our new year, are
taken from the apocalyptic speech that precedes the passion in each Synoptic gospel. Strange isn't it? In the Church
our beginning starts with our ending,…it is the heart of the scriptural story…filled with truth for those with
"eyes to see, and ears to hear."
Advent is about both the first and the second coming of Christ. When we sing "Oh come, Oh come, Emmanuel"
it is far more about the second coming of the Messiah, with the Church now seen in the place of Israel. You should
also note that there will be a gradual change from the beginning to the end of Advent, as the first coming, what
we might call the "Christmas part" comes more to the forefront.
Right now though, as we light the first candle of "hope" our scriptural concerns are all about time.
Hoping against hope that people will "wake up" and use this precious gift wisely. When people are planning
various activities to take place in that period between Thanksgiving Christmas you will often hear sage advice
that "this is such a busy time, people are unlikely to come out." "We have so much to squeeze in
already…I doubt we could do one thing more." Concerns about "time" are not new. People have always
felt the need to define it…even if they can't do anything to change it.
Take calendars for example. They are pretty important for most people. Even people who don't have a lot to keep
track of in their lives have a calendar, if for no other reason than to try and keep up with what's going on in
the rest of the world…like when "Boxing Day" occurs in Canada, or when Chanukah begins.
Calendars are also very good for helping us keep track of what's coming up. I can look at the calendar and see
that as of today there are only 23 days left until Christmas,…which is nice to know. In times past seasons governed
our lives, determined our needs and controlled the supplies of natural foods. Calendars served to help plan for
those changes by planting seed, or harvesting, or putting away food.
There have always been problems though. Relying on nature's timekeepers, the sun, the moon, the stars, was inaccurate
because solar and lunar calendars are out of step, and by no small measure. Even today we have to insert extra
days into those years every so often to try and smooth out that inconsistency.
The Egyptians were probably the first people to adopt a primarily solar calendar. They saw a correlation between
the flooding of the Nile and the appearance of the Dog Star in the eastern sky just before sunrise after several
months of invisibility.
The Romans had a calendar that they'd borrowed from the Greeks. It had 10 months and 304 days. They ignored a full
60 days which fell in the middle of winter. I have no idea how that worked, but I guess if you are going to ignore
days you might as well ignore the cold winter ones. The Romans were more of a sun people anyway!
About 700 BC a king added two extra months, Januarius and Februarius to the end of the year just so he could collect
more taxes!
In 46 BC Julius Caesar ordered Romans to disregard the moon in calculating months and divided the year into 12
months of 30 and 31 days, except for February which has 28, except every 4th year when it has 29. And that same
year Julius moved the beginning of the year from March 1st to January 1st and decreed that 46 BC would have 445
days. The Romans called that the Year of Confusion. No kidding.
In the 16th century, Pope Gregory changed Oct.6 to Oct. 15 to try and correct some differences between the sun
and the calendar that had built up over the preceding 1500 years. And he added the provision that there would be
no leap years in century years that could not be divided by 400. The Hebrews have a calendar that was to have
started with the Creation, a period 3,760 years and 3 months before Jesus' birth, or thereabouts. Their calendar
begins in the autumn and is based on the moon, so it gets quite confusing. Months are alternately 30 and 29 days
long and seven times during every 19 year period an extra month of 19 days must be inserted to get everything back
into alignment.
The Islamic calendar begins with Mohammed's flight, the Hegira, from Mecca to Medina. Their years are shorter than
ours, only 354 days, and as a result the Islamic New Year (along with the rest of it) moves backwards through the
seasons, making a complete rotation in 32 1/2 years. The calendar has a longer cycle of 30 years, and during this
time 19 years have a regular 354 days, and the other 11 have an extra day each, so that it is almost as accurate
as ours.
Aren't calendars fun?!
The Christian Year is just another way of organizing our time. Instead of the more generally recognizable cycles
of the civil year and the academic year, the Christian Year is organized around the life of Christ. We have seven
seasons: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost/Kingdomtime.
We always begin Advent waiting; waiting with anticipation for the arrival of Jesus Christ, not as the baby cooing
in a manger, but with his final arrival on what is known as the great and terrible day of the Lord.
During Christmas we celebrate the fulfillment of his coming, with the response expressed during Epiphany as the
nations of the world bow down before him. The same pattern is seen during the time organized around Christ's death
and resurrection. During Lent we prepare for his death and resurrection and in Easter the fulfillment comes. During
Pentecost the response to his death and resurrection regulates our lives.
This morning's readings tell us of what we can expect at the point of Christ's Advent, and by extension, what he
expects to find....
700 years before his birth Jerusalem was under siege. It would not survive the attack, but already the prophet
Isaiah was encouraging the people to look for a better day. To some future time when God would "judge between
the nations, and arbitrate for many peoples; who shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks;" a time when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more."
Clearly that time has not yet come, but the word of God doesn't end. As surely as the seasons pass God promises
redemption, and restoration with justice and righteousness.
750 years after Isaiah someone decides that since this Jesus purports to be a prophet, who speaks on God's behalf,
it seems reasonable to ask him quite plainly "When will this happen and what will be the signs of the end
of the age?"
"No one knows" he replies, "but it will happen."
We could well imagine someone like us, saying or at least thinking, "Well thank you very much Jesus, that
certainly cleared everything up." "No one knows" he continues "but it will be like in Noah's
time. Everyone will be living their lives normally, and BAM! right out of nowhere here it will happen! No warning!
No time to rethink! (An unsettling reminder of September 11th). And if you're looking for clues so that you can
mark the date off on your own calendar, forget it. Live everyday as if it were to be today, live everyday as if
it were to be your last."
It is not easy living in a constant state of "readiness." Our traditional prayers from the book of worship
reflect that belief. Our funeral liturgy includes the words "teach us to live every day as those who are prepared
to die, so that when our time comes we die we may go forth as those who truly live."
Ann Wells related a story from her life to Rev. Leonard Sweet. She said, my brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer
of my sister's bureau and lifted out a tissue-wrapped package.
'This," he said, "is not a slip. This is lingerie."
He discarded the tissue and handed me the slip. It was exquisite: silk, handmade and trimmed with a cobweb of lace.
The price tag with an astronomical figure on it was still attached.
"Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least eight or nine years ago. She never wore it.
She was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I guess this is the occasion."
He took the slip from me and put it on the bed with the other clothes we were taking to the mortician. His hands
lingered on the soft material for a moment, then he slammed the drawer shut and turned to me:
"Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion."
In these days of instant gratification we are very particular about what we are willing to wait for. In so many
areas of our lives we have equated speed with success. It becomes the order of our day until what we are waiting
for takes an ominous turn…and then suddenly, we want it "slow"…like the spread of a malignancy…the awareness
of an aneurysm, the chance of a baby coming too soon…just a few more days…just a few more hours."Throughout
church history, there have always been groups that, convinced they knew when the world would end, would quit their
jobs and waited with eager anticipation for Christ's appearance. In Matthew's understanding of the Christian faith,
the second coming doesn't call us to quit the job of being the church in the world; rather, it calls us to take
it up with even greater urgency, because time is short…and opportunities are fleeting.
The loneliest moment in life is when we've just experienced what we thought was going to be the ultimate, and it's
let us down. Yes, we can go from peak experience to peak experience, but none last, and we are left longing for
more.
When will the Kingdom come?….Any minute now… Are you ready?
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