adventus Jesus

"Adoration of the Shepherds", Guido Reni (1575 - 1642)

For Sunday, November 27, 2011
Advent Sunday


This Sunday moves us from the Revised Common Lectionary's "Season After Pentecost" to "Season of Advent" and from Year A to Year B.  What this means is that we've completed our first of three annual sojourns through the Bible and are now beginning the second.  It's a good time to pause and reflect: how has my life been saved or changed by the gospel of Jesus over the last year?  How this next year might my life be saved or changed as I deepen my commitment to him?  


The English word 'advent' comes from the Latin 'adventus' which means "coming".  The purpose of Advent is to give us a reason to pull out all of our Christmas kitsch.  Well... sometimes it seems that way, doesn't it?  What Advent is supposed to be about is this: preparing ourselves as the people of God for our Savior, the one through whom God would save us from ourselves and restore a world broken beyond recognition. 


This week's first reading, Isaiah 64, moves us from Christmas kitsch to the cosmic significance of what actually happened 2,000 years ago:

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! . . . Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.  

Mary and Joseph waited on God and he acted.  We may find ourselves waiting likewise today.  What if we really believed God would act on our behalf?  Take heart, because He did, and He will.


Yet while we wait expectantly we must also wait penitently:

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we shrivel up like a leaf (a good metaphor for late fall in Wisconsin), and like the wind our sins sweep us away. . . Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord; do not remember our sins forever.

As this week's final reading, 1 Cor. 1:3-9, reminds us, our Heavenly Father has bestowed upon each of us who follow Christ boundless gifts of grace and strength:

For in him you have been enriched in every way - in all your speaking and in all your knowledge . . . Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.  He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God, who has called you into fellowship with his son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.  

May this Advent be one in which we bring ourselves into the Nativity ("the birthing among us") of Jesus, and in the wonder of this moment find the grace which can renew our souls and slake the thirst of those around us who remain utterly lost in a desert of despair.

whatever

Duccio di Buoninsegna, "The Nativity with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekial" (1937)
Andrew W. Mellon Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

For Sunday, November 28, 2010

First Sunday of Advent, Year A

Whatever. This is the default posture of our secular age toward faith. The problem is that "whatever" doesn't work in real life, and deep down, we all know it. If I'm mad at my wife, I can say "whatever", but that's not sustainable, and I know it. If one of my kids is going off the rails, I can say "whatever", but that's not the reality of the situation. I love my wife. I love my sons. I want things to be right between me and them. I want things to be right at work and at church too.

This Sunday marks a wonderful opportunity to replace "whatever" with something sustainable. How about this: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and goodwill toward men"? This Sunday marks the move on the lectionary calendar from Year C's "Season after Pentecost" (Ordinary Time) to Year A's "Advent".

What is "Advent"? Advent derives from the Latin adventus, which means "coming". What is coming? Hectic days of shopping and family we don't want to see. Only if what hangs over our existence is "whatever". Let's take that sign down and replace it with "glory to God in the highest" and just see what could be different.

Here is how "glory to God in the highest" sings through this week's readings:

The mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established . . . and all the nations will stream to it. He will teach us his ways so that way may walk in his paths. Nation will not rise up against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord (Isaiah 2:1-5).

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem
May those who love you be secure
May there be peace within your walls
And security within your citadels (Psalm 122)

Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come (Matt. 24:36-44)

The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed (Rom. 13:11-14)

In response to "whatever" here was G.K. Chesterton's reply:

"Any dead thing can float downstream. It takes a living thing to swim against it."

Wishing you a joyous Advent Season.