Three Words for Advent I:
Watch, Work, Wait
Pastor Jim Kniseley prepared this sermon for the First Sunday in Advent, November 27, 2005. The gospel text is Mark 13:24-37.
Dear
Friends in Christ,
The
symbols of the Season of Advent are with us now in the sanctuary. The advent wreath, the Chrismon tree and the
banners are a visual message to us that someone special is coming, and we need
to get ourselves prepared.
I
know that a good number of you here today did not grow up with the tradition of
observing advent. For your sake, I would
like to take this opportunity to explain the reason behind doing advent the way
we do it. Churches that follow the
church calendar observe advent as the four weeks leading up to Christmas. We encourage our people to remember the three
“comings of Jesus”: Jesus first came in
the form of the infant at Bethlehem; Jesus comes now to us in various ways,
including in the scripture, at our baptism, in holy communion, and in the midst
of the community of faith; and, Jesus will come again someday in his
power and glory at the end of time.
The
mood of advent is more subdued by design than is the joyful mood of
Christmas. Just as Lent is a season of
preparation for Easter joy, advent has been called a “mini-lent.” The world out there neither understands nor
likes the season of advent. They want to
go directly from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
The world doesn’t like the call to introspection of one’s heart and the
call to prepare for Jesus’ coming by taking care of the needy. So you will hear Christmas carols all the
time now on the radio, in the mall, at practically every business that caters
to holiday shoppers. Even here in the
church you will hear the annual plea, “Please, can’t we sing some Christmas
carols? I can’t stand those dull, dreary
advent hymns!”
Today
I want to present three words that will help us understand the Biblical
emphases that we want to lift up on this first Sunday in Advent. I call these the three “w” words: Watch,
Work, and Wait.
Jesus
was speaking with his disciples in today’s gospel reading about the end of the
world, when he would return again. They
naturally wanted to know when that would take place. And Jesus told them no one, not even he,
knows the exact time. But he gives this
counsel: Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. And he tells a parable about a man who
was the head of a household. This man
decided to go away on a trip and he left his servants in charge. They did not know when the man would return,
so they were told to be ready at all times, lest he should return and find them
sleeping. So, Jesus says to all of us, I
want you to be ready for my return at any time.
If
I can get practical with you for a moment: That Jesus will return one day is
certain. Most likely our deaths will
occur before Jesus’ return, so I believe that being ready for Jesus covers both
our death when we will meet Jesus and the return of Jesus to this world.
The
second word today is “work.” It has to
do with what are we to do and how are we to live today as we are waiting and
being watchful for the return of Jesus.
St. Paul told the Corinthians that every spiritual gift would be given
them as they waited for the coming of the Lord.
That promise is for us here today too.
Just
in case some here are wondering about what we can do in our own lives to get a
spiritual “tune-up” during these 4 weeks of advent, I would like to lift up a
few ideas that we all can do:
1.
Do something
each and every day that will bring you into direct contact with
the Lord: pray, read
the Bible, listen to a Christian radio or television program, use a devotional
booklet, read a spiritual book
2.
Worship every
Sunday and on Christmas Eve.
3.
Send Christmas
cards that present a Christ-centered message.
4.
In your
decorations at home, include something that presents a reminder that
Christmas is the Birthday of Jesus.
5.
Help someone
in need, and tell them that you are doing it for Jesus.
The third word for today is “wait.” The advent wreath is a way to teach us about waiting. For hundreds and hundreds of years the Jewish people waited for the Messiah, the one who was foretold by the prophets. For the past 2,000 years, Christians have waited for the return of Jesus. These 4 weeks of waiting give us just a little sense of what all this waiting is about and how God chooses to work His Promises.
Dorothy
Bass has written a book entitled, Receiving
the Day: Christian Practices for Opening the Gift of Time. In her book, Dorothy tells of a mother who
came up with a new version of the common parental question, “How was your day
today?” As she tucks her children into
bed each night, this insightful mother asks instead, “Where did you meet God
today?”
Her
children are used to this question, so the answers come tumbling out: “My teacher helped me.” “There was a homeless person in the
park.” “I saw a tree with lots of
flowers in it.” The mother then shares
with them some ways she has met God in the course of the day. Comforted by the awareness of God’s presence
in their lives, the children fall contentedly off to sleep. As Bass puts it, “The stuff of this day has
become the substance of their prayers.”
What
can we learn today from this wise mother in Dorothy Bass’ book? We learn that she felt close to God and
conveyed this attitude to her children.
This mother obviously taught her kids Bible stories, and she also made
sure that they saw and knew that God was at work today just as much as he was
back in Bible times. And, they learned
to trust God.
May
God grant to every one of us worshippers today this kind of understanding.
Come,
Lord Jesus, Come.