The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY (Retired)
In many churches today, the preacher will greet the congregation with the
words, Happy New Year. Today, you see, is the first Sunday of
Advent, the "New Year's Day" of the Church year. Advent is the first season of
the church year. Its color is purple or dark blue, to remind us of the time just
before dawn when the sky is no longer black, but begins to show a little light,
and the darkness gives way to first a dark gray, then a dark blue, then a
purple...and then the sun bursts forth in glory, as Christ will at Christmas.
This church year is Year C in our lectionary schedule, so most of the gospel
readings this year will come from Luke's Gospel.
Today's Bible readings give us a kind of preview of and preparation for
Jesus' coming, both as a baby at Bethlehem at the first Christmas, and as King
and Judge at the ending of the world and the actualization of God's great
kingdom.
The reading from the prophet Jeremiah, who lived approximately 600 years
before Christ, makes several important points in a very brief reading. He wants
us to remember that God is righteous, that is, God is honest and
keeps his promises. Even if it seems to us that God is not doing what he
promised, eventually we will look back and see that God did keep
his promises to us, but in HIS way, not OUR way. You may remember being taught
in Sunday School that God's ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are
not our thoughts, and also that God's time is not our time...a
thousand years in our time are like a day in God's time. This is what
Jeremiah is talking about. God WILL do as he has promised...when HE thinks the
time is ripe, and he will do it in whatever way he thinks best, not always the
way we would like to see him do it. But the promises WILL be kept. Never doubt
that.
Jeremiah reminds the people that this promise of God has to do with a king
from King David's family arising, some day, to rule Israel again...the promise
that the Jews clung to through all the years of occupation by many different
enemy armies. Jesus, we know, descended from the family of King David, and so
this is a fitting reading for us in Advent, a reminder that Jesus is indeed our
king, and deserves the loyalty and obedience we would give an earthly king if we
had one.
Jeremiah also tells us that the promised salvation will come to the people of
Israel and Jerusalem, that is, the people who, like the Jews, center their lives
in God's Law and the worship of God and only God.
The psalm for today gives us two main anchors for our faith: first, that
God's compassion and love for us are everlasting, and so we have hope that God's
promises will come to pass; and secondly, that there is always forgiveness for
us, if we repent of our wrongdoing. God's love is so great, you see, that he
cannot stand to think that one of his beloved children (that's us) would fail to
receive the fullness of his love and promise, because we've sinned. So, he
provides forgiveness for us when we repent of our sins. That restores us to good
standing with God, ready to receive his promises. These are good anchors for us
as we enter Advent, and the expectation of the coming of Christ and his kingdom.
St. Paul, in his letter to the church in Thessalonia, reminds us that our
most importnt priority is holiness, that is, being "right" with God, obeying
God, not people or fads or human laws and reasons. In his day, being baptized
meant breaking off completely from the pagan ways of life, the public
celebrations and private parties, the way that "everybody does it," and doing
everything God's way instead. As you might imagine, that meant that Christians
would be looked on as killjoys, or antisocial snobs who did not mix with their
old friends and family but insisted on living differently. We should still be
like that: putting God first, not the ideas of the culture or the family or our
friends. We are supposed to be holy, just as God is holy. Unfortunately many of
us feel that this is an old fashioned idea, and have fallen away from the great
rule of holiness, preferring to be popular and fashionable instead. Perhaps
Advent will remind us to tighten up our observance of God's law, and detach
ourselves a bit more from the world.
The Gospel reading gives us Jesus' warnings about the end of the world. We
are to be alert and watch out for its coming, so that we can be ready. How will
we know the end of the world is coming? By the great confusion in nature and in
the world. Every once in awhile, someone makes a big thing of proclaiming that
the end of the world is at hand...mostly because of a war or an earthquake or an
eclipse convinces them that that great confusion is beginning. The church has
taught us since the time of Christ, that the way we can best prepare for the end
of the world, and the great judgment of each person that will happen, is simply
by living a life of holiness and faith, giving priority to God and his promises,
and not following "the ways of the world". And this, you see, is the basic theme
of Advent, not only this year, but every year...prepare ye for the coming
of the Lord! Amen.
