The 1st Sunday of Advent: Anticipation
(Free Version)- Year B; Isaiah 64:1-9, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Mark 13:24-37
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This Sunday marks the beginning of the season of Advent. We live in a world oriented towards something called “the Christmas Season” which, although it seems to begin earlier and earlier, usually begins sometime after Thanksgiving. It is characterized by holiday shopping, Christmas lights appearing on roofs, trees in living rooms, holiday movies and peppermint-flavored drinks. This form of “the Christmas season” is driven mostly by commercial interests. And, while there is nothing wrong with this form of celebrating (I am neither a scrooge nor a fundamentalist), it is quite different from the Christian season of Advent.
The church calendar is a little different and is actually quite frustrating if we want to simply celebrate Christmas the way that our culture does. Advent is not “The Christmas Season.” Advent is about a broken world, a longing world standing on its tiptoes looking for signs of hope, straining to see light in the midst of the darkness.
Advent is about anticipation. It is anticipation Christ’s first coming, standing with Israel in longing for the Messiah, shouting “O Come, O Come Immanuel. And ransom captive Israel!”
Advent is also anticipation of Christ’s second coming. As a weary world, we understand that God has fully come in Jesus and yet we do not see his kingdom in fullness. We experience profound brokenness and darkness. We need God’s restorative judgment.
Advent also has a third dimension. We anticipate the work of God in our lives today. We look back on Christ’s first coming; we look ahead to Christ’s second coming. And, we recognize that God shows up. He is the one who arrives. He desires to be with us. Therefore, there is a sense in which we are anticipating his work in our hearts here and now: in the sacraments, in the least of these, in surprising ways. We can sit and anticipate the work of God in our midst today.
So we sit in these season of Advent for four weeks, and then, beginning on Christmas Day, the Church enters “The Season of Christmas.” It is a twelve day celebration of the reality that God is with us.
If we’re honest, this feels strange. In a world where “The Christmas Season” has been so shaped by consumerism, we are trained to hustle really hard to get all the shopping done, put up the decorations, and wait for the day. Then, on the 26th, it’s over. In the Christian calendar, we take 12 days to feast and celebrate God with us. Advent is about anticipation. Christmas is about resting and celebrating.
So much of the Bible is lived in an Advent space. And, so much of the Christian life is lived in anticipation. In this season, we might ask, what postures does this observance of Advent leads us towards?
This past Friday was “Black Friday.” Shane Claiborne summed it up: “On Thanksgiving we give thanks for all the things we have. And the next day, we trample each other trying to get more.”1 In the midst of such a world, my friend Ian Simkins reminds us, “You are not one purchase away from happiness.” 2
In our Old Testament reading (Isaiah 64:1-9) we hear the good news that we need God. We need a rending of the heavens! So often, we experience the pain of this world and we know that it is not as it should be. Even our good deeds are done with mixed (and often selfish) motives. Our good deeds alone will not be enough to fix things. Our final rest is found only in God. Like a potter who shapes the clay with warm water, we are shaped to live into our baptismal identity.
In our epistle reading (1 Corinthians 1:3-9), Paul reminds the church of who they are. There will be a time in the letter when he will call out their behavior, to address it head on. But here, he simply reminds them of what God has given them. They have everything they need.
In our gospel reading (Mark 13:24-37), Jesus tells of a future day which will be nothing short of apocalyptic: sun darkened, moon failing, stars falling, and the heavens shaken. It is likely that Jesus is pointing his disciples to the day when the temple will be destroyed. Because of the significance of the temple in their midst, it’s loss might as well been the end of all things. Because it was a microcosm of heaven and earth itself, it’s loss would have been experienced as the loss of the whole world.
But, the loss of the temple will reveal that, though it was God’s gift, the temple itself could not ultimately be trusted. Only God can be trusted. Even when those things which feel ultimate are gone, the words of Jesus (words, to us, feel like something fleeting) will not pass away.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic was tragic and will leave some very painful marks on each of us and on the world, it also revealed that Jesus is the only one we can trust. If we put our hope in stuff, even good stuff, it will eventually come crashing down.
Some of us have seen these past few years interrupt our plans. Perhaps you had a five-year plan, a ten-year plan. Then, everything shifted. Many Millennials had planned to buy a house and save for retirement, only to find that the American economy has not quite followed the same trajectory as it had for our baby boomer parents.
For those of us facing all sorts of interruptions, our calling is to allow this time to be a moment of recognition: I can’t trust in any of that. God is my hope.
We live in a world in incredible turmoil right now: two brutal wars, a polarized government, two very disliked presidential candidates. I know that it is pretty popular among Christians to look at all the brokenness in our world and conclude that all this turmoil means that Jesus is coming back soon. It’s possible, but remember, when Jesus returns, it will be a beautiful thing. The brokenness in our world is a sign that we still long for this world to fully be made right.
Those in Recovery (AA/NA, etc.) know that, unfortunately, it is often only when we come to the end of our rope that we turn to God. Friends and family can’t make an addict change until that person realizes the fruitlessness and pain of their addiction.
All the culture war issues will one day cease. Our financial world will not be able to stand in the end. Additionally, the approval of those around us will not ultimately matter in the end. Are we then to say that none of it matters? Certainly not. Though some are downright silly, some of our cultural conversations are important, and they particularly impact the most vulnerable in our midst.
But still, we must ask, “What are we anticipating?” Although there was a strong sense of anticipation in the Jewish world leading up to the coming of Jesus, many of the Messianic expectations were fruitless. Many who followed Jesus anticipated a Messiah who would be a conquering warrior, defeating their enemies. Some looked for a Messiah to affirm their plans and expectations. Jesus proved to be much better than all of our expectations.
Are we willing to allow Jesus to challenge our expectations? What if the world does not look exactly how we expected it to? What if God does not intervene in the way, or the time, or the place that we thought that He would? Can we still trust Him? Can we still anticipate the good?
We are not to look at the destruction in our world and sit on our hands. Expectation does not just mean sit around and wait. We are to live what we hope for, to be the change. By our actions and our lives we anticipate his coming. We live that future world right now.
May we be a people of hope—not a superficial hope where we long for a fulfillment to our earthly expectations— a deeper hope, a hope that recognizes the darkness and filthiness of our world and our lives, and yet knows that God has always been the one who shows up.
https://x.com/iansimkins/status/1332335057600647173?s=46&t=2k-idvaum331qpiRIW39Zw