Wake up. Get Dressed. A New Day is Here.
(Free Version)- The First Sunday of Advent, Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
This Sunday marks the first Sunday of Advent, a season which ought to jolt us to our senses. Advent does not allow us to rush to the nativity. Rather, at the beginning of this season, we are greeted with the words of the prophets and with John the Baptist’s call to repent. Today, we are told to wake up, to stay alert, something new is happening and will happen. Check out our “Deep Dive” on these readings here.
Advent invites us into “the time between the times.” We live in-between the reality of Christ’s first coming (his life, death, resurrection, and ascension), and his second coming (when we will see the new world in fullness and all will be restored). The calling of our readings this week are to live into the light, to live as if the new day (God’s kingdom) has dawned.
Isaiah speaks of a time when God will be seen as the one true God, the mountain of his temple becoming the highest of all the mountains (Isaiah 2:1-5). Nations will stream to it and learn God’s ways, the ways to be human. This is a time when nations will learn that the present ways of war and disputes are not working. They will acknowledge their need for God. Therefore, as they anticipate that day, God’s people are invited to live in his light now (vs. 5). Many Christians throughout history have read this as referring to the new world as having been inaugurated in Jesus. He is the true mountain, the new temple, the great teacher. We do not yet see Isaiah’s world in fullness, but it centers on the risen Christ.
The calling of such a reading is to turn to Jesus, to learn his ways and to live into them. The early Christian writer Justin Martyr said that he saw this reading lived out in his own life. The early apostles, in their preaching of Christ, went to “every race of humanity,” teaching them the word of God. This transformed Justin and others, causing them to give up the ways of war.1
In his letter to the Romans (13:11-14), Paul calls the church to “wake up” from their sleep because their salvation is at hand. The day is almost here. If a new day has dawned, God’s people are to live differently. This means that they are to put away things of the darkness, which only lead to emptiness and destruction. And they are to wear, not their pajamas, but the clothes of the new day by “clothing themselves” with Christ.
We are so often resistant to turning to the light. Perhaps we are afraid of God’s judgment because we do not understand his character. Perhaps we merely fear the discomfort associated with opening ourselves to the light. Or, perhaps we are not convinced that the new day is here or that it is better than if we were to stay asleep, living our lives by the ways of the old world.
The gospel reading (Matthew 24:36-44) is a warning. There are several interpretive options for this reading. Whether we see this as a warning to first-century hearers about a coming cataclysmic event (the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.), as a way of Jesus preparing his disciples for their eventual death (a reading preferred by many of the church fathers), or as a description of Christ’s second coming, it is certainly a warning about those things to which we hold on to, those things which have garnered our ultimate allegiance and trust. Reputation, success, money, power, and political ideology will all fail us. Yet, there is one who will remain true. When we see those things which have our ultimate trust finally begin to crumble, it will feel like the end of the world. But there is one who is with us all the way through, showing us who he truly is and loving us fully.
Our calling? To keep watch, to be ready. Everything else will fade, but even in their failing, the Son of Man will be near to us and will remain true.
Justin Martyr, “First Apology 39.”