Reading, Sermon and Prayers for the first Sunday of Advent

READING: Luke 21: 25 – 36

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

SERMON: Luke 21: 25-36

In a neighbourhood in the city of Baghdad, children play on the street outside of their home when a military convoy drives by.

Suddenly a truck explodes. Gunfire breaks out. The child is hit. His body lies on the sidewalk. His mother cries for help. She simply wants someone, anyone, to help her child. A soldier picks the child up and carries him toward an ambulance that has just come to a screeching halt. The sky turns purple, the clouds open up… and it rains…. and it rains…. and it rains.

The sound of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” flows almost un-noticeably from the radio in the room. A sick woman sits by herself in her room gazing out the window, an empty non-descript look on her face. A young man comes through the door, sees her, and moves with haste in her direction. He goes down on one knee and buries his head.in her lap. She gently runs her hands through his hair as a tear streams down her cheek. She looks out the window and sees the sky has turned purple, the clouds open up… and it rains… and it rains… and it rains.

On the lawyer’s office is a giant wreath is attached to the front door.

They come in separately and don’t even make eye contact as they sit in the lounge area. The lawyer calls them into his office. He talks and explains, but they do not really hear him. They sign the papers and it is finished. He will get the kids this Christmas, She will get them next year. They leave without ever having said a word.

The sun is setting, the sky has turned purple, the clouds open up… and it rains… and it rains… and it rains.

The truth of life is this, no one escapes living and living involves hardship and pain as much as it involves joy and gladness. It rains and it storms, just as mightily on the good as it does on the bad.

God lifts no one above the turmoil the pain, the suffering…. not even his Son.

The redemption that is ours in Christ Jesus is not some sort of luxury cruise through the calm waters of the Sea of “Pain Be Gone”.

God’s plan has never been to insulate His people from the rain that falls; it is more to prepare us for the storms that will come our way.

There is a reason that purple, is the liturgical colour for Advent. The purple of Advent reminds us that the baby born in the manger was born a King for purple is the colour of royalty. And the purple of Lent reminds us that the child born a King had a divinely-human destiny “A destiny upon the throne of the Cross”.

Purple, therefore is both a royally joyful colour while at the same time royally melancholy. Purple reminds us that our King reigns.

In Advent, we are called to look forward to the day of our King’s promised return, a day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Yet this day of return comes with a degree of foreboding. The trained view of Advent focuses only on the impending birth of the baby King Jesus. Yet Advent also has a unreserved side that is connected to King Jesus’ second advent.

All the rain that falls from the purple sky on the good, the bad and the indifferent is all adding up to something. It is all pointing to something.

All of the stuff in this world that looks so meaningless, so futile of purpose, all the pain and suffering, all the wars and disasters, all the hopes and fears of all the years are all pointing toward something.

Jesus uses the language of symbol and poetry to connect with the deepest parts of our lives, those tough places and those difficult times. Jesus’ words to us are words of divine promise.

The promise that God is present and acting within the good, the bad, and the ugly. A Promise to bring about a victorious conclusion; the result of which is a new beginning, a new creation: where God himself will wipe away every tear; Where death…. will be no more; Where mourning…. crying and pain will not be present. This is a promise! It is a purple promise.

We are called in Advent to be enveloped by this purple promise, to be alert, to be observant; to wait. We are called to think and to act faithfully and Sacramentally, to sense the nearness of the kingdom. We are called to look for the hand of God in all of life, in the goodness of life, in the badness of life and yes even in the ugliness of life.

Jesus shares that with us in Luke 21:29-30 when he told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near.

But how and why would things like natural disasters, wars and political upheaval be signs that the Kingdom, the Second Advent, is near?

Would it not make more sense to see things like an end to war and people caring for one another as signs of the nearness of the Kingdom?

Jesus is not stressing the negative? What Jesus is emphasising is a truthful evaluation of reality. A worldly reality that stands in stark contrast to the Kingdom of God that we are experiencing in part, but coming in fullness.

Our human frailty, our human sinfulness, our world’s birth pangs reflect the signs of how badly we need: ” Matthew 6:10: your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

As we prepare later to gather at the altar, we proclaim these words “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again”. We proclaim those words, we are proclaiming a mystery of faith that proclaims it is through death that God is victorious in Christ Jesus.

We proclaim that Jesus died and rose from the grave, His death is what atoned for our sin and Jesus’ death prepared the way for Jesus’ resurrection to be the first fruits of many to come.

At the altar we proclaim that our present, our past, is not all there is. At the altar we proclaim that the past, present, and future is in God’s hands.

And we wait for the fulfilment of God’s promise in His coming again, the second advent of Jesus. And Jesus comes again in a very real and special way every time we celebrate the Eucharistic meal together.

It is a foretaste of Jesus’ second advent. It is a sign that the Kingdom is near. It is a sign of His reign. His purple reign covers us, forgives us, resurrects us, nourishes us, encourages us, and transforms us.

So that when the rain of life pours into our lives, we have the faith the hope and the love to weather the storm. We are able to sense the nearness of God’s Kingdom in Christ Jesus and know that we are never alone not in life and not even in death.

We do not escape life’s great tribulations just because we are Believers and God does not escape them either, For He is… with us.

Matthew 18:20: For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

God is present, God is working and acting through history and through our lives, both the good and the bad, bringing about the redemption of the world.

That is the good news that leads us to stand up, refuse to give in to the hopelessness and desperation of the world. That is the good news and reason why we enter Advent in the search for the waiting and the watching and the being alert.

Through our faith in Jesus Christ we are able to sense in all things of the nearness of God’s Kingdom. Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we are able to eat and drink, to live and love, without fearing the rain and the storms of life.

For in Jesus Christ, our lives are secured, they are saved and they are redeemed for our lives are covered in our King’s purple reign. Amen

PRAYERS

Lord, prepare us for your Advent coming. In our prayers today we try to come to you, sure that you will come the rest of the way.