Sunday, December 1, 2024
The First Sunday of Advent
How to celebrate Advent
The Rev. Mark Wilkinson, Rector
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Katy, TX
Well that was unexpected wasn’t it. What you heard is a shofar. It is blown at the start of the Jewish new year and it symbolizes a call to wake up and pay attention. That is the theme of Advent a season of preparation.
Every year we come to the first Sunday of Advent and I am reminded of my first Advent in the Episcopal Church. Now I was attending and American Baptist Church in Cleveland Hts. Ohio before joining the Episcopal Church. I had absolutely no idea about the liturgical year, but I knew that Advent was about getting ready for Christmas. I came that Sunday morning expecting stories about Mary, the baby Jesus, angels and shepherds and heard readings like today and was completely baffled. I know we have some new members since last Advent and I suspect a couple of you may be wondering the same thing.
So a little history about Advent and Christmas. For the first 300+ years of Christianity, Easter was the day. It was at the Easter Vigil that people would be baptized after a year or more of preparation. There was no concern over dying without being baptized since Augustine had not yet come up with the doctrine of original sin, so there was not need to rush.
The establishment of Christmas occurred somewhere in the mid 300s. There isn’t any agreement on the actual date of setting December 25. As I was looking this up and yes I went down a total rabbit hole Tuesday morning looking this stuff up, but I found that most say Pope Julius 1 established the date, but one source gives one date and the other gives a date that is 20 years before the other source said the Julius was consecrated pope, yet claimed he set the date. The one thing that is certain is that the date was chosen to coincide with the winter solstice and celebrations were adapted from the pagan world in hopes that the conversion of the pagans would be easier if they didn’t have to give up a major holiday for them. By the way it is the pagan roots that led the Puritans in colonial Massachusetts to ban the celebration of Christmas as a pagan holiday. So yes there was a war on Christmas but it was prerevolutionary Puritans that led the fight.
The one thing I could establish is the first mention of Advent is in 380. The original lay out is the first two weeks was about the second coming then a week for John the Baptist and then we finally get to Mary and something about baby Jesus. The idea of preparing for the second coming of Christ was very important to the early church so we carry on that tradition even today.
Following that ancient tradition the gospel reading we have this morning is about being prepared not for the birth of Jesus but for his reappearance in the second coming. This reading is all about the coming of the Kingdom. In fact last year with readings coming from the gospel of Mark there was not one single mention of the birth of Jesus. It was all end of the world stuff. That’s what Mark’s community was focused on. This year as we begin Year C of the lectionary we will be reading Luke and here we do get at least some of the story of the birth of Jesus. Yet the message is all about being prepared for God to do something wonderful and probably just a little terrifying.
Luke is writing during very tough times for the early church. They have realized that the second coming is not just around the corner. Several rounds of persecutions have already occurred; the temple has been destroyed as much as 30 or more years before Luke’s gospel was written. They really believed that the world would end soon and that leaves us in the 21st century with a bit of a problem. Now 2000 years later, the world is not ending even though there are plenty of people who seem to think it is.
What we see here in our readings especially from Jerimiah is a repeating theme of disaster for the Jewish nation followed by God acting in a way that restores the world as they knew it. Jeremiah is writing after the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the city and took much of the population captive. This is a command to be awake, be aware be ready God is about to act as God has in the past. Israel and Juday will be restored and all will be well, but they needed to be ready. A promise that a true sprout will come from the David tree.
The analogy in our Luke passage is that the fig tree is ready to sprout. The fig tree is a metaphor for Israel in the world of Luke. It’s the promise of the restoration. But they are called to wake up to pay attention.
The question then is what are we waiting for now? Some look at readings like this and say we are waiting for a physical second coming and the end of the world. This has been and is very popular in some Christian circles. These are people who are waiting for the rapture and then the end. Many are convinced that the end is near. I hear it from several of my neighbors and there are several prominent Christian writers who have been working on this theme for the past couple of years. My issue with this is people who are focused on the end times forget that we have to live in our immediate times. That there are people who are hungry, poor, ill, refugees all peoples we are supposed to care about that are more focused on today then some day in the future.
What does it mean that we are waiting for the kingdom? Is this a passive event or maybe this is about working to bring the kingdom into this world now. The theology in John’s gospel is that the resurrection marks the start of the coming of the kingdom and that it is here right now. Our call is to be alert for it and recognize the kingdom when we see it.
I spoke about this last week when I talked about how the Trinity is infused in all the world, all of creation. That we are all connected by the Trinity that fills creation. The Advent I want to call you to wake up and look around and see the kingdom that is right outside your door.
Richard Rohr in his meditation today said that Advent is a journey in awareness of Christ. Sometimes that journey is as close as turning and seeing Christ in your neighbor. Take the time to invite Christ into your life this Advent and not just the baby but the Christ who was and is and is to come.
When I walked the Camino de Santiago I went with the purpose of seeing the divine in every person and every place along the way. The thing with the Camino is that there are many Caminos in Spain. In fact you can start in almost any city in Europe and even in Jerusalem and find a Camino and they all lead to Santiago de Compostela. There is one destination but many ways to get there. That really is how the kingdom works. The center is God but there are many paths to get to the center.
Now the problem in our world is like Martha in the Martha and Mary story is that we are distracted by many things. The world pulls us in multiple directions all of which distract us from seeing the kingdom or even having the time to look for it.
Many years ago a member of a congregation came up to me and said, “Fr. Mark please tell me you aren’t planning any special programs for Advent. I know I should come but I’m too busy getting ready for Christmas.” She then blushed and said, “That didn’t come out right.” Well yes it did. It was exactly what she meant and that was the problem.
I don’t think I have talked about this but there is a movement called the Advent Conspiracy. You will find a link on the church Facebook page to see what it is about and I encourage you to watch the 3 minute video. One of my favorite points is that if you are exhausted when you get to Christmas day, then you probably haven’t done Advent right.
The four parts of this are Worship fully, spend less, give more and love all.
Worship fully, come and participate in our services and programs. Pick up a copy of the Advent book and set aside some time each to read and really ponder the message that you find in it. Spend some of your time with God and Christ.
Spend less. The message we hear is buy buy buy, spend spend spend. This then sends us into a state of business to try to give the perfect gift. Gift giving is fine, but one of the fastest growing businesses in the United States is storage facilities. Look around Katy and you see them everywhere. All places to store stuff that we don’t have room for in our homes and garages. I know a person who on January first turns all the clothes around in their closet with the hangers facing the other way. At the end of the year if she hasn’t worn the item it gets donated or thrown out.
Give more. My family now spends more in donations to charities that are important to each of us then we do on gifts. Now granted with a grandchild in the family that may have to change a little but now much does little Elly really need and how many other children do not have things like a warm coat for winter. We are accepting coats for another week in case you have not made a donation. Donations to this parish help promote our programs and our mission. Donations to all kinds of ministries around Katy help those who are in need and they are here.
Love all: If there is any one of these that is a real challenge I think this is it. A couple weeks ago PBS did a program to honor Rogers and Hammerstein. One of the musicals they featured was South Pacific. Did you know that the producers wanted them to eliminate the song You’ve got to be taught to hate? Rogers and Hammerstein said that without that song they would not allow the show to be produced. I think in today’s world we also need to be taught how to love and for that we need only look for Jesus. Jesus in his human form showed us how to love, ourselves and our neighbors.
Now I’m not saying don’t enjoy the season but I will suggest you remember the real reason for the season. The coming of Jesus into our world then, now and in the future. That is the reason for Advent. If you really want to put Christ back into Christmas consider the challenge of the Advent Conspiracy. Worship fully, spend less, give more and love fully. Now that’s a way to have a meaningful Advent and a Christ filled Christmas.