Preparation

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
November 27, 2016

1 Advent A

          When our sons, Slocomb and Caldwell, were little boys, my aunt gave them Advent calendars. The calendars had small doors cut into them, one door for each day until Christmas, and behind each door was a small piece of chocolate. Each night in December, they got to open one of the doors and mark off one more day until Christmas by eating a piece of chocolate. So far as Slocomb and Caldwell were concerned, all time moved toward Christmas and the only time that mattered was the number of days left until that holy day. Advent was a season, not so much of waiting, as of marking time. How many days left until Christmas? The theology here is simple: when the chocolate is gone, Jesus is here. 

          While that theology of Advent is perhaps a bit shallow, I have to say that I like that version of Advent better than what I hear in the gospel lesson this morning. On this first Sunday of Advent, when we might hope to hear something about the coming birth of the Christ child, something that will inspire us for this time of waiting, instead we hear Jesus compare his return with high level security, the preparation, or lack thereof, for the Great Flood, and a woman being taken up from her work grinding wheat. Where is that Advent calendar with the little pieces of chocolate??? I have to say that neither the image of preparation for a flood, nor being taken up from my daily work, nor being in a state of lock-down to prevent a thief from breaking into my house make me long for the coming of the Son of Man. Besides, aren’t we supposed to welcome Jesus rather than lock him out? I much prefer Isaiah’s vision of people beating their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and nations not lifting up sword against nation, and no one learning war anymore. Isaiah calls us to wait for this day by walking in the light of the Lord. Jesus calls us to prepare for his return as if we were expecting a thief to break into our home. 

          Whose image of the coming of the Messiah is correct? Isaiah’s or Jesus’? In true Anglican fashion, the answer, of course, is "yes." While Isaiah gives us a vision of the world coming together in peaceful unity, Jesus reminds us that we have no calendar, chocolate or otherwise, to tell us when that will happen. Jesus’ message is not that his return will be a flood, a kidnaping or a theft, but that God will break in among us while we are going about our everyday work, living our everyday lives, with no advance notice, so we need to be prepared. According to Jesus, just as there were no signs that the great flood was coming, just as two women will be about their daily work grinding meal when one will be taken, just as a thief breaks in without warning, so will Jesus come. There will be no 4 weeks of Advent to prepare. We will have to be ready because the call to the holy mountain, to gather in peace as God’s people, will come without warning.

How are we to be ready? I am reminded of the way that people and whole cities, states, and countries for that matter, prepare for hurricane season. Tremendous energy and resources are used to board up houses, fill sandbags, stock groceries, water and other necessities, and move to higher ground, because the people’s lives depend on being ready for the wind and rains to come. But is disaster preparedness really the metaphor we want when we think about being prepared for Jesus?

          Preparation for anything involves practice. If we want to be prepared for a recital, we practice. If we want to be prepared to host a dinner party, we practice our recipes on our family. If we want to be prepared for the test, we practice. And, because Jesus himself talks about floods and kidnappings, if we want to be prepared for disaster, we practice. So, if we want to recognize the Christ child when he is born, we practice recognizing those places where he is born among us now. How do we practice that? The apostle Paul gives us some idea of how we practice in the letter to the Romans. In the passage just before our reading from Romans this morning, Paul tells us to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. This morning we hear Paul tell us to lay aside works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Practice being people of light. We are to practice living fully, fulfilling all the law simply by loving one another and living honorably, and doing this with all the intensity and energy we would put into preparing for a flood, kidnaping, or a theft. 

          Advent calls us to a season of practice by calling us to live as if the Christ child will be born in our midst this very minute to usher in the Reign of God. The irony is that, if we live as Paul and Jesus call us to, we will be doing our part to make the future peaceful kingdom that Isaiah describes a more present reality in this world in our lifetime. Jesus told us that no one knows the hour, the place, or the manner in which he will return, this is true. But Jesus also proclaimed that the Kingdom of God has arrived, and told us that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, growing among us until sometime in the future when the Kingdom will appear in all its fullness. Jesus calls us to prepare for his coming by living as if that for which we wait has already arrived. 

          So we wait and we practice. Advent is so much more than just counting down the days until Christmas. Advent is the call to be prepared, not by stockpiling necessities or by locking all our doors, but by living in the light, looking for those places where the Christ Child is born in our midst now. And when we live into Advent, Isaiah’s vision of the peaceful city will come just a little bit closer.

                                                                             Amen.