Stay awake - be ready!

1 Advent/Year A

November 27, 2022

(Sermon by Rev Julie Platson)                              

Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44

 

1st advent candle: HOPE

God of hope, be with us in our Advent journey to the stable and beyond,

be with us in our meeting and in our travelling together,

be with us in our worship and our praying together,

be with us in our Advent journey to the stable and beyond,

our God of hope. Amen.

 

Today is the 1st Sunday of Advent – the beginning of a new year on the church calendar…

Our season of Advent begins with an invitation from our Isaiah reading: Come, let us walk in the light of the world…Psalm 122 gives us an image of peace…Peace be within your walls and quietness within your towers…In Paul’s letter to the Romans…we are told: You know what time it is, how now is the moment to wake from sleep…In the gospel of Matthew we are urged to stay awake and be ready….for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour…

The season of Advent…stirs up a whole lot of new, but old questions…

What time is it? How much longer? How will we know? What signs should we watch for? How many more days until we can celebrate once again the beloved stories of Jesus’ birth shared during our Christmas celebrations? How much longer must we watch and wait until Christ comes again?

Well, today…is only the 1st Sunday of Advent…the beginning of a new year on the church calendar…So, we are just beginning again…to ask all of these questions anew…to ponder the meaning, once again, of both the 1st and 2nd comings of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to consider what it means for us, in this time of our lives…

I think one of the greatest tools we have for our use in this season of Advent, to assist us in this time of waiting and watching and asking the questions that help us stay awake and be ready for the ways God is showing up in the most unexpected times, and places…is our advent calendar…

The advent calendar can help us slow down, take a one day at a time approach, help open our minds and hearts to focus on “being ready”, spiritually ready, watching and waiting for the coming of Christ again...and help us to put Jesus back in the center of all our celebrations at Christmas, and beyond…

This time of year, society is always pressuring us to hurry up, do more, you better get ready, the holidays are coming soon… you need to get all the shopping done, get all the gifts wrapped, get all the baking and decorating done, plan all the Holiday parties…all the things that, yes…can be fun and bring us so much joy…but can also, leave us exhausted by the time Christmas Day actually arrives…and once Christmas Day is over…can leave us feeling let down sometimes…and leave us wondering – now what? And, for people missing loved ones this time of year, the constant pressure to “get ready” for the holidays can make this time of year even more overwhelming and difficult…

The advent calendar can help us “be ready, spiritually ready…by transforming our minds and hearts to be watchful, to be awake to the ways God has always been longing to get our attention…is longing to come again into our lives…longing for us to pay attention to the signs of hope all around us…signs of renewal and hope for ourselves, and for the people in our communities, who we journey through this life together with…

This particular advent calendar that Forward movement publishes every year, with new daily short messages, questions to consider, small actions to take…is just one that I commend to your use this Advent…

Hang it up somewhere in your home, where you will see it…and take time to pause and reflect on the daily message…

The large words at the top should catch your attention, every morning…Slow down. Quiet. It’s Advent…The sub-title’s words, Twenty-Eight Days to Seek new life within and around you…can give you a vision and a hope for how your heart, mind and life can be transformed anew, and indeed made ready, in this new year, to welcome the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ into your lives, once again…this Christmas…and beyond…

As we begin this season of Advent, we are given the opportunity to continue to explore, further, the Five Marks of Mission, as adapted by Bishop Mark in his call to the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska, to a time of renewal and growth in discipleship… And this Advent Calendar…is a great resource to help us do that…to help us think more about our relationship with Jesus, and share stories about our faith and our hopes with others; to help us learn more about the gospel readings we hear throughout the season of Advent, and how they relate to our lives now; to help us discern where we might be called this time of year, to reach out and offer support to a neighbor in need; to help encourage us to do something to promote racial reconciliation this Advent season; to help us take note of the love of God as revealed in creation, in this month of December and discern ways to protect this precious gift…and to help us be faithful in other ways, teaching us to be good stewards of all the gifts and treasures entrusted to us to use for the good of our community… our finances, our time, our talents…

The advent calendar can help us slow down, take a one day at a time approach, help open our minds and hearts to focus on “being ready”, spiritually ready, watching and waiting for the coming of Christ again...and help us put Jesus back in the center of all our celebrations at Christmas, and beyond…

Watching and waiting is something that is best done, together...together, you and I, and with Jesus, at the center of our lives…

So, let’s enter into this season of Advent together…with a commitment to help each other stay awake…and be ready…for the Lord is coming soon…the hope, peace, joy and love of God…is coming into our lives again soon!

 

Let us pray:  HYMN after sermon: Stay awake, be ready

My Heart Sings Out, #62 – vs 1 - recording

 

1        Stay awake, (clap, clap) be ready. (clap, clap)

          You do not know the hour when the Lord is coming.

          Stay awake, (clap, clap) be ready. (clap, clap)

          The Lord is coming soon!

          Alleluia, alleluia!

          The Lord is coming soon.