Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent, 2009

My brothers & sisters, redemption is here and available in Christ.

Our first lesson from Jeremiah comes from the time when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC. In bad times, the prophet told of God’s love for his people. Today’s passage was edited or written centuries later. We hear that it is a certainty that a time will come when God will complete His promises. That is what we heard about God restoring both the people of Israel and the linage of David.

I our second reading, Paul expresses his gratitude for the Thessalonians and looks forward to seeing them again. When he was in Thessalonica, he had predicted that some Christians there would be persecuted. This has now happened; he has sent Timothy to strengthen and encourage them for the sake of your faith, so no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Timothy has now returned to Paul in Athens, and has conveyed to him that the Thessalonians are strong. Indeed, their faith has encouraged Paul in facing persecution himself.

Paul in turn prays for them:
• that he may visit them again
• that they may have a superabundance of love for their fellow Christians and for all;
• that their very beings (hearts) may become so God-like (so holy) that they may be totally free of sin when Christ comes again.

In our reading from Luke, we again see Jesus predicting his second coming. The end will be delayed: the killing and deportation of citizens will continue “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled,” i.e., until non-Jews have had the opportunity to come to Christ. In spite of the delay, the era will end before all those alive now have died. Obviously Luke misunderstood how soon Jesus would return. But, we do still look for that day.

Today we begin the season of Advent. It is the season of preparation and anticipation of the anniversary of Christ’s coming into our world. However it is not just for the retelling of that story. More importantly, it is preparation for the return of the Messiah in glory. There is an understanding amongst disciples of Jesus from the first century through to the present day; that the Messiah’s first appearance was to reopen the door for us to have individual relationships with our Creator.

From our gospel today we are given a message that I believe many Christians miss. “Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Rather than take this to heart we generally fear Christ’s return. Some of this is rooted in our natural fear of the unknown; some in the outrageous imagery of Revelations and the battle of Armageddon; some of it is shear morbid fascination. We have such a fascination that the movie industry even makes huge “end off the world” productions. An easy example is the movie about the prediction of the Mayan calendar that the world will end in 2012.

But the Gospel message is not strictly about things that one should fear. It is also about triumph; the vindication of believers; the end of evil and suffering and finally, the restoration of our ideal relationship with our Creator. Not exactly something to be frightened about. Yes we do want to be ready, not caught in our personal sinfulness. But that is not a frightening proposition either. We have in Christ the maximum richness of forgiveness. Let’s face it, our generation may be more technological than any before it. But we have not come up with any sins that Christ has not seen and heard before. Let us not shy from seeking and enjoying His forgiveness. Let us look forward to celebrating the anniversary of his first coming this Christmas and let us look forward to his return. Doing our part as we are called and trusting Christ for all the things that are beyond us.