Advent I+C 29 November AD 2015 Fr.
Robert R.M. Bagwell+
All Saints' Hampton, SC
The Apocalypse of God
In 1974, Carlo
Corretto, a Roman Catholic mystic and hermit, released a book called: "the God who Comes", presents a portrait of God as the one who comes. God has
come in the garden, in the babe in Bethlehem, (incarnation), will come again (parousia)
and is continually coming. Though simple, the portrait is not simplistic. Believers
will be encouraged and inspired to believe more in a God who is present always.
The Judeo-Christian Bible from the "beginning" reveals a God who is
loving, caring, intimate and pro-active toward His Creation Let us for a moment reflect on the unique
message of the Bible. In what other tradition of any other religion on planet
earth is there is a God who pursues humankind?
This God
is one that has been termed, "the Hound of Heaven," the
"Shepherd seeking His Sheep", "the King of Love", the
"Servant King.", the One who humbles himself to win the hearts of the
people he has made. Have you noticed
that from the beginning, humanity does not move toward God, rather God moves
towards humanity. To quote Fr Carretto's
book title: He is the God who comes.
Jesus is the God who
comes. It all begins, "in the
beginning" of Genesis chapter one.
The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” which
is a translation of the Greek word parousia, as we speak of Pentecost..
Scholars believe that during the 4th and 5th centuries in
Spain and Gaul, Advent was a season of preparation for the baptism of new
Christians at the January feast of Epiphany,. During this season of
preparation, Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to
prepare for this celebration'
By the 6th
century, however, Roman Christians had firmly tied Advent to the coming of
Christ. But the “coming” they had in mind was not Christ’s first coming in the
manger in Bethlehem, but his second coming in the clouds as the judge of the
world. Unlike many in these later ages of our church when we
"pretend" that the Lord somehow has not come yet, or at least what it
was like for those believers before Jesus' first coming during the Advent/ Christmas
time in history. Given the "wars
and rumors of wars" of our time, the quality of expectation is mingled
with the preemptive dread of Armageddon in this earthly realm forgetting that
for the redeemed Church of Jesus, there will be inexpressible joy at his coming
in clouds in great glory!
The church is in a
similar situation to Israel at the end of the Old Testament: in exile, waiting
and hoping in prayerful expectation for the coming of the Messiah' During Advent the Church, looks back upon
Christ’s first coming in celebration while at the same time looking forward in
eager anticipation to the coming of Christ’s kingdom when he returns for his
people and to restore the creation as it was at the beginning.. We participate in
that redemption with our time, talents and treasures until God calls us home.
The Advent hymn “O Come,
O Come, Emmanuel” perfectly represents the church’s cry during the Advent
season: The redemption which began with the birth, ministry, death, and
resurrection of Christ Jesus, the Holy One of God, will be completed on the day
when Christ Jesus comes back AIn the manner as (the
disciples) saw Him go@
as the angels told them on Ascension Day.
Until that time, we waitCwaitCwait.
WaitingCwhat about waiting? Does anyone enjoy waiting? In line at the
grocery store? In line at a toll booth? For the end of the school year? For
report cards? For job interviews? These might be negative senses of waiting. Yet
waiting is a part of life and Christian and secular sources would testify that
it is actually a positive experience. Let me term that kind of waiting,
"anticipation". Anticipation is almost necessary for good things to come
into beingCA
healthy baby, personal intelligence,
strong personal relationships, works of art,
stable and profitable businesses,
A strong spiritual life
or a godly personal character are not developed overnight but through the exercise
of learning to wait, practice and serve others.. Scripture tells us that Athose who wait on the
Lord will renew their strength, they will soar like eagles, run without getting
tired and walk and not wear out.@
(Isaiah 40:31)Waiting on God with such an attitude pre-supposes faith in Him,
trust in Him and hope in His promise.
Only people who know
reliance on God can stand when circumstances seem to deny it. Yet there is a
sense that the world is rushing toward a culmination of history by the growing concerns of the secular worldCISIS, Russia and Turkey, Israel and her place
in God's plans, the 'black lives matter' movement, nuclear arms, rampart
starvation, crime, disease, and the world economy. The world needs a spiritual
awakening. The world needs the Savior.
Waiting is a virtue
that we should cultivate. Statisticians and sociologists tell us that our
current ultimate value is measured by the use of our time. We want to learn
good time management. ADon=t waste my time!@ someone says. We have
all kinds of devices guaranteed to save time and manage it effectively. But as we rush here and there, put more and
more activities into less and less time, have we lost our souls? Have we forgotten the virtues gained by
waiting? Have we become more "human doings" than "human
beings?" We want instantaneous everythingCafter allCAtime
is money@ the culture tells us.. The consequences of this are only beginning
to show up in our culture. We have instant access to too much information on
the information highway and we are only beginning to realize that more is not
necessarily better!.
Faxes, computers, TV,
radio, mp3 players and newspapers. Instant gratification of whatever we wantCThrough creditCbuy nowBpay later. Instant food
by restaurant and microwave. Life=s
problems are solved quickly, easily and efficiently in thirty minute segments on TV which shapes
our concepts of what we can realistically expect in life, relationships, jobs
and possessions.
If we don=t find a relationship
or a job satisfying, leave! quit! Get
another relationship or another job or go on workman's comp!! Patiently working
through, waiting for the benefits of our faithful working takes too much
time! Waiting takes too much effort!
Perseverance takes too much time! Is it
any wonder that people have fallen away from relationship with God, others and
themselves in our age? Time to develop
our spiritual lives is not the way we operate.
If Church lasts too
longCwe are wasting valuable
time. AWasting time with God@ is a concept absurd to
many. We want to be entertainedCspiritualized
and sacramentalized
in microwave time. Is it any wonder there are so many weak Christians in our
day! To be free from time=s tyranny, measuring
time as our ancestors did -- by the gentle passage of seasons, by sunrise and
sunset, not by seconds, minutes and hours.
We may think that we control time, but we actually live under its constraints.
Jesus says that when you see the fig
tree blossom, you know what time it is.
Someday, there will be
no tomorrow. The door will open and then it will shut In the New Testament the
Church expected Christ Jesus=
immediate return so there was an urgency in their proclamationC Christ Jesus might be
back any moment. They sought to win as many as possible to Christ Jesus before
His judgment of the world. It was a time
of urgent anticipation. As Christ Jesus= coming delayed, they
were involved in spreading the Gospel and building communities of believers to
the ends of the known world. As the issues of passing this faith on to other
generations became of concernCthe
organization of the Church developed.
From this Church came our Kalendar that seeks in the timelessness of God
to take us through the history of His people once per year. All time was visibly seen as God=s time.
The four weeks of
Advent have since the seventh century represented the four thousand years the
Jews awaited the promised OneCMessiah.
Advent is a time to prepareCto wait for the coming
of God as a little babyCto
remember the value of anticipation and preparation. Too many Christians do not prepare. They
celebrate the Christmas event before handCand
when it arrivesCit
is anticlimactic. They do not think to use the material blessings that God
gives to further his work, because, they
may need it tomorrow. But none of us knows when it is our last day and
those resources will be of no use to us and will have reaped us no riches in
heaven. With the ecological crisis, the threat of nuclear war, and international
monetary problems, unstable governments and disease, everyone is thinking in
apocalyptic terms, especially with terrorism.
We think apocalypse means Adoom@ but it actually means,
Arevelation@. Jesus says that for
us all there will be a day when there is no tomorrow. The invitation comes, the
door opens, the word is spoken, and it is time. It is the time to prepare
ourselves for Christ=s
second coming to judge the world that we may be ready.
As we enter this
Christian New Year today, our challenge is to make it one of preparation of
ourselves for Christ and his purposes in our lives. We need him each day as the
Savior yet to come and yet already here in our hearts. From the quietness of
the winter darkness to enter into Christ=s
illuminating light. If we do not participate in worship, if we do not commit to
being part of the Body on the day of the Resurrection and making it the
cornerstone of your weekly calendar, you will not experience the depth of the
Christian Life that God wants for you. Lastly, we might get active on behalf of
someone who needs our help. Pray for
guidance on what to do. It won=t take God long to let us
know. Advent says, STOP! Evaluate,
consider, prepare, be still, be ready.
As we enter this seasonCwould we be ready for Jesus
to come to us today? Advent is a
reminder to always be ready. The world
is for the Christian to be viewed from a perspective of the endCthe End judges the
present. ChristianCare you ableCwilling and ready for
IHS to come again? Take the time to get
ready. The last words of the Bible are these: AHe
who testifies to these things says, >yes,
I am coming soon.= Amen.
Come Lord Jesus.@ The Greek word is maranatha.. It is the season of
reminder that as we say in the creed, Ahe
will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will
have no end.@
One of my favorite
Advent anticipatory musical pieces, by Paul Manz, renders this beautifully.
Peace be to you and grace from Him
Who freed us from our sin Who loved us all, and shed his blood
That we might saved be.
Sing holy, holy to our Lord
The Lord almighty God Who was and is, and is to come
Sing holy, holy Lord.
Rejoice in heaven,
all ye that dwell therein
Rejoice on earth, ye saints below
For Christ is coming,
Is coming soon
For Christ is coming soon.
E'en so Lord Jesus quickly come
And night shall be no more
They need no light, no lamp, nor sun
For Christ will be their All!
Who freed us from our sin Who loved us all, and shed his blood
That we might saved be.
Sing holy, holy to our Lord
The Lord almighty God Who was and is, and is to come
Sing holy, holy Lord.
Rejoice in heaven,
all ye that dwell therein
Rejoice on earth, ye saints below
For Christ is coming,
Is coming soon
For Christ is coming soon.
E'en so Lord Jesus quickly come
And night shall be no more
They need no light, no lamp, nor sun
For Christ will be their All!
Even soCmaranathaC Lord Jesus
quickly come !
AMEN
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