Advent the First. Jesus is coming back. Seriously. No I’m not kidding. And no I’m not just telling you this to convert you. He really is. Promise.
Matthew 24:36-44; Romans 13:11-14; Psalm 122; Isaiah 2:1-5
I really don’t like this time of year. It’s not cause it’s always busy. It’s definitely not because it’s cold and snowy. (Actually, I really love that part.) It’s not even the secularization and commercialism surrounding Christmas that I don’t like. The thing that bothers me about this time of year is that everyone is getting things ready, but no-one is getting ready for the right things.
But Pastor, you might say, we’re getting ready for Jesus’ birth. We’re going to celebrate God’s Word incarnate, the image of God in human form for the purpose of saving us from our sin! Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be preparing for? Well that’s part of it. Yes the season of Advent is a time of preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth. But there’s more to Advent than just that.
Take our gospel lesson for today. Jesus had very recently come into Jerusalem to the shouts and praise of a large crowd. He then heads straight to the temple, getting all of the merchants and money changers out of God’s house. The next day, he goes back to Jerusalem and basically spends the day embarrassing the Pharisees and Sadducees by using the traps they were trying to set for Jesus against them. Finally, on the way out of the Temple, Jesus’ disciples make a comment about how wonderful the buildings are, to which Jesus replies, “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
The disciples, understandably somewhat concerned by this, waited until the crowd had dispersed and asked Jesus when all of these things were going to happen. After a little while we get to our Gospel text for today, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father… Therefore, keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”
It’s rather an interesting statement, and one that Jesus is incredibly clear on. It becomes even more clear later when Jesus mentions that even though he’s leaving he has every intention of returning in power. Jesus is coming back, we don’t know when, but it’s soon. This is something that we, as 21st Century Christians, aren’t used to really dealing with. Sure, we say every week in the Creed, “he will come again to judge the living and the dead”, but do we really believe that?
If Jesus came back this afternoon, would you be ready? The early church was. So much so that there was a good deal of concern when the Twelve Apostles started to get old and die and Jesus wasn’t back yet. They expected his return, quite literally, any day. They figured Jesus was going to take a weekend trip, possibly a month long Sabbatical. It was only after several years had passed that they even started to think of writing down the things Jesus did and taught.
Unfortunately, after several hundred years had passed, the church started getting complacent. Jesus’ return was no longer expected any day. Sure, various groups kept popping up insisting that Christ’s return was happening, especially around great disasters, plagues, and calendar events (much like keeps happening today) but the church as a whole was operating under the assumption that Jesus was not coming back anytime soon.
This attitude continues today. But the truth is, even after nearly two thousand years, Jesus is coming soon. To me, that is as much of a fact as his rising from the grave. Do I always live in that reality? No, and I’ll be the first to admit that. But I ask the Holy Spirit that I can do so more and more.
This is what the season of Advent really is about. Yes, we prepare for Christmas. But more so we prepare for Christ the King to rule with power. Advent, in a lot of ways, is like Lent. It’s a time to take a look at our lives and how we live them, and ask ourselves if we’re ready for Christ’s return.
Christ’s return isn’t something to obsess about, though. We shouldn’t be pouring through Scripture trying to figure out the exact date that Jesus will return. People have been doing that for two thousand years too, and so far they’ve always been wrong. I’m good with just knowing that Jesus is coming soon, and I want with everything I am to be ready for Him.