Sermon delivered on Advent Sunday, December 1, 2013 at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church, Columbus, OH.
If you would like to listen to the audio podcast of this sermon, click here.
Lectionary texts: Isaiah 2.1-5; Psalm 122.1-9; Romans 13.11-14; Matthew 24.36-44.
The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God. That is a process in which we now participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate. Scripture reading for today and the days to come will reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent, including themes of accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life.
In this double focus on past and future, Advent also symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and a congregation, as they affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power. That acknowledgment provides a basis for Kingdom ethics, for holy living arising from a profound sense that we live “between the times” and are called to be faithful stewards of what is entrusted to us as God’s people. So, as the church celebrates God’s inbreaking into history in the Incarnation, and anticipates a future consummation to that history for which “all creation is groaning awaiting its redemption,” it also confesses its own responsibility as a people commissioned to “love the Lord your God with all your heart” and to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Which of course echoes what we believe in st. Augustine “changed by God to make a difference for God”. This is better illustrated by what the church did last week by rapping Christmas gift for the kids through the good Samaritan purse.
Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world. It is the cry of those who have experienced the tyranny of injustice in a world under the curse of sin, and yet who have hope of deliverance from a God who has heard the cries of oppressed and brought deliverance!
It is that hope, however faint at times, and that God, however distant He sometimes seems, which brings to the world the anticipation of a King who will rule with truth and justice and righteousness over His people and in His creation. It is that hope that once anticipated, and now anticipates anew, the reign of an Anointed One, a Messiah, who will bring peace and justice and righteousness to the world.
In our OT reading Today What Isaiah sees is not taking place now, but “in the days to come.” People of every nation will stream to Mt. Zion, including those who were enemies of Israel and Judah. God’s instruction will go forth from Jerusalem; God will judge between the nations. The people will be transformed by this teaching. And there will be peace all over. Thus Israel is called to walk in the light of the Lord.
The community in Rome reflects the diversity that Isaiah saw and is a result of God’s action in the world through Christ. When Paul talks about sôteria (salvation) in Romans, he refers to the manner in which God has revealed God’s people as composed of Jews and Gentiles.
If salvation is understood in terms of God creating a people for God, then the implications of salvation become community-oriented and are concerned with the ways in which different nations can live together and give glory to God in their life together (Romans 15:5-6). Salvation needs to be realized socially.
As we anticipate the coming of the Lord what is expected of us church?
- We are invited to walk in the light of the Lord Isaiah 5. Pauls put its it that we put on the armor of light and lay aside works of darkness
– walking in the light is an invitation COME!
– walking in the light is communal: O HOUSE OF JACOB
Realize that Jesus is the “Light of the world,” and as Christians we are called to let His light shine in this world through us.
- We are called upon to be ready so that we will not be found unaware Matt. 24:35-44
All seems beautiful and peaceful. These are signs of vigilance. So, to adhere to what is said in the text, believers in Christ will likewise be vigilant for the coming of Christ in his own good time — a time that cannot be predicted. Therefore it is appropriate, as the saying goes, to live each day as though it may be the last. We cannot postpone fulfilling our commitments to be the persons we aspire to be.
God has established the Church as a city on a hill in order to serve in God’s universal mission, to be a place where all the nations of the world learn peace.
As we long and anticipate for God to come, may it be our prayer that God help us to walk in the light and shine fourth His light to the world. In the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, AMEN.