Advent 1, Year A (November 27, 2022) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
1 Advent, Yr A (2022)
Isaiah 2:1-5
Matthew 24:36-44
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
who was, and is, and is to come. Amen.
Waiting is hard.
This year a few weeks before Halloween I went into Home Depot to grab a few things and was greeted by merry ole Santa Claus and his faithful reindeer troupe standing next to a grove of artificial Christmas trees.
I don’t know who was decorating at that point for Christmas,
but the supplies were certainly available.
I guess it’s never too soon to get ready for Christmas,
which according to my calendar begins on the evening of December 24th!
We apparently don’t even have to wait until Black Friday any more to get great shopping deals…the “Black Friday” deals begin as early as the beginning of November.
I don’t think there is any longer even a “rush” at the stores the day after Thanksgiving.
Perhaps people have already gotten their deals.
No need to wait.
Let’s face it: there is no cultural season of Advent…
only Christmas.
In fact, with everything available at the click of a button,
there is little waiting for anything…
Except the really, really hard stuff.
Like waiting to hear the lab result from the doctor’s office.
Or waiting for the time it takes to heal from trauma…
or a broken relationship.
In this season of Advent, we talk about living in the in-between times:
the time between the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us…
and the time that Christ will return again.
Matthew tells us that no one knows the hour when Jesus will return,
not even Jesus!
That’s a bit disconcerting…
to wait in the unknown.
To wait with no end-point to the waiting.
Today’s gospel text leaves us with a profound sense of uncertainty,
which perhaps mirrors our own lives from time to time…
or maybe even all too often.
Jesus tells the disciples, “about that day and hour no one knows,
neither the angels of heaven,
nor the Son,
but only the Father.”
He follows that up by giving examples of pairs of people being taken unawares:
one taken,
one left.
And the one who is taken
and the one who is left
often make no sense to us.
Why was this person taken
and this one left?
Then, at the end of the passage,
in case we weren’t listening carefully –
Jesus underscores again that the Son of Man will come at an unexpected hour.
Uncertainty,
surprise,
unexpected events.
These are things we know well.
Perhaps it is because we know them so well in our daily lives of unexpected events:
showing up not only on news feeds
but also in our personal lives –
that we grasp for certainty in any ways that we can.
It is hard to let go and trust God with our lives.
It is hard to not worry.
Waiting is simply a part of life.
But, what is the character of our waiting?
Might we be able to wait with hope?
Jesus tells us,
in the midst of uncertainty,
to keep watch for the presence of God.
That isn’t always easy,
especially when the unexpected event is tragic.
Where is the presence of God when people are gunned down in a public place?
While this feels extreme,
almost all of us have experienced tragic moments in our own lives.
Sometimes we have to wait a while to see God’s presence,
and that, too, is hard.
Yet the promise throughout Scripture is that God meets us in our moments of greatest need and accompanies us through the most difficult of circumstances.
In today’s passage,
Jesus commands us to keep awake and stay alert for the presence of God
because we have no idea when and where God will show up.
He likens God’s return to a thief showing up in the middle of the night.
Perhaps Jesus is suggesting that it is in our darkest moments that God is most likely to show up…or at least to be seen.
Perhaps when we are at our lowest and most vulnerable,
we are most able to be aware of God’s presence.
Watching and waiting were difficult for Jesus’ disciples…
Watching and waiting are equally as difficult for us!
Perhaps even more so as two millennia have passed since Jesus accompanied his disciples.
How long, O Lord…
how long must we wait?
You and I have no idea when the Christ will return.
That is OK,
for we are promised that God walks with us even now.
We remind one another of God’s love for each of us
as we are present to and with one another…
even, and especially, in our darkest hours.
I offer the invitation to each of us this Advent
to be on the lookout for where God shows up in our lives.
Where does a flicker – or steady stream – of Light show up in the darkness?
Perhaps it’s when you walk outside in the evening
and see a sliver of a moon shining
with a brilliant planet sparkling just beneath.
Or when a friend texts to see how you are doing and invites you for coffee.
Or perhaps it’s when we share a meal and fellowship with family or friends or strangers.
We come to church week by week to remind ourselves of and to experience God’s presence in our lives.
Sometimes when we arrive,
we are struggling to see God at work in the ups and downs of our lives…
and sometimes God’s presence is crystal clear.
Sometimes we need other people to carry our faith for us.
Sometimes we carry faith for others.
This is why we gather together as a Christian community:
to bear Christ’s presence to one another
and to encourage each other to keep awake and be watchful.
For “about that day and hour no one knows,
neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son,
but only the Father.”
Wherever we find ourselves today,
we gather to hear that God promises to be with us
and with others through us.
We never know when tragedy will strike.
Nor do we know when an incredible blessing may occur.
We never know.
But what we do know is this:
God is present here and now.
Sometimes it is hard to see,
and then we need help.
Sometimes it is obvious to us,
and then we can help others to see.
That is how the Body of Christ works together to witness to Christ’s light in the world.
So, let us join together in the waiting
and preparing…
that we may be alert to the in-breaking of God’s presence in our lives and in the world.
Amen.
