Waiting for the
One Who is Already Here
Isaiah 2: 1-5; Romans 13: 11-14; Matthew
24:36-44
Today is the First Sunday of Advent and “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!” On Thursday, people excused themselves from their Thanksgiving tables to hit the malls to be among the first to take advantage of the “Black Friday” sales. Were you there? Sirius Satellite Radio has been playing Christmas music nonstop since November 1st. Have you been listening? The Hallmark Channel has been running their marathon of Christmas movies since . . . well, did they ever stop? Have you started watching? And some people have already decorated the outside of their houses with lights and put up their tree. Have you? Yes, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!”
After the leaves have all fallen and the world has become more desolate and cold; after life has taken on a dreary cast and we, too, feel somewhat dreary after struggling through another year - suddenly there is this season that is full of hope for a new beginning, for new life. A promise that life can be different, that there are new possibilities for life and for living. A whole new world comes into being at Christmas - a magical world full of flying reindeer, elves, snowmen and Santa Claus. A world full of new possibilities; a place where it seems like the impossible could almost happen. Because two thousand years ago, the impossible DID happen: God took on human flesh in the person of a tiny baby born in a stable in the city of Bethlehem.
And Advent, the season we begin today, is the signpost, pointing the way to Bethlehem. This is a time of preparation and anticipation. Shopping, candy ribbons, Advent calendars, the lighting of the Advent wreath - all help us to prepare; all point us toward Christmas. But we need to be sure that the incidentals don't crowd him out. The shopping, the baking, the carols - all of those things can be great ways of celebrating the miracle - but they're just the window-dressing on the season. If they become the focus, we will get to the end of the season and wonder what happened? What happened to the Child of Christmas?
That’s why our Advent readings open with this warning: "Watch! Be ready!” The signs of his coming are already all around us. Not in the tinsel and glitter and merrymaking. Not in the lovely carols or beautifully decorated houses. But Jesus tells us that it will be as in the days of Noah. He says when things are "business as usual," where some are partying and having a good time in the midst of those who are poor, hungry, desperate - when you see that happen - then you know the kingdom is near. When you see cruelty, disruption, discord, hatred and strife. When the world seems out of control - then you can be sure it’s time for Emmanuel, “God with us.” It's time for his kingdom to come. It's time for the promise to be given birth.
And it’s not just to the tragedies and upheaval of the world that he comes. But in the times and in places when we feel alone, disconnected from the world, alienated from others (and maybe even from ourselves). In times of personal loss, moments of disappointment, occasions of failure, loneliness and personal need. It’s here and it’s then that Christ comes . . . Emmanuel . . . God-with-US. It’s then that, if we’ve been watching; it’s there that, if we’ve been waiting; it’s now that, if we have prepared, that Christmas becomes, not just a day, but a person.
The promise of Christmas comes when it’s most needed. And the irony of Advent is that we watch, we wait and we prepare for the One who is already here. That’s why every moment of life is a moment of hope and possibility. Any moment he may come to us, if we’re open like Mary and Joseph and the shepherds, to receiving him. The kingdom is waiting to break into your world. The signs of it are everywhere. Watch! Wait! Be ready! Not just when the carols are playing. Not just when you feel Christmasy. But also, and especially, when the world seems dark to you and you feel far from God's kingdom of love, peace, joy and justice.
The “holiday season” all around us, the “commercial season” tapping our bank accounts, the “social season” of decorations, gifts and parties – none of these are particularly beneficial in helping us welcome Jesus into our hearts. But the “Advent season” is:
- For this is the season to find some quiet time to sit with our Lord in prayer and share with him the joys and the worries, the triumphs and the hurts, the successes and the disappoints in our hearts right now.
- This is the season, not for buying, consuming and filling up on everything - but rather – for emptying ourselves out to make room for Jesus to come into our hearts and make himself at home there.
- This is the season to focus, not so much on things whose shelf-life is so short, but on those realities that can and do last forever.
- This is the season to appreciate that the greatest Christmas gift ever given or received is God’s gift of love to us in his Son, Jesus: in his gospel, in his death and resurrection, and in the Sacrament of his presence at the altar.
