Advent Watching

For the first week in Advent every year the lectionary passages have to do with a similar theme, watching and waiting for Christ.  But it is not the watching and waiting that we might expect at Christmas.  It is not watching and waiting for the baby in the manger, or for the star to appear in the sky.  It is watching and waiting for the second coming of the Messiah, the Christ that we have been assured will come again to make all things new.  This first week in Advent we look forward to what is to come because we recognize the significance of what happed over 2 thousand years ago in Bethlehem.  We recognize that Advent marks something momentous:  God’s coming into our midst.  That coming is not just something that happened in the past.  It is something that we continue to look forward to here and now.  And because we continue to look forward, Advent is not merely a commemorative event or an anniversary, but a yearly opportunity for us to consider the future second Advent – the promised coming of God’s kingdom on earth.  Advent both anticipates God’s fresh beginnings with creation in the person of Jesus Christ and, at the same time, celebrates the promise that that same Jesus Christ will return to consummate all history under his gracious rule. 

We are called to live our lives in a constant state of readiness, of prayerful watching  because we do not know when Christ will return.  It is not enough to only be prepared at Christmas Eve and Easter.  We are supposed to be ready for Christ’s return every minute of every day.  We recognize that we live broken lives in a broken world that is in need to a savior.  A Savior that came in the form of a baby that changed our lives and our world forever, a Savior that will come again.  The Isaiah 64:1-9 is a prayer by a people that are powerless and under oppression.  It is a prayer that comes out of a sense of desperation about a situation that is out of control and a bold and confident trust in God who can intervene to make life peaceable and joyful.  It is a prayer by a people who were desperately waiting for the coming of the Messiah.   We live on the other side of this prayer because we know that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, came to earth in the form of a baby in a manger, was crucified for our sins and was raised from the dead, and will indeed come again. 

During the holiday season we often get so caught up in December 24 & 25th that we do not really live the days leading up to them.  We skip by all the other days with our eyes are hearts firmly planted on those two days.  Christmas can be a time of contrasting emotions.  We are eager, yet frazzled; sentimental, yet indifferent.  One minute we are aglow at the thought of getting together with our family and friends; the next we feel utterly lonely.  Our hope is mingled with dread, our anticipation with despair.  We sense the deeper meanings of the season but grasp at them in vain; and in the end, all the bustle leaves us frustrated and drained.  How many of us share the longing of the ancient prophets, like Isaiah, who awaited the Messiah with such aching intensity that they foresaw his arrival thousands of years before he was born? 

The time of Advent in our church calendar is for a time of preparation for the arrival of the Messiah.  We are called to be ready for when Christ will come.  We are called to go about our daily tasks as faithful Christians, reading, praying, encouraging one another, and helping those in need every day knowing that that Christ will return to make all things new.