1st Sunday of Advent, Year A
See TEXT below Matthew 24:37-44
This Sunday we begin the new church year, we do so by observing Advent. In Advent the church reminds us that we wait. If fact, if we get the correct cadence of Advent there is an ache inside of us, a deep longing for the presence of GOD that nothing else can fill.
We see the brokenness of the world, the violence, the hate, the greed; we see the poor, the cholera filled slums and the swollen bellies of children, and we have this continuous, dull pain that causes compassion and sadness to well up and flow out in prayer:
O LORD Jesus, how long? How long?
Ere we shout the glad song
Christ returneth Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Amen
But it is precisely here where the struggle for us occurs at the deepest level of our faith-lives. Many of us in the church in the West do not ache at all; we do not long for the Christ-present. Even in these difficult times things are still going too well for most of us and we do not need anything to restrict us or mess with our agendas.
Let's face it, we do not live like most of the world, we have material wealth and the power to structure our own lives, which silently makes Jesus' words here strain our desire and dilute our passion. We have so much invested in this present kingdom that it is unbelievably difficult to have any time or talent for the coming of the his Kingdom. This is called cultural captivity.
The words of the TEXT therefore are especially for us:
THE DAYS OF NOAH
“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man."
The days of Noah were days of ordinary time; one day following the next, attention on the present, investment on the self. Then suddenly everything shifted and the world changed overnight. What was normal gave way to a new normal. I cannot read these words without thinking of both the Exodus and Mary's canticle in St. Luke's Gospel.
I call this the great repeal. Think of it, one moment you are the Pharaoh -- on top of the world, and in the next your economy is wrecked, your nation broken in mourning and your wealth is given away! It is startling to think about the repeal of greatness, which should bring us up short as it serves to remind us that no nation, no matter how wealthy, can forget the truth that we reap what we sow.
This, I think, is what Mary is proclaiming in her Magnificat, the broken, the poor, the anawim (the dispossessed) will one day be made whole:
"And Mary said, 'My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.'" (Luke 1:46-55)
ONE WILL BE TAKEN ONE WILL BE LEFT
The language of exclusion here is particularly difficult for our ears. Since we are sure we are OK (1 Cor.10:12), we also want everyone else to be included. But such is not the case. Not because GOD is not fair, but because he is immanently fair. He gives us the freedom to choose and allows us what we want. Which means to tell us that one is only left out should one chose to be, and some will choose this path.
But there is more here. We must take seriously the truth that it greatly matters what we do. Our behavior causes ripples that never cease, and our actions influence the world beyond our capability to know. This is the power behind Jesus' golden rule, the modern equivalent being: We should only act how we would wish the rest of the world to act.
SO, YOU TOO MUST BE PREPARED
In this world there are no guarantees; there are not promises other than the LORD's promised presence. So we must know that this day may be our last day; that this hour we may hear the end chime.
How do you prepare for this?
It is clear that we must be sure that all is right between GOD and us, we must prepare to meet our GOD. To be honest, I do not know much what this means, other than to proclaim the message of the King himself -- "Repent and believe."
Repent. This is a change of mind which leads to a change of action. That is, our behavior is to change and bend toward the Son of Man and his life and teachings and actions. It is not enough, then, to offer him our Sunday mornings and save the rest for ourselves. Somehow we must break the stranglehold of the cultural captivity and truly offer ourselves to the Jesus-way. Said differently, what Jesus offers us supremely is a new way to live.
Believe. This is the culmination of all we are, offered to the one for whom we wait -- the one we cannot wait to see -- knowing that in that day all will be made right, including the end of the self-life which so plagues us now. It is only by this freely offered life that we begin to discover that true life lies not in what we accumulate, but, strangely enough in what we give away.
Matthew 24:37-44
Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
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