All Saints Celtic Communion 3.12.06 Advent 1 Luke 21, 25-36

In the name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I bring you good news. We are now in the season of Advent. We are waiting during this special time for the coming of Jesus. Anticipation and preparation are the order of the season. This is the spirit of Advent - expectant, preparation, longing.

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 and hope of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent.

We are told to prepare ourselves, get ready! Watch yourselves! He is coming, and you do not want to miss it. So prepare! As in Lent, we are penitently waiting, praying and watching. We are fasting, and keeping guard at night, knowing that He is coming. It is an exciting time in the church year because we know what is coming. Christ takes on our flesh and we receive Him. The incarnation presents our Lord to us and Advent has us waiting actively and expectantly.

The colour at this beginning of the Church year is purple - the colour to mark penitence and fasting as well as the colour of royalty to welcome the Advent of the King. Purple of course is used throughout Lent and Holy Week. This points to the important connection between Jesus’ birth and death. The purpose of the “Word made flesh” and dwelling among us, is to reveal God and His grace to the world through Jesus’ life and teaching, but also through his suffering, death and resurrection.

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Therefore, Advent is a time to reflect. A time to reflect historically on the people who appear in the Christmas story.

We should think about Mary and Joseph, and also Elizabeth and Zechariah.

The stories of the angels visiting Mary and Joseph are well known. We are told that Zechariah and Elizabeth were old and had no children of their own. Zechariah was a priest in the temple and one day when serving there, he saw the angel Gabriel. He was so unbelieving of the power of the Lord that he was struck dumb until Jesus was born.

We know very little else about any of these people, but they are crucial to the story. Luke gives us a potted history of Joseph’s ancestors, and he provides us with some of the most wonderful words that we still use in some of our services, which he attributes to Mary and Zechariah. The words of the Song of Mary - the Magnificat - are Mary’s response when she visits her cousin Elizabeth and is received with great joy.

After the birth of his son, John, Zechariah speaks words of wonder and praise. We call it the Benedictus. Someone, somewhere, in the world will be saying or singing these songs now.

It is important that we think about real people from the bible at this time. What were they thinking? How did they feel? How would it change their lives? As both sets of parents looked forward with a mixture of fear, excitement and anticipation, what they could not have foreseen was the impact that both of their sons would have for the rest of time.

So what does the birth of Christ mean to us today? Advent is a beginning, a time to look forward, a time to prepare. However, it is not just a preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

The whole point of Advent is that we are to start this year and every New Year by preparing ourselves for the second coming of Christ. Towards the end of his teaching, Jesus promised his disciples, as he promises us, that he will come again. However, the point He makes is that we will not know when He is coming. He will come “like a thief in the night”. There will be no warning, so we need to be ready. To be ready and prepared to let Christ come into our lives - the crucified and resurrected One. It is a time of hope.

Hope! But you may say where is the hope in today’s Gospel Reading? There is doom and gloom, destruction, chaos and catastrophe. We hear of mysterious signs in the sun, moon and stars. Where is hope?

There is hope in this passage from Luke. Jesus says: “when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near”. He speaks of fig trees, a symbol of life out of death, a symbol that comes after the winter, the hope of new birth.

Redemption, God’s kingdom and new birth are the images of Advent. Hope indeed! Redemption - God’s act of freeing His people in need, giving us the promise of freedom. God’s kingdom is near means the realm of God is here on earth. It comes in human form, not only with Jesus, but also in all life on earth. In addition, the hope of new birth.

Well we have to be prepared in a time of war, malnutrition, ecological disaster, global warning - An inconvenient truth the film by Al Gore is coming soon. I suggest you go and see it. We do not necessarily have to move to a new planet as Stephen Hawking as suggested Our hope is that there is something beyond this chaos. Our hope is that out of death, comes new life here on earth. After winter, comes Spring. After Advent, a new baby is born. We have to ensure we are ready to celebrate not only Jesus at Christmas but also to receive Christ at His Second Coming. In this hope lies our future.

We must prepare ourselves, for the Child of Hope is coming. God’s kingdom is at hand, and our redemption is near.

Ours is to be a life of service in light of his coming again.

Amen.