Advent

Advent is a really strange time in the Christian calendar I think. It is, along with lent, the most solemn season of the year – flowers are taken out of Church, the Gloria is omitted from the service, and the colour of the season is purple – only used otherwise for lent and for funeral services.

And yet, whilst we have few problems in recognising lent as a time for self sacrifice and for reflection, this always seems more difficult during advent. And it doesn’t take a genius to work out why. Outside Church everyone and everything seems to be getting ready for Christmas – decorations are up, carols are being sung, Christmas music is playing in the shops, and there are dinners and concerts and parties to attend.

There is a huge contrast between advent in Church life, and the preparation for Christmas going on everywhere else. And this perhaps reminds us of the huge contrast that there is between so much of what we as Christians proclaim and celebrate and the thoughts and practices of so many others in the world today.

Jesus contradicted so much of what was expected of him – he came, not with riches or with military power. He didn’t surround himself with politicians or soldiers. He didn’t arm himself with weapons, and he asked people to love and forgive, when so many around him knew so much hate and condemnation.

Advent is a time to reflect on the reasons for Jesus’ birth. It’s a time to celebrate the fact that he loved us enough then, and continues to love us enough today, and it’s a time, amidst all the preparations and busy-ness to look at what really is most important in our lives.

In the gospel reading (Matt 24:36-44) Jesus reminds us that advent is about waiting – it’s about waiting for the Lord’s promised return, but it’s not a time of restful waiting, not a time to be hanging around doing nothing, but a time of active waiting and searching, a time to seek God more closely and more intimately as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

‘Keep awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming’, says the gospel… There’s an Irish singer called Ronan Keating who some of you will probably know – some seem to think he’s good looking, though I don’t think he’s really in my league at all ! But anyway he did a song called, ‘If tomorrow never comes’ and I want to think about those words this morning.

It has to be said first of all, that it’s a pretty depressing title for a song, but what if ‘tomorrow never comes’ for us as individuals. Life can be very cruel at times and whilst the chances are that tomorrow will come for every one of us, we can never know that fact with absolute certainty. Advent is about getting ready, not just buying the presents for Christmas, but making sure that we are ready to meet Jesus whenever that day comes.

Many people put off commitment to Jesus, thinking they’re too young or too busy, and that the time will come for them, but it’s too important to put it off until tomorrow – Jesus needs and demands our commitment today. At baptism or confirmation services promises are made to commit our lives to Christ – not for one off events, not for one section of our lives, but absolutely and completely for the rest of our life.

So advent is a time for considering our commitment. What are we offering of ourselves, our lives, our time, our money and so on for the one who committed everything he had for us.

And the second thing I want to think about is what if ‘tomorrow never comes’ for the Church. I’m fairly sure that our Churches will have many more tomorrows, but that must never lead us to be complacent. As long as there are empty seats in our buildings, and as long as there are people who do not know the love of Jesus, there is work to be done.

Some years ago now Helen and I went up to Edinburgh and we did the open top bus tour, and the guide kept pointing out to us how many churches had been closed, and were now shops, casinos, pubs and restaurants. The reality is that the Church is in danger not because of a lack of faith, but because of apathy, and a belief that everything will be ok in the end.

There’s a story told about three apprentice devils who were talking with the devil about their plans to destroy all of humanity. The first apprentice suggested telling people there was no God. The devil rejected that suggestion. The second apprentice suggested they tell people that sin and evil are okay, but the devil rejected this suggestion too. Finally, the third apprentice said, "Let us destroy all of humanity by telling them there is no hurry!" The story concludes that the devil loved that suggestion because he knew that people would believe there was no hurry.

It’s been said that one of the surest ways to fill a Church is to announce that it’s closing. Let’s examine our Churches, and our commitment to them during this advent season, and reflect whether we are doing enough to keep them open… And being open doesn’t mean keeping the services going, it must mean being active and alive. It must mean reflecting out into the world a message of hope that Jesus offers to a world desperately needing hope, and a message of peace into a world desperately needing peace.

In short we must be offering a message of eternal joy, and hope and peace and love, not just to those who come into our buildings, but actively offering that message to people that we have to struggle to meet, who are outside our Church community, and often outside so much of what we are involved in.

And finally what if ‘tomorrow never comes’ for the world. Will we be ready collectively ? As Christians we are taught that Christ will come to be our judge, and the Bible likens this to Christ coming as a thief in the night –we won’t know the day or the hour. At that time we will call upon his mercy but how prepared will we be to receive that mercy ?

Perhaps he’ll ask us what we have done for his Church, what we have done to share his gospel, locally and further afield, what we have done to care for the sick, the poor, the outcasts, for the alcoholics, the AIDS sufferer, for the homeless…

When Jesus returns, as he will do one day, there will be no more tomorrows – will we be ready, will the Church be ready ? Will we be able to look him in the face and say we did our best, and mean that. Can we say we didn’t let other hobbies or interests get in the way, that we didn’t let others do the work because we knew they would, or can we say that we didn’t spend too long thinking about buildings and about money…

Representing Christ on earth is what we are called to do. It is the highest calling and the greatest privilege… Advent is a time of self examination – a time for looking forward, not back, a time for hope, not for regret or guilt. It is a time to put things right in our lives – make a new start, a new commitment…

The next line of that Ronan Keating song, ‘If tomorrow never comes’ is ‘will you know how much I loved you.’…. If tomorrow never comes will Jesus know by what we’ve done just how much we love him ? AMEN