If tomorrow never comes : Advent 1C
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 going 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.
It’s also a
time to consider Jesus’ promise to return again, and to wonder how we’re
prepared for that. In the gospel reading (Luke 21:25-36) Jesus reminds us of
this wait for his 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.
It is a time
of expectation – and our waiting involves looking for signs, not to stand on
street corners with placards announcing, ‘the end is nigh’ but to recognise an
urgent message of good news and hope and salvation to be shared around widely
and quickly !
And, without
trying to offer any predictions, which would have no foundations whatsoever
about the return of Jesus, the signs of disturbance that we see in the world
today must surely inspire us to action, not to desperation or to depression,
but to a determination to proclaim the love of Jesus, who brings hope and peace
and love into any situation.
There’s an
Irish singer called Ronan Keating who some of you will probably know – some
seem to think he’s good looking (my wife included !), 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 Church 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… During advent, it’s a good time to examine our Churches, and our
commitment to them, 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 it
is 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…
It is a new
start in the church calendar – and offers us again the chance to make a new
start in our own journey of faith and commitment and love…. 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 ?
To end with
the bible not pop song lyrics, may we treasure and embrace the words of Paul in
our 2nd reading today (1 Thess 3:9-13), ‘May Jesus so strengthen your
hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the
coming of our Lord Jesus with all his Saints’… Let’s constantly be ready for
Jesus, ready to serve him, ready to share his message, ready to love as he
loves… AMEN
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