St. Margaret's Sermon Archive
Advent 2 - The Rev. Caron A. Gwynn - 12/7/2008
In the name of the one holy and undivided Trinity.
I would like to revisit our Collect…Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.] Amen. (Collect for Advent II, Book of Common Prayer, The Episcopal Church, New York: Oxford Press, 1979. p.211)
In using our Advent Collect, we pray to our merciful God to give us grace to do nothing that would block God’s presence from our lives so that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ. In our Eucharistic prayer, we proclaim the mystery of faith, which is “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” (Collect for Advent II, Book of Common Prayer, The Episcopal Church, New York: Oxford Press, 1979. p. 363) This morning I would like to focus on the good news that “Christ will come again.”
Today is the second Sunday in Advent and we are compelled to look deeper into the vision of God’s promise for the gift of salvation. Advent compels us to wait vigilantly, to prepare vigilantly, and to sustain our faith with the hope and anticipation of the first and second coming of our Lord, the Messiah. Some of you probably know that Advent means ‘an arrival’ or ‘coming.’
I mention this because it is easy to mistakenly think of Advent merely as the liturgical season of four Sundays when the Church prepares for the celebration of Christmas (Christ’s first arrival). This probably applies to most of us and, let’s face it - when we were children, this was the time to find out where all the gifts were hidden before Christmas Day arrived.
This is also the time when Christmas shopping may create considerable stress for us with so many purchasing decisions to make. Plans and strategies are devised to determine the best times to get to the stores before crowds hastily dash to the counters and race down the aisles to obtain the desired items before someone else get to them. Some folks will just collapse from the exhaustion by Christmas Day. Peggy Lee used to sing a song called, “Is That All There Is?” Certainly, we are going to do some kind of preparations such as shopping for gifts to share with loved ones and friends, preparing all sorts of delicious foods, and all the related merrymaking that takes place leading up to Christmas Day. All of this is appropriate after all some of you are graciously shopping for gifts for families at Mary’s Center.
However, this is NOT ALL THERE IS to the season of Advent whose emphasis sometimes gets glossed over making this time appear only as a blur in our busy daily lives. Advent extends far beyond these four Sundays before Christmas. It has been said that we are Advent people throughout the year. J. Barrie Shepherd says that, “We need to be reminded to look forward at least once a year...
Therefore just when calendars are growing old weary of themselves—the tattered, dog eared, tail end of the year—we name it “Advent” - change the furniture change the color scheme (note we have gone from green to blue-purple), dig out five candles and holly wreath (note our advent candle wreath), and kindle hope again with orisons, chants, hymns, clear words of ancient expectation, in the midst of which, from time to time, eternity—in human form—takes shape, draws near.” (copied and adapted. J. Berrie Shepherd, in Presbyterian Survey,Dec.1992, p.4 from Synthesis, Advent 2B,Dec.5, 1993, p.3)
We are a community of faith that actively responds to God’s actions with open hearts by waiting, watching, and preparing for the second coming of Christ. We faithfully pray with expectancy and hope that one day Christ will come again. We want to be prepared for that glorious day and meet that day with joy. We are called to seek, listen, and watch for the redemptive presence of Christ in our lives daily.
Our scriptures today challenge us to expand our understanding of Advent. We are making ready the new life promised to us by the prophets of the Old Testament (Isaiah and Malachi) and John the Baptist, the New Testament voice in the wilderness referenced by the prophet Isaiah. God calls us daily to draw near. In Mark’s Gospel, John the Baptist’s mission was to draw near all those who would listen and turn to God with repentance. John the Baptist was the forerunner clearing a way for the “one coming after him,” whom John proclaimed was to be even more powerful.
The people came by the thousands from the whole Judean countryside - perhaps resembling the expected crowds that will be converging on the National Mall next month for the Inauguration. What is important to remember is that with the advanced work of John the Baptist, the people then - as we do now - clearly wanted to claim the hope, love, justice, and peace offered by acting on the message to ‘prepare the way by making the path straight for the one who is coming to save all the nations.’ This is the promise of Advent because “Christ has died, Christ is risen and Christ will come again.”
We are committed to a new life in Christ as baptized Christians. God has already begun to act in our lives. The season of Advent reminds us that we are called to remove the things that block us from receiving Christ with joy by clearing the way to make a straight path for God in this world: to eliminate injustices, to study war no more, to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, establish environmental stability, and maintain global partnerships for development (from the Episcopal Church Millennium Development Goals). Our ability to receive Christ with open hearts and joy enables us to love our neighbor and better serve our God.
Let us pray:
Merciful God, give us, our nation, and its leaders a spirit of generosity for the good of all people. May our hearts, like yours, be pierced with sorrow for the evils of the world. Help us to dismantle the barriers that separate rich nations from poor nations, that we might be empowered to build together the just and peaceful world that you intended. (Prayer of the EDOW Millennium Development Goals)
Amen.
I would like to revisit our Collect…Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.] Amen. (Collect for Advent II, Book of Common Prayer, The Episcopal Church, New York: Oxford Press, 1979. p.211)
In using our Advent Collect, we pray to our merciful God to give us grace to do nothing that would block God’s presence from our lives so that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ. In our Eucharistic prayer, we proclaim the mystery of faith, which is “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” (Collect for Advent II, Book of Common Prayer, The Episcopal Church, New York: Oxford Press, 1979. p. 363) This morning I would like to focus on the good news that “Christ will come again.”
Today is the second Sunday in Advent and we are compelled to look deeper into the vision of God’s promise for the gift of salvation. Advent compels us to wait vigilantly, to prepare vigilantly, and to sustain our faith with the hope and anticipation of the first and second coming of our Lord, the Messiah. Some of you probably know that Advent means ‘an arrival’ or ‘coming.’
I mention this because it is easy to mistakenly think of Advent merely as the liturgical season of four Sundays when the Church prepares for the celebration of Christmas (Christ’s first arrival). This probably applies to most of us and, let’s face it - when we were children, this was the time to find out where all the gifts were hidden before Christmas Day arrived.
This is also the time when Christmas shopping may create considerable stress for us with so many purchasing decisions to make. Plans and strategies are devised to determine the best times to get to the stores before crowds hastily dash to the counters and race down the aisles to obtain the desired items before someone else get to them. Some folks will just collapse from the exhaustion by Christmas Day. Peggy Lee used to sing a song called, “Is That All There Is?” Certainly, we are going to do some kind of preparations such as shopping for gifts to share with loved ones and friends, preparing all sorts of delicious foods, and all the related merrymaking that takes place leading up to Christmas Day. All of this is appropriate after all some of you are graciously shopping for gifts for families at Mary’s Center.
However, this is NOT ALL THERE IS to the season of Advent whose emphasis sometimes gets glossed over making this time appear only as a blur in our busy daily lives. Advent extends far beyond these four Sundays before Christmas. It has been said that we are Advent people throughout the year. J. Barrie Shepherd says that, “We need to be reminded to look forward at least once a year...
Therefore just when calendars are growing old weary of themselves—the tattered, dog eared, tail end of the year—we name it “Advent” - change the furniture change the color scheme (note we have gone from green to blue-purple), dig out five candles and holly wreath (note our advent candle wreath), and kindle hope again with orisons, chants, hymns, clear words of ancient expectation, in the midst of which, from time to time, eternity—in human form—takes shape, draws near.” (copied and adapted. J. Berrie Shepherd, in Presbyterian Survey,Dec.1992, p.4 from Synthesis, Advent 2B,Dec.5, 1993, p.3)
We are a community of faith that actively responds to God’s actions with open hearts by waiting, watching, and preparing for the second coming of Christ. We faithfully pray with expectancy and hope that one day Christ will come again. We want to be prepared for that glorious day and meet that day with joy. We are called to seek, listen, and watch for the redemptive presence of Christ in our lives daily.
Our scriptures today challenge us to expand our understanding of Advent. We are making ready the new life promised to us by the prophets of the Old Testament (Isaiah and Malachi) and John the Baptist, the New Testament voice in the wilderness referenced by the prophet Isaiah. God calls us daily to draw near. In Mark’s Gospel, John the Baptist’s mission was to draw near all those who would listen and turn to God with repentance. John the Baptist was the forerunner clearing a way for the “one coming after him,” whom John proclaimed was to be even more powerful.
The people came by the thousands from the whole Judean countryside - perhaps resembling the expected crowds that will be converging on the National Mall next month for the Inauguration. What is important to remember is that with the advanced work of John the Baptist, the people then - as we do now - clearly wanted to claim the hope, love, justice, and peace offered by acting on the message to ‘prepare the way by making the path straight for the one who is coming to save all the nations.’ This is the promise of Advent because “Christ has died, Christ is risen and Christ will come again.”
We are committed to a new life in Christ as baptized Christians. God has already begun to act in our lives. The season of Advent reminds us that we are called to remove the things that block us from receiving Christ with joy by clearing the way to make a straight path for God in this world: to eliminate injustices, to study war no more, to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, establish environmental stability, and maintain global partnerships for development (from the Episcopal Church Millennium Development Goals). Our ability to receive Christ with open hearts and joy enables us to love our neighbor and better serve our God.
Let us pray:
Merciful God, give us, our nation, and its leaders a spirit of generosity for the good of all people. May our hearts, like yours, be pierced with sorrow for the evils of the world. Help us to dismantle the barriers that separate rich nations from poor nations, that we might be empowered to build together the just and peaceful world that you intended. (Prayer of the EDOW Millennium Development Goals)
Amen.