Reflection ADVENT 1 December 1st 2013

Year A First Sunday of Advent 1 December 2013
Isaiah 2: 1-5 Psalm 122 Romans 13: 9-14 Matthew 24: 36-44

Extra, Extra, Read all about it! Once again it is ADVENT, and it is so exciting. We are all so crazy busy that we don’t know which way is up and the world seems to be spinning at a pace that literally makes us dizzy. When you are dizzy you cannot find or walk a straight path, and this is the physical, emotional and spiritual condition which many of us find ourselves in this crazy time.

The message of the readings at this point in our Church Calendar is, “WAKE UP”!!!!

Our dizziness has made us faint and we need to wake up from this faint and see the path clearly and walk it.

The Isaiah tells us a prophecy:
Isaiah 2:3a “Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.””

What I find so interesting about this reading is not just the actually prophecy but this desire that exists in the people to go up to the mountain of the Lord and learn his ways. I don’t know about your experience, but I don’t find that many people are keen to go to church to find out about God and his ways. BUT…. I do find that so many people are searching for truth. There are many kinds of truth that people get all tied up in and zealous about. Last week I talked about the prosperity doctrine, in the world there are many “self-improvement” ideologies People these days are also often zealous about food. More and more people are concerned about the kind of food we eat and the proof is found in our supermarkets where there are options for organic food and free range eggs etc… foods that are marked as vegetarian and then there are all kinds of dietary things going on like gluten free and lactose free and the many ideologies that go along with these.

We are living in a time where we should be healthier than we’ve ever been, smarter than we’ve ever been and many of us think that we are, but I do question this. We may have lactose free milk, but it is because our bodies can no longer handle the lactose and my body can no longer handle gluten. I can access all kinds of things on the internet, including much wisdom, but am I really any smarter? Much more conflicting information available just means I can justify almost anything I want to believe. I am bombarded with political correctness and so many of the moral values that were once held as sacred are now out there in the media as the complete opposite of that which I was brought up with.

If the reading from Isaiah is about the end times, and it is the end times when people say, “hey let’s go learn about God”…. I think that we have actually gone way past the end times…. Or else they are yet to come…. Perhaps there is yet to be a time when people will realize that with so many conflicting ideas comes major confusion and lies that placate our aching consciences. Perhaps people will actually begin to yearn for an absolute truth that is beyond our comfort zones, but the yearning will be so great that they will won’t to know the truth even if it convicts them of their own – dare I say that politically incorrect word – SIN.

The question I often pose, I will ask again; would you rather a lie that made you feel good or the truth that made you uncomfortable? A lie - or Truth???

It is time to wake up from our slumber. We’ve been squandering the wealth given us. What wealth is that??? The truth!

We’ve been given the truth. And the truth really is good news! Gospel is a word that used to have connotations of absolute truth, but Gospel actually literally means “Good News”. It is truth and the truth is GOOD NEWS! The Gospel is the message of the New Covenant that was put into being by Jesus. Our Roman’s reading exhorts us to be clothed in Christ. This is what the Good News is all about. The law of God was completed and fulfilled by Christ. When we are “clothed” in Christ (which is a part of our baptism), we take on the spiritual condition of Christ, which means we are totally accepted by God, regardless of the reality of our human condition.

Romans 13:11-12 “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.”

Now, if we are to wake up and really live by the truth we need to actually live as though we believe the words of the Gospel and the words of this week’s Gospel tell us to keep watch.

Last night a friend told me about his experience in the defence force. While on training in the reserves he was told to keep watch and also he was told not to fire. As the night progressed he and one other person took turns at sleeping and keeping watch. He heard rustling and knew the enemy was approaching, but because he was told not to fire he didn’t know what he should do. He woke up the other person who also had no idea…. So they did nothing. In the end they were captured and because of their inaction the rest of the group and the group camped next out were all captured. It was only an exercise, but you can see the possible consequence if it had have been real.

Who was at fault? Well my friend was told it was his fault, but it seems obvious that there was a huge lack of proper education and understanding as to what actions to take which was really the fault of the trainer as much or more so, than my friend’s own inaction.

And this is my question for us; what education do you need for yourself, to be sure that you are properly equipped to be keeping watch for the coming of the Lord?

In the New Testament we find that teachers of God’s way, will be held accountable and we know that in the Old Testament that the prophets were held accountable for speaking or not speaking God’s word. If the prophet didn’t give the message then his was the fault, but if he gave the people God’s message and the people didn’t respond, then they were held accountable.

If you are a Christian but not reading God’s word and not involved in the Christian church, YOU are going to be held accountable for squandering the wealth of God’s truth. You will be caught out on the “day of the Lord” because you were asleep. This is what I think is the prime message for this first Sunday in ADVENT…. The time of preparation…. It starts with waking up.

Matthew 24:42-44 ““Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”