Mass readings for the 1st Sunday in Advent:
Isaiah 2.1-5 Psalm 122.1-2, 4-9 Romans 13.11-14 Matthew 24.37-44
Advent is a time to wake up, a time to get ready, as when we awaken in the early morning, stretch and rise from our beds while its still dark, and start the morning routine, get ourselves ready for the day that is just breaking. Our Lord calls to us to “stay awake” as this day moves on… because this may be the day. So, we are to be ready, always.
I’ve preached before that what our worship about is “waking up” to God, to ultimate reality. This stands in contrast to the many in the world who regard Christian piety and its worship as being a lulling into complacency about the world. Karl Marx, a progenitor of the most murderous ideology in all history, said that religion is the opium of the people – he didn’t mean that it was addictive as are opiates, but rather that its purpose was to dull the pain of human existence under the tyrannies we have suffered through the long slog of history – religion then, was an induced and restless sleep.
It’s clear from what our Lord taught, that the gospel is not a sedative, but rather a stimulant – not a rum toddy meant to help us sleep, but spiritual espresso, to get us moving.
And that movement in our time is one toward preparation. And Advent is an appropriate time to revisit our preparations – as in past years at this time, I’ve reminded us that an “advent” in the Roman world of our spiritual ancestors, the first Christians, was the announcement that the emperor himself was coming, making a tour of his lands, to inspect the public works, hold court and hear important cases, collect the taxes owed; and woe to the imperial province that was not ready for him!
In this instance we are preparing for our Lord’s coming even as we are also commemorating his first arrival. Now we might suppose that the second coming is not imminent; it didn’t happen last year, nor the year before that, not in the decades of my life did it come, nor for centuries before that. And yet, we as Christian disciples are to again get ready. Many will not, many who call themselves Christian will not, because of what I’ve just said, the sentiment being if he hasn’t come in the last two thousand years, why this year? But then we miss the point of why our Lord tells us to keep awake and be ready – it’s excellent preparation for whatever might happen this year.
As with schools that run fire drills, the cruise ships that have their lifeboat drills under sunny Caribbean skies, I don’t think we dismiss the prudence in knowing the plan of evacuation. However, in the case of our spiritual preparations we should see there is more to it. Our Lord admonishes us not to prepare speeches should we be dragged into court, brought before the powers that be, find ourselves facing an angry mob baying for our Christian blood, because he will provide the words to us in that crisis – nonetheless, we need to be able to receive his wisdom, to give ourselves over to the Holy Spirit in the times of trial and temptation, and that means there is some necessary training, some planning, some preparation even though we do not know the hour, the day, or the circumstances of the crisis we will face. And, indeed, what we face in our time, by way of crisis and conflict, will likely not be the prelude to the Second Coming, but in our preparation, whatever it proves to be, we’ll be ready.
The great general of the Second World War, Dwight Eisenhower, said, “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” That’s a seeming contradiction, but Eisenhower wanted to instill in his army that, while the details of a specific plan might come apart under the unpredictable circumstances of war, the act of planning and preparation shouldn’t be underestimated. It is a necessary conditioning, a honing of reflexes and instilling of discipline that will be needed to respond in the moment, maintain awareness in the midst of a fluid, changing situation, adjust plans with confidence in the people one leads.
Those who study disasters natural and humanly caused: a ship sinking, an earthquake, mass shootings and traffic pile ups on the highway; what the overwhelming majority of witnesses say is the same thing: they couldn’t believe what was happening; and as a consequence, they didn’t act, they stood still, they gopped at what was going on and forgot their personal safety. I remember taking my photography unit at journalism school, and the instructor warning us that too often photojournalists, in looking through the lens of their camera, are fooled into thinking they are somehow removed from the situation, that they are “watching” what’s going on as if at home in front of the television – no, he said, remember you’re there, and act appropriately!
Those who train police and military for violent situations make this universal observation: the inexperienced always overestimate their capacity to deal with the crisis, presume a level of competence and cognition in the extreme stress that is not realized. That’s why, where possible, a veteran is put in charge of the platoon, an experienced officer paired with the rookie. The senior and experienced are there to snap them back into reality and remember their training.
When I was all of twelve years old, a sea scout crossing Lake Ontario in a storm in a 32-foot sloop, I remember being transfixed by the great walls of green water that surrounded our little boat as we sailed down into the troughs between the waves – my skipper shouted at me, “Mr. Whitfield, mind your station!” and not to embarrass me, but to snap me out of what was surely a fear that could paralyse me. He got me to focus on my job, and to trust that we’d make it home by all of us doing what needed to be done.
So, remember what it is we’re doing here. We’re in spiritual training to discipline our fears, and open ourselves, our souls to the Holy Spirit so that we it can be received in the crisis. What we’re doing here is building a community, a spiritual army, and among us are the veterans to steady the rookies, the experienced to guide those who are green.
Yet all of us share in our awareness of the world, having been awakened to it; and so, with hope, look to the skies for his coming, even as we continue the work here on the ground.
Salvation is near, our redemption at hand, Christ has come once, but he did not put an end to things, allowing humanity time to grow in faith and understanding of God, to awaken. He began the ending, and we live in the midst of the end times that yet continue for however long, awake, hopeful, and pray God, ready.
Amen.