Pastor's
Weekly Sermon
November 27, 2022 - Advent 1
“Longing for Paradise”
Matt 24:36-44
A friend was complaining about how disgusted she was that her favorite Christian music radio station started already playing Christmas the first of November. She said it was too early for Christmas music and vowed not to listen until after Thanksgiving. I agreed with her and jokingly said they ought to be playing Advent music. She took my joke literally. She liked my idea and asked what kind of music is Advent music. I said, “Well, songs like “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”, songs of longing; and maybe even contemporary songs like Carol King’s “Anticipation” …antici-pay-yay-shun, is making me wait…is making me cray-yay-yay-zee.
Do you remember a time of itching anticipation that in your life?
The days pass much more quickly for me now—too quickly! and I don’t long for Christmas in the way that I did when I was a child. On the contrary, nowadays the time before Christmas rushes by like a runaway tobaggan racing headlong down a snow-covered hill. If anything, Christmas comes too quickly! I want to slow it down and savor the season. But once upon a time, I longed for Christmas to come with all my heart and soul! And I’ll bet that you did, too.
This year, I want to savor the season of Advent. The readings from the prophets this month are all about longing, waiting, and expectaion. The reading from the prophet Isaiah we heard today was written for people who were longing exactly like that. Oh, they weren’t longing for Christmas – in fact, they weren’t sure exactly what they were longing for. But they knew that life was wrong, and they knew that God had promised to make it right. And they couldn’t wait for that to happen!
God, after all, had promised them a Messiah – the “anointed one” – someone who would be born into the royal family of the great king David – someone who would rule over the most wonderful kingdom that the world had ever known or ever would know again!
You heard Isaiah describe it in this morning’s first reading. It wouldn’t be like all the other kingdoms in our world, full of greed and injustice and violence. Instead, it would be based on justice, wisdom and truth. And it would be full of peace – so full of peace that even nations who were enemies would beat their weapons into peaceful uses. They would transform their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. That is what the Messiah’s kingdom would be like! No wonder that the people longed for it with every breath they took!
As Christians, we believe that their waiting finally ended on a cold night in a little out-of-the-way village called Bethlehem when a peasant child named Jesus was born. We Christians believe that his kingdom begins in our hearts. As we follow his teachings, we learn the ways of justice, wisdom, and truth that he offers us; and our lives become grounded in his peace.
But we Christians also believe that one day, the fullness of God’s justice, wisdom and truth will become a reality in all of our world, not just within the hearts of Christian believers!
We are so waiting for that day!
We’re still waiting & longing for that kingdom.
Even as we wait through the weeks of Advent, knowing that Christmas arrives at its close, we are also waiting for the fullness of the kingdom that hasn’t arrived yet.
While we celebrate the birth of the Messiah that took place over 2,000 years ago, we still wait for that peace-filled paradise—the promised fullness of his peaceful kingdom!
Some Christian scholars call this the “already but not yet.” Christ has “already” been born and has begun the work of God’s kingdom in our midst; but the fullness of that kingdom is “not yet.”
We are all too aware that the fullness of God’s Kingdom is not yet. Jesus’ description about the ways things are in our world is all too familiar to us—wars and rumors of wars—nation rising against nation—great earthquakes, famines and plagues. But Jesus reassures us to FEAR NOT. The time is still NOT YET.
As we enter this time of Advent, we have to hold these two beliefs in tension.
We have to hold these two realities in tension. We must believe the “already” of Bethlehem together with the “not yet” of God’s kingdom still incomplete.
There is a moment in the service of Holy Communion as it is celebrated in many churches when this “Already and Not Yet” of God’s Kingdom is acknowledged and lifted up to God. It’s called “proclaiming the mystery of faith: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again!” That statement affirms both of these realities.
As we head into the holidays and the season of Advent, be a detective—watch for the signs that the kingdom is already here! Most of the time, we don’t even notice them. We’re so preoccupied with addressing Christmas cards, baking cookies and stuffing stockings that we miss the very signs of the kingdom that we are waiting for!
Perhaps during this year’s season of Advent, we might ponder the fact that we’re waiting for far more than just the 25th of December.
Of course, we’re looking forward to the peace of Christmas morning, when the tree is decorated, the gifts are bought, the cards are mailed, and we can finally relax after another hectic holiday season.
But we’re also waiting for that day when everyone will be filled with the peace that passes all understanding and the whole world is filled with the glory of God. We really are longing for paradise. And that, my friends, is a time worth waiting for!
* * * * * * *
God of the ages, keep us watchful of the signs of your coming, and aware of the time in which we live. Hasten that day when the sounds of war will be forever stilled, the darkness of evil scattered, and all your children gathered into one people of peace and joy. Until that day, help us to wait with patience, with hope, and with faith. We ask it in the name of the one whose coming is certain: Jesus Christ our Lord—the light of the World. Amen.
“Longing for Paradise”
Matt 24:36-44
A friend was complaining about how disgusted she was that her favorite Christian music radio station started already playing Christmas the first of November. She said it was too early for Christmas music and vowed not to listen until after Thanksgiving. I agreed with her and jokingly said they ought to be playing Advent music. She took my joke literally. She liked my idea and asked what kind of music is Advent music. I said, “Well, songs like “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”, songs of longing; and maybe even contemporary songs like Carol King’s “Anticipation” …antici-pay-yay-shun, is making me wait…is making me cray-yay-yay-zee.
Do you remember a time of itching anticipation that in your life?
- It might have been a time when you were separated from members of your family – someone was in the military, perhaps, or away at school – and on Christmas Day, you would all be together once more.
- Or maybe you were the one who was away from home; and each passing day brought you closer to that airline flight that would bring you back to where you belonged.
- Or if you’re like me, you remember that excruciating time of longing in your childhood. When the days before Christmas just crawled by! On the day after Thanksgiving, I was so ready to decorate the house and go get a tree and smell freshly-baked cookies and wrap gifts – but I always had to wait. How I longed for Christmas to finally arrive!
The days pass much more quickly for me now—too quickly! and I don’t long for Christmas in the way that I did when I was a child. On the contrary, nowadays the time before Christmas rushes by like a runaway tobaggan racing headlong down a snow-covered hill. If anything, Christmas comes too quickly! I want to slow it down and savor the season. But once upon a time, I longed for Christmas to come with all my heart and soul! And I’ll bet that you did, too.
This year, I want to savor the season of Advent. The readings from the prophets this month are all about longing, waiting, and expectaion. The reading from the prophet Isaiah we heard today was written for people who were longing exactly like that. Oh, they weren’t longing for Christmas – in fact, they weren’t sure exactly what they were longing for. But they knew that life was wrong, and they knew that God had promised to make it right. And they couldn’t wait for that to happen!
God, after all, had promised them a Messiah – the “anointed one” – someone who would be born into the royal family of the great king David – someone who would rule over the most wonderful kingdom that the world had ever known or ever would know again!
You heard Isaiah describe it in this morning’s first reading. It wouldn’t be like all the other kingdoms in our world, full of greed and injustice and violence. Instead, it would be based on justice, wisdom and truth. And it would be full of peace – so full of peace that even nations who were enemies would beat their weapons into peaceful uses. They would transform their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. That is what the Messiah’s kingdom would be like! No wonder that the people longed for it with every breath they took!
As Christians, we believe that their waiting finally ended on a cold night in a little out-of-the-way village called Bethlehem when a peasant child named Jesus was born. We Christians believe that his kingdom begins in our hearts. As we follow his teachings, we learn the ways of justice, wisdom, and truth that he offers us; and our lives become grounded in his peace.
But we Christians also believe that one day, the fullness of God’s justice, wisdom and truth will become a reality in all of our world, not just within the hearts of Christian believers!
We are so waiting for that day!
We’re still waiting & longing for that kingdom.
Even as we wait through the weeks of Advent, knowing that Christmas arrives at its close, we are also waiting for the fullness of the kingdom that hasn’t arrived yet.
While we celebrate the birth of the Messiah that took place over 2,000 years ago, we still wait for that peace-filled paradise—the promised fullness of his peaceful kingdom!
Some Christian scholars call this the “already but not yet.” Christ has “already” been born and has begun the work of God’s kingdom in our midst; but the fullness of that kingdom is “not yet.”
We are all too aware that the fullness of God’s Kingdom is not yet. Jesus’ description about the ways things are in our world is all too familiar to us—wars and rumors of wars—nation rising against nation—great earthquakes, famines and plagues. But Jesus reassures us to FEAR NOT. The time is still NOT YET.
As we enter this time of Advent, we have to hold these two beliefs in tension.
- We must not resign ourselves to thinking that the world as it is today, is the best that it will ever be. After all, a Messiah who has no power over nuclear weapons and dictators, hurricanes and tornadoes, or plague and famine really isn’t much of a Messiah at all! No, one day Christ the King will demonstrate that he does have control over all the evil that the world has to throw at us!
- But we also must not think that Christ hasn’t done anything so far. The power of Jesus has affected the lives of believers around the world through 2,000 years of Christian history! From Saint Paul to Martin Luther King and from Mary Magdalene to Mother Teresa, Christ has already touched our world in powerful ways.
We have to hold these two realities in tension. We must believe the “already” of Bethlehem together with the “not yet” of God’s kingdom still incomplete.
There is a moment in the service of Holy Communion as it is celebrated in many churches when this “Already and Not Yet” of God’s Kingdom is acknowledged and lifted up to God. It’s called “proclaiming the mystery of faith: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again!” That statement affirms both of these realities.
- “Christ has died” – a celebration of the historical event that took place nearly 2,000 years ago.
- “Christ is risen” – a recognition of the present reality that Christ works in our lives here and now.
- “Christ will come again” – a waiting and longing for the fullness of God’s future kingdom and the hope that it will arrive soon.
As we head into the holidays and the season of Advent, be a detective—watch for the signs that the kingdom is already here! Most of the time, we don’t even notice them. We’re so preoccupied with addressing Christmas cards, baking cookies and stuffing stockings that we miss the very signs of the kingdom that we are waiting for!
- People quietly slip dollar bills into Salvation Army kettles.
- Clothes and toys are quietly filling collection barrels at churches and grocery stores.
- Families who haven’t spoken to one another all year make plans to get together, even if it’s only for a few hours.
- Someone who hasn’t set foot in church in years quietly slips through the door and sits in the back row, longing to fill the empty place in their life that they lost long ago.
Perhaps during this year’s season of Advent, we might ponder the fact that we’re waiting for far more than just the 25th of December.
Of course, we’re looking forward to the peace of Christmas morning, when the tree is decorated, the gifts are bought, the cards are mailed, and we can finally relax after another hectic holiday season.
But we’re also waiting for that day when everyone will be filled with the peace that passes all understanding and the whole world is filled with the glory of God. We really are longing for paradise. And that, my friends, is a time worth waiting for!
* * * * * * *
God of the ages, keep us watchful of the signs of your coming, and aware of the time in which we live. Hasten that day when the sounds of war will be forever stilled, the darkness of evil scattered, and all your children gathered into one people of peace and joy. Until that day, help us to wait with patience, with hope, and with faith. We ask it in the name of the one whose coming is certain: Jesus Christ our Lord—the light of the World. Amen.
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