An Unexpected Hour

This weekend's Gospel reading Jesus tells of his Second Coming saying that it will be at an unexpected hour:

Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

In preaching on the texts for this weekend, the Rev. Ben Helmer once said

Some people think Advent is a time of quiet waiting. It should be a time of active searching! Searching for the spark of Jesus in others, repairing and polishing our own armor of light, and looking for hope when people say there isn’t any.

Advent is not about getting ready for Christmas, either. It is a separate, intense season of looking for, and listening for, the hope planted by God within each of us. It is a time of shutting out darkness, refusing to accept it as part of life. Even though it is the darkest part of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, Advent is a time to light the lamps and scatter the darkness, not brood over it.

There are many references in the Scriptures today to “the day.” “Day” should be thought of as floods of light banishing the lies we tell ourselves that keep us from the truth. Day should be though of as light scattering the darkness from before us. Day should be thought of as energy, morality, and joy. Day should be lived as new behavior, casting away the works of darkness and finding wonderful things that disciples have always known were there. Day should mean letting the light shine into your soul and revealing the things you’ve been hiding there, the things you know displease God and keep you from living as a person of light. Day can be cleansing as well are revealing. The light from Christ's birth, death and resurrection surrounds us all. This Advent walk in it, live with it and behave in response to it, and your Advent will be one to remember.

The full sermon is here: First Advent, Year A. In the archives is a sermon from this weekend's epistle reading from Romans: How Shall We Mend It?

Note: This post is very late in getting online as I have been away for the past 24 hours leading a spirituality retreat at Honey Creek: Journey to Wholeness. The retreat went well (I'll get some photos up later) but left no time for the Internet, which is a gift in itself.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor