| Psalm 80:1-7 Isaiah 64:1-9a 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 Mark 13:24-37 |
Now that Thanksgiving is over, most people in American have begun to celebrate Christmas. It has become the biggest holiday season of the year. From the madness of shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving, to the parties and gift giving – the month of December is a chaotic time.
In the midst of the revelry the Church says – stop! Wait a minute! Have you forgotten the reason for the season?
I can still remember the priest at St. James Episcopal Church reminding us that Christmas isn’t until December 25th, and that we should not go to any Christmas parties before then. And on the matter of putting up your Christmas tree, well, that should be done on the evening of December 24th. Preach as loudly as he could, it was very hard not to get swept up in the excitement of preparing for Christmas.
Today is the First Sunday of Advent. Advent, which means coming, is the season of the church year which prepares us for the celebration of the birth of our Savior in Bethlehem. But as I said in my letter in the December Apostle, Advent is more than just the season in which we prepare for Jesus’ birth. It is the season that is marked by Gospel readings which focus on his second coming. And there is a third coming of Jesus Christ that Advent reminds us of, that of his coming to us daily.
There are many traditions connected with Advent and this morning I am going to explain a few things that we have in church, which are a part of our Advent observance.
I can still remember my first Advent at St. James Episcopal Church in Goshen, Indiana. I helped hang the Advent wreath, which was a wagon wheel, like the ones on an Amish buggy, from the thirty foot ceiling of the nave.
We began our service this morning by lighting the Advent wreath. The Advent wreath was actually adapted by the Church from pagan religious rituals which worshiped the sun god. The Advent wreath has been used by the church to emphasize that people dwelt in darkness until the coming of the son of God at Christmas. The wreath is made from evergreens, symbolizing the everlasting life found in Jesus Christ. The candles, of which there are four, one for each Sunday in Advent, symbolize God’s Son as the light of the world. The custom is to have three purple candles and on pink or rose candle. The pink candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent, call Gaudete (Latin, meaning rejoice) because this Sunday has a happier tone.
We have new vestments this year for Advent. In the Bible purple cloth was the most expensive cloth and was worn by royalty. At Jesus’ trial they put a purple robe on him before they mocked him and let him away to be crucified. While purple has also been characterized by the church as a penitential color, during Advent it is worn to symbolize the royalty of Jesus Christ our King. The pattern on our new vestments is called the "cross of faith."
The empty crèche is underneath the altar. Each week the children will place some of the figures in and around the crèche. We do this because Bethlehem and the stable where Jesus was born did not all appear on Christmas Eve, but were already in existence before he came. Just as may people decorate their home for Christmas, so the church prepares for its Christmas celebration by preparing this symbol of Jesus’ birth. It is to remind us that we need to prepare the manager of our hearts to receive Jesus.
Behind me is our Advent banner. It incorporates some of the Old Testament prophecies about the messiah. The tree stump comes from Isaiah 11:1, "A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." The Star of David comes from Jeremiah 23:5, "The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land." And from the prophet Micah, "But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days." Incorporated into the banner are candles to mark the four Sundays of Advent.
In case you have been wondering about the tree branch on the other side of the nave, it is our Jesse Tree. This is the family tree or genealogy of Jesus. It is called a Jesse Tree because it was from the family of Jesse that Jesus came. Each Sunday during Advent our youth will hang symbols of the
Biblical family of Jesus on the branches. Most Jesse Trees begin with Adam because they use the genealogy list found in the Gospel of Luke.
We begin Advent this year with a reading from the Gospel of Mark. The thirteenth chapter of Mark, from which are reading is taken this morning, has often been referred to as the little Apocalypse because of its cosmic description of what it will be like at the second coming of Christ. The picture that is painted in the words of Mark this morning show the universe in upheaval as the Lord breaks through to come again. Some hear these words and scoff at them and the man who said them. Others busy themselves with trying to read the signs in order to determine when the end of time is drawing near. But Jesus says, "Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come." The season of Advent reminds us that Christ is coming and that we are to keep alert to receive him whenever he comes. From the Gospel this morning, he is coming again to be our judge. He is also coming to us on Christmas as the newborn babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manager. But Jesus is not absent in-between his first and second coming. He comes to us daily to be a living presence in our lives. These three movements of Christ confront us with two questions. How will we prepare for this special guest? And will we be ready to receive him when he comes?