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The First Sunday of Advent, 28 November 2004
Isaiah 2:1-5, Romans 13:8-14, Matthew 24:37-44
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT

The Rev. W. Lee Shaw

The first Sunday of Advent, the wonderful complex church season of waiting and watching and wondering. Advent is not just about waiting for Christmas, for our readings also point to waiting for the coming of the reign of God into our lives, the Christ of glory and the reality of God's reign on earth. It is a “both/and” season of the church. And this can make it difficult for us. We are emotionally getting ready for Christmas. Then in church we hear about, “Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

Much of Advent is about waiting. Waiting. Watching. Staying awake. Then waiting some more. It is hard to wait. And there are so many types of waiting.

There is the waiting in the “waiting room” of your dentist's office. Looking through a 1998 “Good Housekeeping” as if it were really, really important. Anything to get your mind off why you are really there. (Look, “seafoam” is the color for the 90s.)

There is the waiting for the birth of your child. The expectations and hopes. The dreams for the future. The waiting for a new life to come into your life.

Waiting is not passive. I recall a few years ago at Thanksgiving going to North Carolina for the holiday. I was to meet my friend at the Atlanta airport on Tuesday. This is “active” waiting and watching. It was a time of anxiety and watchfulness and definitely about staying awake.

Waiting can also be hopeful. In Las Vegas this past week I dined at a few really nice restaurants. I waited in hopeful expectation and anticipation for the next course. It was a wonderful time of waiting and then of fulfillment.

And all of this begs the question, just what are we waiting for? What is the kingdom of God, the reign of God we are expecting? Well, even Jesus fumbles at the language on this one. He tries so many approaches: the kingdom of God is like a woman who loses a coin and finds it, a mustard seed that grows into a huge bush, a man searching for a lost sheep, a man who finds a pearl buried in a field and buys the field, a great catch of various fish, a cup filled to overflowing and spilling onto the table, a thief who comes in the night. It seems like Jesus was also a bit at a loss of words and images for what the kingdom of God, the reign of God was to be like for us. It is almost like he knew too much and was at a loss of words of how to explain it to us.

Finally, Jesus just says, the kingdom of God has come near to you. “Near to you.” Almost there for us to touch. Feel. Grasp. This is what I think Paul is alluding to in his letter to the church in Rome: “For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers...” It is so close and yet without description.

Yet, is it without description? Both Jesus and Paul describe the goals of the kingdom of God, the results of the reign of God in very clear language. Jesus goes so far as to say there are only two laws in the kingdom of God: love God and love those around you. Love.

Paul very clearly echoes this teaching, “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law...love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Advent is not just pointing to a time in the future, Christmas or the time of the coming of Christ in glory. Advent is also pointing to a fulfillment of the teaching of Jesus in our time, our lives, our day. It is about the reality of love.

An easy answer, right? A hard answer, right? For the kingdom of God to come near us, we need to be open to the consequences of that reality. Jesus is clear that the reign of God is not just about metaphors and similes. It is about relationships. Our relationship with God. Our relationship with each other. That is what the reign of God is about.

It is too easy to see the kingdom of God as clouds of glory, avenging angels taking one person and leaving another with one being cast into hell and the other being raised up to Christ. This is a simplistic view of Christ's teaching of the kingdom of God coming near to you. The kingdom of God is as near to you as the person sitting right there next to you. The kingdom is God is about how you treat that person, how you see that person, how you love that person.

Advent is a time of waiting, watching and staying awake. Advent is the time for honesty. Advent is the time of seeing that the kingdom of God, the reign of Christ is as close to you as the person next to you. So, wait and watch and stay awake for you are called to take seriously the words of Jesus and to love that person as yourself. Then, then Christ will come into your life and you will know the kingdom of God to be very near indeed.