‘Jesus said: ‘people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.’ Mark 13:26
Friends, when I was a small boy I would wait with great anticipation for my dad to come home. I would watch at the window, excited beyond belief, to see his car pull up. One story has gone down in family legend: I was going through that phase which every parents hates: potty-training. I was obviously getting the hang of it because my mum had—for the first time—let me wear pants. That day I was doubly exciting. I was waiting in anticipation for my dad to come home not just because I loved him but also because I had the most amazing news to tell him. That evening, as he pulled up I belted down the garden path and as he came through the gate dropped my trousers. ‘Pants’ I shouted as loud as I could ‘Pants’! This morning the Church turns our attention to Advent theme of the Second Coming of Christ. Our Gospel reading says: ‘people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory’. As we turn our attention to Jesus’ return we have to admit it is one of the teachings of the Scriptures which people find both fascinating and also confusing! Some pretend it won’t happen, others try to work out the date it will happen, and the rest of us are confused about what will happen when it happens. The first thing I want to say is that Jesus coming back is—above everything else—good news! Like me as a kid waiting for my Dad to come back home we ought to look forward in eager anticipation to Jesus coming back because He loves us, and because He will put all things right. For those who are children of God the Father—and brothers and sisters of King Jesus—there is everything to look forward to. We may not be shouting ‘Pants’ but we will be shouting for joy when Jesus finally appears. The first and main image I want us to hold on to as we look forward to the Second Coming is a child excitedly waiting for their dad to come home.
Two other images—however—will complete the picture. You see, there were days when I wasn’t quite so keen to see my dad. The says when I had been causing trouble and my mum had me stand in the kitchen—in front of the oven—and told me: ‘Just you wait ’til your dad gets home’. My dad was in charge of discipline and while I might mess my mum around I would never mess my dad around. Jesus’ Second Coming, while joyful for some, holds judgment for those who have not turned to Jesus in this life. Our first reading put it like this: ‘Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt’. Justice is coming and Jesus is a fair judge. Those who have chosen Him in this life will have Him in the next and those who have turned away from Him in this life He will turn away from in the next. So the second image to have in mind is the disobedient child waiting for Dad to come and discipline them. A third image is of a grown up child—as I am now—waiting for his parents to come for Christmas and so preparing the house. Soon this will be most of us. Putting things away, hoovering, dusting, putting out the decorations. Preparing for relatives to arrive for Christmas is a great image to help us to understand Advent and the time we are in at the moment waiting for Jesus to come back. So, there we have it, three images to help us to understand Advent and the Second Coming a little bit better. Joyful anticipation: a son waiting for his dad. Waiting for judgement: a child waiting to be disciplined. Preparing for an arrival: a grown up child making ready the house. I hope that—as we delve into the Advent readings in just a couple of weeks—these three images will help you to make sense of a subject which has confused many.
This morning though—with Advent just a couple of weeks away—I want us to think about the last image: ‘Preparing for an arrival’. It’s so easy to focus on what comes at the end of Advent—it’s so easy to focus on getting ready for Christmas—that we completely fail to prepare for Advent, to use Advent in the way it was intended as a way of getting ready for Jesus’ return. So here are three things to think about—three ways to use Advent well—so that you will be both more ready for Jesus’ Second Coming and more ready to celebrate Christmas well. Give up, take up, look up. First give up, that is give up something in order to focus on the season. Giving something up is a usual part of the penitential seasons of Advent and Lent. However, don’t just opt for the easy giving up chocolate, rather give this one some proper thought and pick something which is a sacrifice. The ideal thing to give up will be something you will notice every day, something which is tricky, and therefore something which will give you a reminder that you’re in Advent, each day! Maybe you drink six cups of coffee and day so giving up coffee will be both a sacrifice and something you will really miss. Maybe TV has taken over your life and giving it up will be hard but also a significant change and so a daily reminder of the season. Whatever it is, and pick just one thing (one difficult thing), give that thing up on Sunday 1st December and don’t pick it up again until Christmas Day. Using this discipline—I have found—gives you more space in your day for other spiritual activities but also—mysteriously—makes your heart more ready to really enjoy Jesus’ arrival, both at Christmas and at the end of time. First, give up! Next, take up. One of the ways to get ready for Jesus’ return is to take up something which serves those around us. Last week, in our Gospel Reading, we heard Jesus say at the Second Coming: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ So, preparing for that Day this Advent must include serving others. So, perhaps use some of the time you’ve saved from watching TV, or the money you saved from giving up coffee—or whatever you decided on—to give to those in most need. This might be a visit to a food bank, or to a neighbour in need, or it might be giving to a charity for persecuted Christians. Whatever it is, use this Advent to take up some activity which will help those around. Second, take up! Third, and finally, look up. It’s entirely possible to give things up and take things up without it being directed towards Jesus. So, it is crucial that we also use Advent as a time to look up to the Lord in prayer and bible reading. Again, perhaps you will have more space having given something up, or perhaps you might given something up in order to have space, however, it is crucial—above all else—to be spending daily time with Jesus. Shortly the new Advent Devotionals will be out—this time we’re reading through St Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians—so how might you use this resource to build in a daily time with God? Perhaps the booklets aren’t for you, that—of course—is fine… so long as you’re praying and reading the bible daily it doesn’t matter what resources you use. When Jesus comes back we’re going to be spending eternity with Him, the best way to prepare is to spend more time with Him now! Daily taking the time to look up.
So, there we have it, some ways to think about and to prepare for Advent and, more importantly, Jesus’ return. How might you make the most of the coming season? A season when we focus on the end of all things, summed up in the final verse of our next hymn: ‘For lo! the days are hastening on, by prophet seen of old, when with the ever-circling years shall come the time foretold’. Amen. (from Fr Mike).