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28 November 2004Advent 1 (Year A)

BOOK OF COMMON LECTIONARY REVISED COMMON PRAYER FOR MASS LECTIONARY

Isaiah 2:15 Isaiah 2:15 Isaiah 2:15

Psalm 125 Psalm 122:19 Psalm 122 Romans 13:814 Romans 13:1114 Romans 13:1114 Matthew 24:3744 Matthew 24:3744 Matthew 24:3644

I was glad when they said to me,Let us go to the house of the LORD!

Studying the LectionaryMatthew 24:(36) 3744(all) Matthew 2025 details Jesussayings aboutthe kingdom of heaven and bridge accounts of Jesusearthly ministry earlierin Matthew with the details of his betrayal, death and resurrection. Thispassage offers a glimpse of the infant born at Bethlehem. His messagehighlights the dawn of a new day in history, that is, the emerging kingdom

of heaven. There will be links to the Hebrew Bible in his teaching, as whenhe draws an analogy with Noahs days. But the analogy with the householdersuggests that present experience is as authoritative as that of the past. SecondTestament eschatology has an imminence that is not present in Isaiah. Thepromised kingdom is at hand, the day when the son of man comes.ForChristians, the birth of Jesus inaugurates a new era.

Isaiah 2:15 (all) This passage illustrates the contrasting messages that

pervade the Hebrew prophets. Much of Isaiah 1 attacks the social andreligious failings of Israel, but in Isaiah 2 a profound hope appears. Thevision of Isaiah rests on a coming day when the mountain of the Lordshouse,that is, Jerusalem, shall be set over all other mountains.

The assertion that all the nations shall come streaming to it could beinterpreted in nationalistic, triumphalistic fashion. Could this mean thatIsrael will reign over the nations, that Israels ways will prove supreme? A

self-serving possibility lurks in eschatological literature for those who suspectthey are an elect nation.

Isaiah proves even-handed, however. Jerusalem is favored simply as the source

Homily Service, 37(12):4349, 2004 Copyright The Liturgical Conference ISSN 0732-1872 DOI:10.1080/07321870490516539

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of eschatological hope. From out of Jerusalem comes the word of the Lord,and this is one of the most powerful of eschatological hopes. Nation shallnot lift sword against nation nor ever again be trained for war.Biblical

hope, in other words, centers not on vindication or triumph but on theachievement of everlasting peace. Jerusalem is exalted as the source of thismessage, for whose realization all nations search.

Romans 13:(8) 1114(all) Here we meet the images that we associate withAdvent: night and day, this time and the fullness of time, sleep and wake,darkness and light. The word salvationis understood by Paul as communalrather than individual. He has in mind the coming of the end time rather

than a particular persons death. The deeds of darkness and works of lightdistinguish the one who is in Christfrom the one who is not. No allowanceis needed for the deeds of sin, because the faithful one has put on the LordJesus Christ, the armor of light.

The Healing WordAdvent arrives as we gear up for Christmas. For weeks already our commercialsociety has been well into the countdown. It always seems that we aresomehow behind schedule. Urgency is in the air; time gallops away.

A similar message comes from Scripture, which points to the future day ofthe Lord and the end of time, and emphasizes the need not to be caught

off guard. For salvation is nearernow than when we first believed.

The night is far gone, and the dayis at hand.

Faced with the celebration of thenativity of Christ, and the finalcoming of the Son of Man at the endof the world, we need to be thinking

in a dual way. Essentially the both come to the same point. The arrival of

the Lord evokes our anticipation and preparation.As we think about gifts, cares, trees, decoration and entertainment, thechallenge offered is to remember the meaning of what we are doing. The Lord

The challenge isto remember themeaning of whatwe are doing.

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comes, bringing new life to us. We admonish ourselves to do more spiritualpreparation. While we are motivated to prepare spiritually for the feast, weare also burdened by the tasks to be completed and the expectations to be

filled. Add to that our daily lives, and we are primed for overload. We caneasily fall into the trap of thinking that spiritual preparation is somethingbeyond and above what we have already done.

We want to reclaim the wonder we experienced when we were young, andeach day dragged long as we approached the day itself when our deepestdesires would be fulfilled. Most adults and many children, however, do notexperience Advent and Christmas as seasons of merriment but rather of too

much and of not enough. Too many memories of unfulfilled dreams, toomuch food and alcohol, too much work, too much commercialization, toobusy. Not enough time and money, not enough love and energy, not enoughprayer and peace and, for some, not enough food and clothing. Occasionallywe do not have even enough time to know what we are feeling.

How can we prepare for our own death and risen body? We know not wheneither occurs. Like a red alert, we are to be prepared all the time for anything.

Someone said that preparation is finding the Lord in each task we do anddiscovering the Lord in every person we meet. God sanctifies us, and fromthat we become aware of the truth of Christs presence, and we desire toacknowledge the presence to ourselves and others.

Isaiah 2:15 stirs us this year because places that are beating their swordsinto plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks are now visible. Nationshall not life up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

This years Olympic competition will not turn into wars. But there is stillmuch farther to travel: Tragic civil wars resulting in massive destruction andstarvation ravage the world. We must continue to take our stand against thedeeds of darkness and night. We must instead strive to live in the light ofChrist. In this season of preparation we anticipate the new creation wherethere will be justice and peace.

Ideas and Illustrations1. Keep a watchful eye.(Matthew 24:44)

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Lo! He comes with clouds descending,once for favored sinners slain;Thousand, thousand saints attending

sell the triumph of his train:Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!Christ the Lord returns to reign.

Excerpt from Charles Wesley, LBW, #27.

2. The night is far spent; the day draws near.(Romans 13:12)

Passing away, saith the World, passing away:

Chances, beauty, and youth, sapped day by day:The life never continueth in one stay.Is the eye waxen dim, is the dark hair changing to greyThat hath won neither laurel nor bay?I shall clothe myself in Spring and bud in May:Thou, root-stricken, shall not rebuild thy decayOn my bosom for aye.Then I answered: Yea.

. . . .Passing away, saith my God, passing away:Winter passeth after the long delay:New grapes on the vine, new figs on the tender spray,Turtle calleth turtle in Heavens May.Though I tarry, wait for Me, trust Me, watch and pray:Arise, come away, night is past and lo it is day,

My love, My sister, My spouse, thou shalt hear Me say.Then I answered: Yea.

Excerpt from Christina Rossetti, Old and New Year Ditties,in Literary Companion to the Lectionary, ed.Mark Pryce (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001) 23.

3. You must be prepared.(Matthew 24:44)

I tell you, dont let your hearts grow numbStay alert. It is your soul which matters.

If only these wordswords in which I am laying baremy inmost thoughtscould force you to destroy the deceit

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with which the world tries to put us to sleep!

Albert Schweitzer, Reverence for Life (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1969) 71.

Serving the WordIt is the common experience of humans to seek beginnings, beginningsthat have the power to refresh, renew. The American Chinese or JewishNew Year, the Christian New Year, all are welcoming times: they beckonand encourage.

The Scripture readings speak to our human condition. They map for usa goal for the season, giving a name to the object of our longing, to ourunnamed yearnings. The readings also give us the program by which weare to attain our goal.

When we climb the mountain, we learn Gods ways and walk in the pathsof the Most High.We will not be alone. All the nations shall stream to it;many people shall come.The vision has communities of people turningtoward righteousness, something that has happened throughout history.Todays righetous ones work with the poor, protect the environment, seekto stamp out racial prejudice and hatred in all its forms. Isaiahs ancientvision of such a people sounds the premonition of the angelic message thatheralded a Christmastime.

In the reading from Isaiah the invitation is to come to God on the mountain.The prophet tells of the mountain as Gods home, the highest mountainand the highest aspiration. We are encouraged to find God on the heights.Go to the mountain. Hills do things to us: power, authority, wisdom, light,clarity of judgment, decisions, peace, closeness to God. Hills recall Moseson Mount Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the transfiguration, CapitolHill. One commentator suggested that we move the U.S. Capitol to Denver,a mile up.

These readings feel empty without the powerful presence of John theBaptizer: Prepare the way of the Lord.But in the second reading, Paulseems to assume the role of our no-nonsense spiritual trainer. He insists webegin immediately. Now is the hour!he says, to rev us up. His exhortationis both direct (lay aside the works of darkness) and encouraging (put on

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the Lord Jesus Christ). He speaks of putting on the armor of light: spiritualaerobics to strengthen us in the coming year. The living honorablybuilds our spiritual muscle; the contrast of light and darkness symbolizes

the opposition of good and evil; and putting on Jesus Christ provides themode of daily living that strengthens and protects our gains.

We begin this new year with the Gospel of Matthew, who takes Christs ownwords to unite Advent and Christmas/Epiphany. The coming of the sonof manis repeated several times and then, your Lord is coming.Adventis both our coming to God and Gods coming to us. Our yearnings for anunnamed satisfaction is named as the coming of the chosen One. Jesus speaks

beyond Christmas: his first coming as God-man to the gentiles. Jesus tellsus of that great final Epiphany when the chosen One shall come in cloudsof glory, gathering about him all the faithful of the earth.

Advent is the time to be open to the unexpected intrusion of God, toexperience God in unique and special ways, to accept the embrace of

the divine becoming one with us.Advent speaks birth; it also speaks

resurrection.

Babies and children around theworld kept dying this past week.Some public figures kept lyingto their people on all continents.

Heavy storms took many lives last week. Gunfire took many more. Whatabout this rhetoric in which we engage: the unexpected intrusion of God;

the embrace of the divine becoming one with us? Are we believers in Jesusthe Christ some of the last unrealists on the globe?

People worked in intensive-care units and emergency rooms last week. Somepeople taught other people to read last week, as a way out of their povertyand misery. All kinds of things happened to help people have life and tobegin anew. Without that new life, the promise of risen glory makes littlesense. Many people did these things because their belief in Jesus, the One

who is coming, is the firm conviction that God fulfills every promise.

Advent speaksbirth; it also speaksresurrection.

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Welcoming the Word1. Describe the way the prophet pictures the gathering of the nations

in peace in Isaiah 2:1

5. For what crises do you see the need for God

sarbitration today (v 4)? What place does instructionhave in internationalarbitration? What is the role of the word of the LORD (v 3)? Write anAdvent prayer for peace using verse 5bas a response.

2. What is meant in Psalm 122 by the invitation to go to the house ofthe LORD? Why does the invitation make us glad? What does the psalmistseekfor the sakeof Gods house, and what does that phrase mean to you(v 9)? What does the prayer for peace in verses 68 say to us in the aftermathof 9/11?

3. What do you think the believers in Rome understood by Pauls assertionthat salvation is nearer to us now,in Romans 13:1114? What does itmean to believers in our time? What image does verse 14 use to remind usof our baptism (see Galatians 3:2728)? What devices and desiresof thepresent age do we need to put aside to prepare for the coming of Christ?

4. Why do you think the concept of the rapturehas captured popularimagination? Discuss possible reasons why most modern biblical scholarsdo not believe the gospel writer in Matthew 24:3644 was referring to theoccurrence of the rapture. In what unexpected ways does Jesus come to uswhile we are going about our ordinary tasks? Why is it so difficult to stayawake when we face the time of trial(v 42; see also Luke 22:4546)?

Blair Gilmer Meeks

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