SERMON, ADVENT 1C, LUKE 21:25-31

Happy New Year! And welcome to Advent. This season begins where the last one ended, with apocalyptic readings. That really is appropriate because in Advent we look forward to the final days when Christ will come again and when God will complete the work begun in Christ.

Advent is also the season when we look forward back to the birth of Christ. We look forward to Christmas when we celebrate the birth of God's son some 2000 years ago. It's hard not to start thinking about Christmas this time of year, what with the snow, the Christmas stroll and all of the Christmas Social events up in Virginia City.

Advent is the only season of the year when we intentionally look forward and backwards. It is the season of both/and. It has been called the season of waiting, and has been compared to waiting for the birth of a new child.

While I think that image of waiting is helpful -- waiting for a child who will change your life but unsure of the exact arrival date -- I think that image doesn't do enough to convey what Advent is all about. Waiting is static. Nothing is happening. We wait for the light to change. We wait for the football game to start. We wait for the waiter to bring our food. We wait for the bus. Advent is not a static season.

Instead of seeing Advent as a time of waiting, I propose we see it as a time of preparation. Preparation is intentional. It has purpose. It is active. We prepare for Christmas by decorating. We prepare for the birth by setting up the baby's room. We prepare for dinner by cooking. We prepare for the kingdom of God by inviting and including people. Advent is a time of preparation.

I experienced the stark contrast between waiting and preparation over the last two weeks. On the day before Thanksgiving, I was with John and Micki when he went into surgery. In the early morning hours, we prepared for that surgery. We talked and tried to calm nerves. Nurses and the anesthesiologist went about their business. And we prayed before John was wheeled into surgery. It was, in essence, a mini-Advent season of preparation when we looked forward to John's return at some unknown time.

Contrast that with the time of waiting that Micki and I experienced. We moved from pre-op to, appropriately, the waiting room. We sat and we waited. Waited and sat. We left for food twice; but still, we waited. And when the clock passed the time we expected the end of surgery to be, we waited some more.

And I was with them again in Butte after his second surgery. That surgery went well, and he is still in ICU as they watch him. So I was there with Micki, sitting and waiting. There really isn't anything else to do at this stage of the game; so everyone sits and waits.

Once he recovers, however, to the point where Micki can think about bringing him home, then she can think about preparing. Preparing his room, preparing the recliner, preparing his diet, preparing a regimen that gets him back to work.

That is the difference between waiting and preparing. We can't fall into the trap of preparing for Christmas and waiting for the return of Christ. Advent is a both/and season, looking forward and back; but it is not a season of preparation and waiting, it is truly a season of preparation.

A new year is the traditional time to think about making changes. We work to change our diet, our weight, our habits, our attitude. We can take this new Church year to do the same thing. How will we change our old ways of waiting for something to happen and move to actively preparing for change?

It's like the old joke of the man stranded on his roof after the hurricane waiting for God to save him. He refused help from a canoe, motor boat, and helicopter because he was "waiting for God" to save him. He hadn't spent any time preparing for various ways in which God might send help. If we are going to be successful this year, we need to not wait for God to rescue us. We need to prepare to recognize the various ways that God might send help.

How might that look to us? If we simply wait for the arrival of the kingdom, or for some miracle cure from God, we will fail as a parish. But if we prepare for the arrival of the kingdom of God, then we will succeed. How do we see ourselves in this community? What do we want to become? Those questions take intentional thought and preparation.

Inviting people to join us for worship and then preparing for the possibility that they might say yes is important. That will entail sitting in a different spot and guiding them through the prayer book and hymnal. It will entail engaging them at coffee hour and introducing them. In other words, don't simply invite people to come to church; prepare yourself for engaging newcomers and then invite them.

Preparing ourselves also means such things as pledging, sitting on the vestry, participating in the upkeep of the building and grounds and anything else you might imagine.

So this Advent season, spend some time preparing. Prepare for Christmas. Prepare for the coming of our Lord and Savior. Prepare for making the effort to be part of a vital parish. Prepare . . . to live.