Sermon; Advent 1A; Matt. 24:36-44

Happy New Year!

Today is the First Sunday of Advent and the first day of the new liturgical year

Each Sunday of Advent has a particular theme, and this first Sunday’s theme is Hope.  This hope is reflected in the opening Collect:  We hope for grace to cast away the works of darkness; we have hope that Christ will come again in glory; we have hope that we will rise to life immortal.  Isaiah offers an image of hope when he proclaims people will beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.  Isaiah offers hope when he envisions a time when nations will not learn war anymore.  And Paul proclaims hope when he says salvation is nearer to you now than when we first became believers.

The gospel today is one of those apocalyptic, end-time passages which, at first, may not seem to provide images of hope.  Here Jesus talks about people being swept away or taken at an unexpected time.  Unfortunately this passage has been used to (literally) scare the hell out of people.  People merrily ignoring God until drowned by a flood.  People ignoring God until a so-called rapture takes all the right people to heaven while all the wrong people get left behind.  But that isn’t a message of hope, that’s a revenge fantasy.

Where’s the hope in this gospel passage?  Well, let’s pop over to Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 1:  Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

In discussing this gospel passage both Saint John Chrysostom and Hilary of Poitiers said, “We must always be prepared to face the end of life.  We are not given the precise date of the Lord’s return so that we may remain always vigilant.”

Another anonymous source wrote, “. . . every generation should live in the constant expectation of Christ’s return.”  Not fear, but expectations.

Jesus said that the Son of Man would come at an unexpected hour.  This isn’t meant to be used as a story with which to terrorize people or frighten little children.  It’s not meant to be used as some form of “scared straight” propaganda.  Instead, it’s one way that Hebrews 11:1 can make sense.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Above all else, Christianity is based on the belief that life wins and death is defeated.  With his death, Christ destroyed death.  In his resurrection Christ leads us to new life and unity with God.  Within this is the belief that somehow, in some form, Christ will return.  We affirm this in Eucharistic Prayer A when we say, “Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will come again.”

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.

The Lord, through Isaiah, gives us an image of a time when nations shall beat their swords into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks, and war will be no more.  We hope for that time and God assures us that it will come.

We hope for the time of the Messiah’s coming, and Jesus assures us that time will come so we must always be vigilant.

And yet, that time of peace seems very far off or unattainable.  The coming of the Messiah sometimes seems like a fantasy.  These things are unseen, but we live with the conviction that they are possible.  We live with the conviction that it will happen.

Advent is the time of the already and not yet.  It is a time of hopeful, expectant, and active waiting.  Christ has already come and is also yet to come.  In this Advent time we live with the assurance of that hope.

But we must also live with the conviction of things not seen.  What would it look like to live with the conviction that the vision of Isaiah is possible?  Saint David’s Episcopal Church in Southfield, MI, is doing that very thing.  They created a gun buy-back program to get unwanted guns off the streets. They are literally turning spears into pruning hooks.

We have an assurance that things hoped for will come to pass.  We must also live with the conviction of things not seen.  But living with that conviction is more than sitting in our pews saying, “I believe.”  Conviction also requires action.

It may not be as dramatic as getting unwanted guns off the street.  Maybe it’s ensuring the Food Pantry always has a supply of personal hygiene items on hand.  Maybe it’s offering tutoring services or free baby sitting for single mothers and/or struggling parents.

In this time of hopeful expectation, maybe we are being asked to do more than wait – maybe we are being asked to live into our convictions and actively work to make God’s kingdom present here on earth as it is in heaven.

In this new year may our hope and conviction in Christ lead us into a place of active waiting.  In this new year, may we have the grace and strength to actively cast away the works of darkness.

Amen.