Hark, a thrilling voice is sounding.
Christ is nigh, it seems to say.
Cast away the works of darkness,
O ye children of the day!
Here we are again at this wonderful season of Advent. If you’ve been around Redeemer for several years, you could probably preach this sermon for me, because, while the words change from year to year, the focus remains the same. Advent is not Christmas. Advent is Advent. The days between Thanksgiving and the Eve of the 25th of December are not the Christmas Season. Contrary to everything you hear on the radio, see on television, and see in the stores—the Church does not celebrate Christmas until Christmas Eve.
Elizabeth Devitt, one of our college students, sent me this poem that speaks to what I’m saying: “He knows what you’ve been singing, he knows about the tree, he saw you eating cookies, so, sing along with me: you better wait up, you better hold back, Don’t jump that gun or he’ll give you flack, Advent Claus is coming to town.”
And so, on these four Sundays of Advent we won’t be singing Christmas carols. We will be singing Advent hymns. The liturgy will be different, taking on a penitential character, beginning with the words, “Bless the Lord who forgiveth all our sins. His mercy endureth forever.” Today those words were followed by a recitation of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. Doing that at the very beginning of the season invites us to examine our lives in light of the specific commandments of God. Right after we recited the commandments we confessed our sins. Throughout this season, the General Confession will be said at the beginning of the mass, rather than after the Prayers of the People, where it is located most of the year. Saying the confession at the beginning is a sign that this is a penitential time.
And that’s the difficult part about the season of Advent, because it is so counter-cultural. Everything else around us is shouting, “Christmas is here! Start celebrating now and don’t let up until the 25th of December. Party, party, party! The 25th is the crowning celebration, and then it’s over. Get that tree down and out of the house!”
But when you come to church, there isn’t one Christmas decoration until the 25th, and then we celebrate it for twelve days. We keep the trees up even after the 1st of January, which everybody knows is bad luck!
Furthermore, the Rector insists on saying that, rather than going along with the culture around us, we should incorporate the Season of Advent into our lives as much as possible, waiting to celebrate Christmas until Christ-Mass, using the season as a true time of preparation to receive Christ when he comes again. I’m not saying we should become antisocial during Advent and not go to the parties, and everyone has to shop in preparation for Christmas. By the way, our shop is open today for your shopping pleasure! What I am saying is we should incorporate the things of Advent into our lives as much as possible, so that the Feast of Christmas can be all that it can be.
Sometimes I feel like John the Baptist, a lone voice crying in the wilderness. But I’m not a lone voice. What I say every First Sunday of Advent is what the Church has said for at least 1500 years—basically for as long as there has been an annual celebration of Christmas. Taking our cue from our Jewish roots, we prepare for a feast with a fast. In order to prepare ourselves truly to celebrate a major feast of the Lord, we must do the best we can, by the grace of God, to do in our lives what we say with our lips. Take a look at the collects and readings for the Sundays of Advent, and you will see that the Church bids us to use this time before Christmas to make our lives ready to receive our Lord Jesus, whether we’re talking about receiving him in the Sacrament, when he comes to us at Christ Mass, or when he comes with power and great glory to judge the living and the dead.
Look at the Collect for this First Sunday of Advent, for it puts it succinctly and beautifully. “Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal.”
This focus on preparing ourselves to celebrate Christmas by preparing for the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time is likewise found in all of the readings for today. Isaiah prophesies that there will come a time when the Lord will truly rule the hearts of his people; justice truly will be done, and all people will be reconciled with one another. Not only will wars cease, but also the implication is that interpersonal conflict will cease as well. Those family divisions, conflict at the office, tearing down the reputations of others, deception and manipulation that go on in human society will come to an end. What a vision Isaiah had!
St. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, urges the Church to be vigilant in awaiting the Lord’s coming. “Cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light,” he exhorts. They are to prepare for the coming of the Lord by living all the time as if they were in his presence.
And Jesus, in the Gospel, speaks of his coming again by comparing his Second Coming to the days of Noah. Most people have no idea that they should be concerned in any way about how they should lead their lives. Going on, he suggests that we may not notice the difference between the righteous and the unrighteous. Both are performing the same tasks when the judgment separates them. Then he likens the Day of Judgment to a thief. Just as when a thief burglarizes your home, we do not know the day or the hour when our Lord will come again, so we must always be prepared.
The message is one of warning, but it is also, and foremost, a message of hope. Life has a purpose. It has a goal. Day follows day, week follows week, and so go also the years. We can easily lose sight of the fact that life has a direction and purpose. As we contemplate the Second Coming, we are reminded that how we live today has consequences in the realm of the eternal.
Sometimes someone will say to me, “You know, Fr. Fred, I finally decided to try to observe Advent. My family and I did the Advent devotionals, we held off decorating until close to Christmas, and we focused on preparing ourselves to receive Christ at Christmas and it made such a difference. We’ll never go back to the way we used to do it.”
You see, if you follow the ancient practice of preparing for the coming of Christ during this season of Advent, it has the potential to change your life. May God grant us all the grace to “cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light,” that we may be prepared to receive him whenever he comes.
“Lo, the Lamb so long expected, comes with pardon down from heaven;
Let us haste with tears of sorrow, one and all to be forgiven.”
Sermon preached by the Very Reverend Fr. Fredrick A. Robinson
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
The first Sunday of Advent December 1, 2013