The Rev. Kristin Krantz
St. James’, Mt. Airy
12/1/19
Advent 1A
Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
Though winter doesn’t officially start for a few weeks, it feels as if it has arrived. The days are short. The darkness comes early. By late afternoon most days, it starts to look as if the light is just about to go out.
Right at this time, when the light seems to be coming to an end, a beginning is near, because long ago the church decided to take time and do something new with it.
Most of the time, we think of time as a line – beginning somewhere in the past and marching forward, always forward.
But the church in her wisdom long ago took the ends of that line – or perhaps they are beginnings? – and tied them together to make a circle. Now we know that for every beginning there is an ending, and for every ending there is a beginning.
The season Advent, which begins today, is our beginning, because the Church learned a long time ago that people need a way to get ready for a Mystery like Christmas. And so four weeks were set aside to prepare anew, not for Christmas, but for Christ.
So today we begin again, beginning with the lighting of a candle set in a wreath…
For centuries have people performed rituals to ease their way through winter as they longed for the sun’s rebirth.[1]
The ancients, who feared the waning of the light, had a way to woo back hope: they knew not to separate what happened outside them in nature, from what happened inside, spiritually. With colder, shorter days, they felt even more anxiety than we do.
Their solution was to halt routine. When the sun stopped, they stopped. With the harvest in, they put away their tools. They removed wheels from their wagons, decorated them with greens, and hung them indoors.
The wheels became signs of a different time, a time to stop ordinary things, huddle together, and turn inward. These people confronted their feelings of cold, fear, and loss. With their wheels lit with candles, they prayed for the wheel of the earth to turn again toward the sun.
And light did follow darkness. Gradually mornings came earlier. People recovered hope when they stopped and waited and faced the winter of their longing. They shared in God’s miracle of light (let there be light…).
God works through these symbols with us, too. Symbols are thick with meaning and point us toward powerful truths. The wreath that we light (here and in our homes) is our symbol of hope in this season of anticipation, and it helps us to get ready to welcome anew God as the center of our lives.
We still make and use these wreaths because they help us to slow down and pay attention. They invite us into setting aside time, alone or together, to sink into the practice of expectant waiting.
That is what these four weeks of Advent are for after all – waiting for the coming of Christ, both with the birth of a baby and in expectation of Christ’s return.
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Expectation is what ties together the spiritual practice of this season and our lectionary readings.
Often people are surprised that we’re not singing Christmas carols and telling the nativity story yet – as that is what the world around us has begun to do – but we’re not there yet.
We’re in a pregnant season of expectation for what is to come, captured poetically in Ana Hernandez’s song: If in your heart you make a manger for his birth, then God will once again become a child on earth…
But our scripture for this season points us to different type of expectation – not of that first coming, but of the second coming. That second coming is not to be confused with the unbiblical Left Behind series, but is the expectation, hope, and trust that the God who chose to be born human and live among us, will indeed return to fulfill the promise of God’s reign which we celebrated with the feast of Christ the King last Sunday.
What does this reign look like?
The reading from Isaiah say it looks like beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks to walk in the light of the Lord. It is paraphrased in that famous spiritual Down by the Riverside: Goin’ to lay down my sword and shield, down by the riverside…I ain’t gonna study war no more… Goin’ to lay down my war shoes… Goin’ to put on my long white robe… Goin’ to meet my loving savior… I ain’t gonna study war no more.
Paul tells us in Romans that now is the moment to wake from sleep, from the ways we have become complacent and numb to the brokenness of the world around us. Lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. As followers of Christ we are called to live honorably, with Jesus as our standard, not the whims of the world.
But perhaps the season is best summed up with our passage from Matthew: keep awake, for God is coming at the unexpected hour – be ready.
This is our season get ready. We, like our first-century sisters and brothers, need to wait by being watchful and alert, prayerful and humble, trusting in God and awaiting redemption from the world’s systems that only God can, and will, bring at the end of days.[2]
Which, will of course, be another beginning… We know this rhythm, just as our ancestors did. Before we can imagine it, the needles of the evergreens will give way to the tender shoots of spring – a symbol of the circle of the seasons, rebirth, and life. We will come to that at Easter.
But for now, our sign and symbol are with the winter branches, cut and made into a wreath and adorned with candles.
Whether an Advent wreath has deep roots in your spiritual life, or this is your first year making and using one, I invite you to use it to ground this time of expectation and waiting we have entered. Use it to help you get ready.
When you light your Advent wreath, turn off other lights first and see how dark is. Pay attention to the darkness growing each day as we approach Christmas. Pay attention to the light growing each week as we light another candle.
Sink into the grace of this spiritual practice, that as we move through the days and weeks of Advent, this time of getting ready may awaken your spirit and inspire wonder in your heart.
~ Amen ~
[1] This section on history of the Advent wreath adapted from a sermon by The Rev. Ted Jones.
[2] Mariam J. Kamell, Exegetical Perspective, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 1.