Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent

“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.”

Happy New Year! We are beginning the new liturgical year with this beautiful Advent season of four weeks of preparing for Christ.

In this time, in these weeks, it can be difficult to connect with Jesus’ declaration that “about that day or hour no one knows.” Everything is scheduled for us today. Doctor’s appointments, meetings, holidays, travel plans. Everything in our lives has a day, a time, an hour.

And yet, in this Advent season, we are celebrating the unknown of Christ’s return. We are, indeed, counting down the days and hours until Christmas, our celebrations and holiday plans, marking the birth of Christ in Bethlehem.

But we are also celebrating the promised return of Christ, the day and hour of which we do not know, cannot know.

So we keep awake. We keep alert. We continue in our prayers, we continue in our love of God, and we continuing in caring for God’s world.

Martin Luther, when asked what he would do if he knew the world was ending tomorrow, said that he would plant an apple tree. So what do we do to prepare for an unknown event? This is not a call to panic and do nothing, but a call for preparedness, a call for love, a call for continuing to be in the world, but not passively.

We are called into the world. We are called into being in the world, loving the world.

How then, in this Advent season, as we remember the final preparations for Jesus’ coming as a baby in Bethlehem, can we prepare also for the return of the king?

I have no answers for you, but invite you in this season to look around, to look at your neighbors and at the need in the world, and to respond with joy and hope and love.

Thanks be to God!

Amen.

Reflection for Christ the King Sunday

“And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

This Sunday we celebrate the festival of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the church year. Our liturgical calendar is set up with Advent as the first season, the beginning of the year. Therefore, this Sunday is the last Sunday of the year. It’s hard to believe that we are so close to Advent, but we are.

           

This is also our last Sunday before Thanksgiving, a time when we celebrate all that we have been given, all the bounties of God’s creation, all the good things in our lives. Whether we gather together with family for a big feast, or celebrate quietly at home, it is a holiday when we can take special time apart to recognize that all we have comes from God.

But what do Thanksgiving and Christ the King have to do with each other? How do we celebrate these two events together? Though we ought to recognize that we give thanks to God on Thanksgiving, it is really a secular holiday, one focused on consumption, and acting as a gateway to the Christmas buying season.

Well, I think that our reading from Paul this week may give us some idea of the answer. “And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

Fullness is certainly something that we can associate with Thanksgiving, but there is more here. We may have trouble identifying with the term “Christ the King.” After all, we aren’t a people who have regular experience with kings; it’s just not something we are familiar with. But this line from Paul gives us an idea, and when coupled with Thanksgiving, it may be one we can really hold on to.

“And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things…”

God, who has created all things, has put Christ over all things, the head over all things, with the church as his body. When we celebrate Thanksgiving, and praise God for all that has been created, we can also celebrate Christ the King, and praise God for this marvelous head that leads us into all creation, boldly, without fear.

The one who made all things, rules all things, holds all things, loves all things, is the one who made us, who loves us, who leads us.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

           

Reflection for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

“For you yourselves know very well

that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

“Like a thief in the night.” So many things happen unexpectedly, “like a thief in the night.”

Illness, car accidents, heart attacks. Like a thief in the night.

Unemployment, downsizing, stock market crashes. Like a thief in the night.

Car repairs, broken hot water heaters, roof repairs. Like a thief in the night.

Flood, earthquakes, tornadoes. Like a thief in the night.

Broken relationships, broken systems, actual thieves. Like a thief in the night.

There are so many things that steal from us. Things that steal our sense of security, that steal away our independence, our safety, our comfort. Things that steal our ability to function, to encounter the world with grace and love. Things that, like a thief in the night, come unexpectedly and disastrously.

And yet, this is how Paul tells us the day of the Lord will come: unexpected, surprising, life-changing.

How can you prepare for something that is, by definition, unexpected? We can prepare for a thief in protecting ourselves: locking our doors, not advertising when we’re going to be gone, and so on. We can prepare for car repairs by saving up a “rainy day” fund just for such emergencies. We can have disaster response plans and health insurance. But there is only so much preparation that can be done. There will always be the unexpected, the unknown, the surprising, the life-changing.

The good news is that our God is in those places already. The good news is that it is the day of the Lord which is coming like a thief in the night. We trust in a God who is surprising and unexpected in grace, not in punishment. We trust in a God whose mercy is so plentiful and abundant that it surprises us and changes our lives in ways we cannot even imagine. Like a thief in the night, our God’s grace comes upon us, takes us by surprise, takes from us what we value, and changes our lives. Unlike a thief in the night, what is taken is not what need, and what is left behind is not fear and emptiness, but hope and grace.

God’s grace is unexpected.

God’s love surprises.

The day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.