The First Sunday of Advent

Father O’Brien was being honored on the occasion of his 25^th anniversary as pastor. A huge dinner had been in the planning for months. Half the town was there and a local politician who belonged to the congregation had been asked to make a presentation to the priest on behalf of the parish.

Unfortunately, this politician got stuck in traffic and was late, so the priest decided to fill in the gap by saying a few words about his first days at the parish. “You will understand,” he said, “the seal of the confessional can never be broken. However, I got my first impression of this congregation from the very first confession I heard. I thought I had been assigned to a dreadful place.

The first person that entered the confessional that day told me he had embezzled money from his business partners, had an affair with his secretary, and had three DUI’s. I was appalled. But as the days past, I learned that he was the exception and that I had, indeed, come to a parish of good and wonderful people.”

Just as the pastor finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies for his tardiness. He rushed to the podium and immediately began to make the presentation. “I’ll never forget the day our good pastor arrived,” he said. “In fact, I had the honor and privilege of being the first one to go confession to him.”

The point of the story is Show up on time. You never know what you’ll miss. 

This season we call “Advent” is an example of how the church’s timing and the timing of the present culture are way out of sync. The mantra words of the church are “Wait!” “Keep awake” “Be still” but our explosive culture shouts “Spend” “Shop” “Stress yourself out!”  The warm color of our Advent blue is overwhelmed by the brassy reds, greens, silver, and gold that have been in every store since the day after Halloween.

What kind of waiting is this Gospel talking about? Matthew’s audience was made up of believers who lived each day convinced that Christ was coming back at any moment to haul in God’s Kingdom and make the world right.

Eventually, it became clear that Jesus was not in that much of a hurry and yet there were these contradictory statements he had made: “Stay awake! The Son of Man is coming back at an unexpected hour, and no one knows when.” Did Jesus say these things for future generations to ponder?

Let’s turn to the example of a burglar and the contrast between a homeowner sleeping soundly, not suspecting any break-in—and someone lying awake with a flashlight next to the bedside, ready to leap at the first sound of an intruder. Seriously, is God going to come as a thief?  What a strange image.

A thief invades our home, violates our security, steals things that we value, and we’re supposed to get ready for this thief to break in? If we never know when he’s coming, how do we do that?

The big surprise is that God will not come as a robber who takes our cherished possessions, but one who wants to take away the things in our life that are bad for us: anxiety, loneliness, hopelessness, grief, a sense of shame or poor self-esteem.

“That is why Jesus will come back like a thief in the night,” writes Mother Barbara Brown Taylor, “so that we do not have time to lock him out. As long as we are successful in that, we will never know what a peculiar thief this really is, who comes not to take but to give.

The threat is not outside the door,” she says. “It is inside us: in our misplaced fears, our misguided defenses. Keep awake, therefore—not to keep the intruder out but to let him in. He may be a thief, but he is God’s beloved thief, who has come to set us free.”

“Keep awake! Be alert! Watch and wait,” The first Sunday of Advent points us to the important thing in life: the coming of the reign of God—and it is nearer than we think. Something extraordinary could happen at any moment! And we don’t want to be late. We don’t want to miss it. We want our timing to be just right.

Martin, the Cobbler, is Leo Tolstoy’s story about a lonely shoemaker who is promised in a dream that Christ will come to visit his shop. The next day Martin rises early, gets his shop ready, prepares a meal and waits. The only one who showed up in the morning was an old beggar who came by and asked for rest. Martin gave him a room he had prepared for his divine guest.

The only one to show up in the afternoon was an old lady with a heavy load of wood. She was hungry and asks for food. He gave her the food he had prepared for his divine guest.

As evening came, a lost boy wandered by the shop. Martin took him home, afraid all the while he would miss the Christ. That night in his prayers he asks the Lord, “Where were You? I waited all day for You.”

Jesus said to Martin:

“Three times I came to your friendly door,

Three times my shadow was on your floor.

I was a beggar with bruised feet.

I was the woman you gave to eat.

I was the homeless child on the street.”

Watch out! Christ may be closer than we can imagine.