Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday, 1 December 2019, is the First Sunday of Advent, also known as Advent Sunday.
This Sunday marks the beginning of Year A in the readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, and during this coming year we are working our way through Saint Matthew’s Gospel.
Throughout Advent, the Sunday readings as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, provide for only one set of readings on the Sundays.
The Readings:
The lectionary readings for next Sunday are: Isaiah 2: 1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13: 11-14; Matthew 24: 36–44.
There is a link to the readings HERE
Introducing the Readings:
The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the Church Year.
How do we begin our beginnings?
In Alice in Wonderland (Chapter 12), the White Rabbit put on his spectacles.
‘Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?’ he asked.
‘Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’
But in Advent we seem to start where we ought to stop. As we begin the lectionary readings for Year A, we are at the end of Christ’s life. But this is our beginning. For Advent is the time we prepare for the coming of Christ, not just as the child in the Christmas crib, but for the coming of Christ as king, and the ushering is of the Kingdom of God.
Our end is in our beginning.
TS Eliot’s poem East Coker, the second of his Four Quartets, is set in late November and ends:
In my end is my beginning.
But it opens:
In my beginning is my end.
The radical author, professor and preacher, the Revd Robin Meyers, described by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as ‘scholarly, pastoral, prophetic, and eloquent,’ has written: ‘Life itself passes daily judgment on the idea that [God is in control], that good deeds and righteous living exempt us from mindless tragedy, or that the meek will inherit anything other than a crushing debt and a dead planet.’
But in a sermon some years ago in the First [Congregational] Church in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the First Sunday of Advent, his colleague, the church historian, the Revd Dr J Mary Luti, of Andover Newton Theological School, responded: ‘Nonetheless, and hoping against hope, today’s scriptures emphatically encourage us to stand firm, to refuse to throw in the towel. God really is in charge, they assert, and one day you won’t have to take that on faith … Thus the first Sunday of Advent intends to make a pre-emptive strike on despair as the Church sets out on another year of following Christ from manger to grave, and beyond.’
On the first Sunday of Advent, we find ourselves in a unique position, standing both at the beginning and at the end, precisely at the turning–point of the liturgical year. This peculiar experience of living within a paradox is a characteristic of the Christian faith. However, perhaps the greatest paradox of Advent is the tension between the joyous anticipation of the birth of Jesus and the inevitability of the cross.
In one sense, Advent does not end at Christmas. The nativity, the Incarnation, cannot be separated from the crucifixion, the Atonement. The purpose of Jesus’ coming into the world, of the ‘Word made flesh’ and dwelling among us, is to reveal God and His grace to the world through Jesus’ life and teaching, but also through his suffering, death, and resurrection. So, at the beginning of things, we think about the end of things.
The readings for Sunday reflect this emphasis on Christ’s second coming and include themes of accountability, judgment, and the hope of eternal life. In the words of TS Eliot,
What we call the beginning is often the end
and to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. (TS Eliot, Little Gidding)
Isaiah 2: 1-5:
Isaiah is writing ca 740 BC, when the people of Judah are facing Assyrian armies preparing to conquer Jerusalem, and many people doubt God’s power to preserve the House of David and to keep his promises to the people. But there were other people too who believed they were invincible in the face of enemies.
Jerusalem began on the eastern hill or mountain. By the time of Isaiah, the city had expanded on to part of the western hill. Zion (verse 3) was originally the name of the southern slope of the eastern hill, the site of the first settlement. This name was later used for the whole city.
The Prophet Isaiah promises that in the future, in ‘days to come,’ God will usher in a new era in which he will dwell on earth. His presence above all others on earth symbolises his sovereignty.
The prophet foretells a time when all peoples will make their pilgrimage to the mountain of the Lord, to Jerusalem, to worship God, and to learn the way of living revealed by God. There, all will learn God’s ways so that they may walk in his paths.
In these days to come, God will settle disputes between the nations and arbitrate between many peoples. It will be an age of peace, it which warfare being a thing of the past, when swords are beaten into ploughshares and spears into pruning-hooks.
It is appropriate at the beginning of Advent to respond to the call: ‘Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!’ (verse 5).
Psalm 122:
The Psalm continues the themes of pilgrimage and peace.
We are invited to go up to ‘the house of the Lord,’ to Jerusalem, and ‘to give thanks to the name of the Lord.’
The psalmist prays to God for peace and prosperity for ‘my relatives and friends’ and for those who love God.
Romans 13: 11-14:
Earlier in this chapter (13: 1-8), Saint Paul writes about the obligations Christians have to civil authorities, and continues his instructions on ethics. The only thing we owe as Christians to others – Christians and non-Christians – is love: ‘the one who loves another has fulfilled the law’ (Romans 13: 8).
All the commandments, he tells us, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (13: 9), ‘love is the fulfilling of the law’ (13: 10).
Now, Saint Paul offers a wake-up call, reminding us that we are living in the present but also looking forward to the Advent of Christ. ‘For Salvation is nearer to us now … the night is far gone, the day is near’ (13: 11-12).
We are moving from darkness to light, from evil to good, and we are called to live as if that day has already dawned.
Matthew 24: 36-44:
The geographical setting for this Gospel story is the Mount of Olives. Christ has been with the disciples in the Temple in Jerusalem, where has been teaching each day in that closing week.
Now we move to the end of the day, when he is on the Mount of Olives, looking back across the valley towards the City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. In the valley below are the tombs of prophets, priests and kings, one of the most breath-taking scenes I have seen.
Even to this day it is the burial place of pious Jews, political Jews, rabbis and prime ministers and monarchs, buried there waiting for the arrival of the Messiah, so that they can rise up with him on his arrival and join him as he makes his way down from the Mount of Olives, across the Valley, and up into the city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
It is a setting that provides the dramatic backdrop for this reading, which is full of apocalyptic imagery as Christ talks about his imminent return.
Of course, Christ does not claim to know the exact time when this will happen – this is something that only the Father knows. But even if Christ does not tell his disciples when this time is coming, he warns them to be ready for it, to be constantly on the watch and to be prepared and ready for it. Sleepers awake!
If they watch and are ready, they will not be taken by surprise – unlike those who are surprised by a tsunami or by a thief in the night.
Yet, these same disciples will fall asleep in the garden, even when he asks them to ‘stay awake with me’ (Matthew 26: 36-46).
How often we live our lives in a carefree, happy-go-lucky manner, careless and without a worry about what the future might bring, almost asleep and oblivious to what is going on around us, asleep while the world groans, content while the world suffers.
And so the Gospel reading is linked with what we should be waiting for, awake for, hoping for: for out of Zion, from Jerusalem, shall come the word when Christ comes to judge between the nations, and arbitrate for many peoples: ‘they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not life up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more’ (see Isaiah 2: 3-4).
The story of Noah and the flood (verse 37; see Genesis 6 ff) has a particular significance for Christians in the early Church, for Noah was a man who lived by faith, and who was preserved from destruction by his obedience to God. But also because the story of Noah and those who entered the Ark also symbolise those who enter the waters of Baptism and are a new creation (see Hebrews 11: 7; I Peter 3: 30; and II Peter 2: 5).
But this is also apocalyptic literature. And, like all apocalyptic literature, there is hope as well as warning, there is peace as well as doom. And this visionary expectation is conveyed through drama and poetry and poetic language.
See how ‘that day and hour’ (τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης καὶ ὥρας, verse 36) is a refrain that is repeated: ‘what day’ (ποίᾳ ἡμέρᾳ verse 42), ‘hour’ (ὥρᾳ, verse 44), and later, beyond this reading but continuing the same piece: ‘day … and at an hour’ (ἡμέρᾳ … καὶ ἐν ὥρᾳ, verse 50), ‘the day nor the hour’ (τὴν ἡμέραν οὐδὲ τὴν ὥραν, 25: 13).
And, in another form of poetry or dramatic emphasis, we have the inclusion formed by repeating the words: so will be the coming of the Son of Man (see verse 37 and 39).
Or there is poetry in verses 40-41, which is missed if the translation you have treats these verses as prose and narrative, and runs it all together as consecutive sentences:
δύο ἔσονται
ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ,
εἷς παραλαμβάνεται
καὶ εἷς ἀφίεται:
δύο ἀλήθουσαι
ἐν τῷ μύλῳ,
μία παραλαμβάνεται
καὶ μία ἀφίεται.
What does Saint Matthew mean by the coming, Parousia (Παρουσία) in verses 37 and 39? This is a word used only by Saint Matthew among the Gospel writers, just as ‘the close of the age’ is another phrase that is peculiar to him alone.
Parousia means the presence, or the coming, the arrival, the advent, the future visible return from heaven of Christ, to raise the dead, to sit at the last judgment, and to set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God.
The coming of the Son of Man is going to be divisive for all society. Kingdom values are not merely counter-cultural – they are socially divisive, for the values of this world should never be confused with or identified with the values of the Kingdom of God.
The visionary images in this passage can be compared with the apocalyptic visions throughout the Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament.
But it is full of promise. The wedding feast is a recurring image of the heavenly banquet and the coming kingdom; the two women even manages, for me, to call me back to Ruth and Naomi in the field, which looks forward to the Messianic hope, while the parting of pairs, whether in a field or on a threshing floor, reminds me that the word of God is ‘sharper than any two-edged sword’ (Hebrews 4: 12), or in the apocalyptic language used by Saint John on Patmos, from the mouth of God comes ‘a sharp, two-edged sword’ (Revelation 1: 16; 19: 15).
The division cuts through visible and apparent distinctions. We can stay with the values of this world, or be taken into the values of the Kingdom of God, but we cannot have both. Take it or leave it – destruction or the kingdom?
Watch, therefore, and be alert.
Reflecting on the Gospel reading:
What is capable of stealing away your heart, your commitment, your values, your ministry?
Be alert for these.
But what, in the midst of uncertainty, can rob you of hope?
Be alert for this too.
Are you thinking of choosing the easier option of preaching on the more comfortable visions in the Old Testament reading?
Be aware of making comfortable choices when it comes to preaching, without making connections.
I offer three questions to ponder in the coming week as we prepare for Advent:
1, Are we ready for the coming of Christ?
2, Can we use this season of Advent as a time of preparation for Christ’s coming not just as a cuddly child in a crib but as the triumphant king?
3, Do the ways we live our lives reflect the values of an over-commercialised shopping season, or reflect the values of the kingdom of the coming Christ, who puts all wrongs to right, who puts to an end all miseries and sufferings?
Matthew 24: 36-44 (NRSVA):
[Jesus said:] 36 ‘But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39 and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.'
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: Violet
The Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
This collect is said after the Collect of the day until Christmas Eve.
Collect of the Word:
Faithful God,
whose promises stand unshaken
through all generations: renew us in hope,
that we may be awake and alert
watching for the glorious return of Jesus Christ,
our Judge and Saviour,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Post-Communion Prayer:
God our deliverer,
Awaken our hearts
to prepare the way for the advent of your Son,
that, with minds purified by the grace of his coming,
we may serve you faithfully all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Liturgical resources for Advent:
The liturgical provisions suggest that the Gloria may be omitted during Advent, and it is traditional in Anglicanism to omit the Gloria at the end of canticles and psalms during Advent.
These additional liturgical resources are provided for Advent in the Book of Common Prayer (2004):
Penitential Kyries:
Turn to us again, O God our Saviour,
and let your anger cease from us.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Show us your mercy, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Your salvation is near for those that fear you,
that glory may dwell in our land.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Introduction to the Peace:
In the tender mercy of our God,
the dayspring from on high shall break upon us,
to give light to those who dwell in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1: 78, 79)
Preface:
Salvation is your gift
through the coming of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ,
and by him you will make all things new
when he returns in glory to judge the world:
Blessing:
Christ the sun of righteousness shine upon you,
gladden your hearts
and scatter the darkness from before you:
Suggested Hymns:
Isaiah 2: 1-5:
118, Behold, the mountain of the Lord
501, Christ is the world’s true light
263, Crown him with many crowns
496, For the healing of the nations
538, O Lord, the clouds are gathering
539, Rejoice, O land, in God thy might
509, Your kingdom come, O God!
Psalm 122:
683, All people that on earth do dwell
670, Jerusalem the golden
506, Pray that Jerusalem may have
Romans 13: 11-14:
549, Dear Lord and Father of mankind
74, First of the week and finest day
126, Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding
487, Soldiers of Christ arise
488, Stand up, stand up for Jesus
Matthew 24: 36-44:
119, Come, thou long-expected Jesus
127, Hark what a sound, and too divine for hearing
132, Lo! he comes with clouds descending
140, The Lord will come and not be slow
145, You servants of the Lord
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
The hymn suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000).
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