The lighting of the Advent Wreath candles one by one highlights that sense of anticipation. When all four are lit it will be Christmas and then we will light the white Christ candle in its midst. Today we are giving all the children and choirboys an Advent Calendar which has a window for each day of the season with appropriate Bible verses and illustrations. Opening these windows one by one, day by day, helps that sense that we are living in anticipation for the Coming of Christ at Christmas and preparing for the same. I know Santa has arrived at Macy’s but we in the Church take Christmas a bit more slowly. We try to make the most of the Advent season with its twin focus on anticipation and preparation to help us enjoy the Christmas gospel all the more.

On this first Sunday we are very much concerned with ends especially the End. Zechariah refers to it as “on that day”. The Thessalonians reading speaks of the “the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” Luke’s gospel refers to the time when “they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

These times are often simply called the “end times” referring to the end of this world as we know it and the beginning of the reign of God. The biblical message is not a negative one but rather a hopeful one anticipating the completion and fulfillment of God’s work. The problem for many of us is that the language of some of the passages read at this season like the Zecheriah reading and the gospel passage from Luke are somewhat confronting. It is classic apocalyptic language which speaks of a time of crisis and suffering, a time when the very heavens will be shaken and people will tremble for fear. As I said several weeks ago this language of apocalyptic was popular around the time of Christ and was used to help people of faith interpret difficult times in the light of their faith in God’s promises.

At the time of the writing of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, the early Christians were facing threat and persecution from both the secular authorities as well as from Jews who had rejected Jesus. In addition to that there was the political instability of the times including the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. The message was one of endurance, of not giving up, of keeping on with proclamation of the gospel and the works of compassion and mercy. And above all it was a message of hope because the future belongs to God. In reading these passages we often get distracted by the rather wild and dramatic imagery. This is so particularly with the Book of Revelation. It certainly sells books and movies. But if you stop at the imagery without looking at the total context you get a very odd view of God. What comes through is a God who is out to get the lot of us; a God who is vengeful and capricious in his dealings with us.

But that God which is so popular with some fundamentalist preachers is a far cry from the God we meet in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Before we leave the Book of Revelation just remember how that book ends. Not with a bloody and fiery mess but with a beautiful vision of the new Jerusalem “coming down from heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”; a place where God will dwell with his people; where every tear will be wiped away; where death will be no more and mourning and crying and pain will be no more.” It is that vision which says to Christians facing tribulation and rough times “don’t give up or give in” but wait in hope for what God has in store for you. The end in that understanding is not to be feared but anticipated.

And that is what the readings today tell us. The Zechariah passage begins with earthquakes and possible persecution but then “the Lord will come, and all the holy ones with him.” And with the coming of the Lord will come the light and life of the reign of God. Likewise Paul writing to the Thessalonians encourages them to increase and abound in love for one another and for all so that they may be prepared for the coming Day of the Lord. And the Luke passage refers to the portents in the heavens and on the earth preceding the coming of the Son of Man in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place Jesus says “don’t run away and hide for fear” but rather “stand up and raise your heads, for your redemption is drawing near.”

And he goes on to speak of the trees and their budding which anticipates the spring and to say “when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”

The Coming of the Lord to judge the world and to establish his kingdom is not a cause for fear but for joyful anticipation and preparation. This Coming at the End of Time is anticipated for us in the first coming at Christmas. Our God is one who comes to save his people. That is what Advent is about.

How does that all affect us as the people of God here at Transfiguration? What lessons can we learn from this Advent season to help us in our approach to parish life as well as to our personal journey of faith. One obvious lesson is to live in light of the Coming reign of God meaning that we anticipate in all we do that the Future belongs to God and never forget it. At a parish level which is an appropriate focus on this annual meeting day it is too easy to be weighed down by the problems that face us whether they be financial or relational. Sometimes the burdens and challenges seem impossible to overcome. We have all experienced these moments of despair and immobilization. But that is to forget the gospel context in which we operate. At the heart of our faith is a vision; the vision of God, who not only has created us and the whole world, but has saved and redeemed us in his Son Jesus Christ; and has promised to be with us always in the Spirit to the end of the ages and who will come again in glory to establish his kingdom for ever. It is that vision of God in whom all things past present and future exist that gives us hope and confidence in all that lies before us. That does not let us of the hook of working for that future but it does make our enterprise worthwhile.

So people of God at Transfiguration as we prepare for a new year of the mission and ministry which is ours, let us keep our eyes focused on Jesus in his Coming both at Christmas and on the Last Day and “stand up and lift up our heads” because “our redemption is drawing near.”   Amen

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