Advent: What is it, why is it important ?
Rev Kelvin Burke at Christ The King Almancil, Portugal
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3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. -
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
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Christmas
Happy new year, advent Sunday is the 1st day of a new church year [exchange a Happy Advent/greeting/peace/welcome to church] I suppose you thought I’d lost my marbles!
As an Northern Irish Protestant growing up in Portadown, I never heard the word ‘Advent’ not in church, not in our home, indeed we would never even light a candle, that would have been a Catholic thing to do! In time I moved to England to study and met my wife who is from Cumbria and we settled in England and along the way I can across this word – Advent.
Today, I would like to ask three questions; Advent, what is it, when is it and why is it important?
1. Advent: What is it
2. Advent: When is it
3. Advent: Why is it important
1 What is it?
There are two aspects of Advent. Advent is about looking fwd to Jesus’ 1st coming to earth (his birth in Bethlehem) and his 2nd coming to earth which is in the future.
If the 1st is the familiar understanding, the second is less familiar.
The familiar understanding of Advent is that 4 weeks before Christmas we light advent candles and read prophecies like Isaiah 9 of how God promised to send a Saviour. Like any family looking forward to the birth of a new child – we as a church family begin to prepare for the nativity and the forthcoming Carol Service
But what about the less familiar? That is why I would like to talk about the What/When/Why of Advent
[A teacher told a story about a mother who came in to ask about advent.
Her 7 year old boy had come home saying he knew all about advent and this year Jesus was coming down the chimney with Santa!
It is a misunderstanding but it highlights how easy it can be to get Jesus 2nd coming mixed up with our 1st Advent festivities.
There are 4 key truths of our faith [1] Jesus (God in the flesh) was born and lived a sinless life [2] Jesus died [3] Jesus rose again [4] Jesus will come again.
Advent connects them all. Christ was born in Bethlehem & Christ will come again
Matt 24:37 ‘the coming of the son will be like what happened in the time of Noah. In the days before the flood people ate and drank... .up to the very day Noah went into the boat. They did not realise what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. That’s how it will be when the Son of man comes” - that’s not sweet
Our Gospel reading, Matthew 24, is looking at what we call …the Apocalypse… like sci fi [The cinema loves it: Matrix, Pale Rider (Clint Eastwood), Armageddon (Bruce Willis), Finch (Tom Hanks) ] …this is not about Jesus’ parables (which we heard last week) but Apocalyptic…to do with end times His second coming- the day of judgement. We find it mostly in the books of Daniel, Revelation and the Gospels, it is sombre stuff.
Matthew 24:40 “Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be (baking) together, one will be taken and one will be left…keep awake , for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming”
The Advent bible reading today is Jesus speaking about his return as the triumphant Christ in power and great glory. For 2000 years Christians have believed Jesus will return, the world mocks us, we are like a bride at the altar waiting, knowing ‘one day our bride will come’.
That’s Advent - What it is. When will it be?
2. Advent: When will it be?
[Some people like to look at the world and see the terrible times we are living in and then go predicting dates for the end of the world. Ron Weinland predicted 9 June 2019 - it came to pass (the date, not the second coming).
Matthew24v6-8 says ‘you will hear of wars and rumours of wars…nation will rise against nation…there will be famines and earthquakes in various places..all these are the beginning of birth-pains..’Matthew 24V15 Jesus had predicted an ‘awful horror’ …that was the destruction of the temple. A generation after Christ’s death, in A.D.70, the temple was burned, and several years later not one stone was left standing on another. Jesus predicted things would get darker than that.
V33 ‘when you see these things you will know the time is near.’
It is the picture of worldwide disaster in the making. This week we have had an earthquake (Indonesia) and famines (World Vision say 50 million are on the verge of famine in 45 countries). Wars since the ‘war to end all wars’ 1918 we have had WW2, Falkland’s War. Before Russia invading Ukraine we had Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel and Palestine. Northern Irish band D:ream in 1993 said ‘things can only get better’ but things are getting worse. Matthew 24v33 says when you see these things you will know the time is near (v27) the son of man will come like the lightning that flashes across the sky. That’s the apocalyptic Christ the second coming of Christ he will come - with power and great glory. When will it be? Jesus told us not to go predicting dates but to be on guard.
We don’t know when it will be but many of the signs are there already.
3. Advent: Why is it important ?
When is the wrong question. The why questionis the subject of the birth announcement we heard in our first reading. Isaiah 9:2, ‘unto us a child is born.’ It is a strange birth notice, as it was given 700 years before Jesus was born. Why he came 2000 years ago was that the world was in ‘great darkness’ and God loved the world so much that he hatched a rescue plan, a saviour was born, a light in the darkness.
Jesus will come again to bring the world as we know it to an end.
The end of this age – that has always been God’s salvation plan for this world.
In 2022 when Wild Fires were raging in the Algarve ….sprinklers and garden hoses were no protection .. we needed rescuing ..we needed Bomberos, we needed saviours, people to say let me get you out of this, let me save you.
We see the evil of Wars (like Ukraine), we see the deadly effect of the Covid virus. To be honest, to worry and panic is like putting sprinklers against a wildfire. We need a saviour, we need to be rescued.
Our Lord Jesus calls us to look unto him, Jesus Christ the one born in Bethlehem, who said he will come again to save us. We must be ready, we must urge our friends and family not to ignore our Lord this Christmas…the second coming of Christ is a reality (it is actually mentioned more times than the first Christmas).
Jesus is not asking us to map out the timing of his return, it will be unexpected and sudden and he warns us to be ready. That’s another question – are you ready?
The context of today’s Advent gospel reading is this …the disciples were asking for a sign when he will come again [presumably to sort their lives out at the last minute]. The fact is they already had the signs (and for us time may have made the signs seem less real or less powerful but the signs have been given)….Star…(over Bethlehem) sign of the Christ’s birth…..Dove…(at Jesus Baptism) sign of Holy Spirit coming upon him (John B’s message ‘be prepared!’)
The Cross -crucified for us, it seemed like the end but it was the defeat of death, the last barrier between humanity and eternal life
The sign of the Empty tomb…the resurrection can’t be faked…. The signs all point to our Lord Jesus Christ
The fact is Christ-ianity is about Christ, the disciples were asking for a sign but they already had the signs (and we have too).
Wars, earthquakes, famines (Matthew 24v6), The gospel to be preached in the whole world (Matthew 24v14)
If we focus on the when instead of the why we miss the point, the why is that Jesus came 2000 years ago and Jesus will come again to bring the world as we know it to an end. The end of this age. That’s the why and it leads us to ask ourselves and our friends are we ready? We can choose to ignore him or love him as we live our daily lives. What should we do? I believe we should be ready ourselves and we should be prayerfully seeking opportunities to serve our Friends and family. In prayer, we must ask our Lord how we can truly be a community church ..not a church for a chosen few!
So this advent lets us not debate and worry about when the end times will be but focus on the one who loved us so much he became one of us and who loved you so much he died for us. Let us celebrate his love for our world this advent
I said Advent links 4 key truths, Christ was born, Christ will come again, is a ‘given.’ But how does he link ‘Christ has died and Christ has risen’? This is how, because the child was born (as the prophet Isaiah said) because he lived a sinless life and died a sinners death because he defeated death and rose again – he is our ever-present help at times of trouble, he is our Bombero, our firefighter, our wonderful counsellor, he is our mighty God and everlasting father and peace prince. Are you ready to meet him, I have some good news for you, he is here with us as we gather in his name.
Advent is a time of waiting but you don’t have to wait to invite Jesus into your life to be your Saviour. This Jesus - rescuer is mighty God, not mighty person, not a special good person; mighty God.
He is a wonderful counsellor. The best counsellors are those who have been through things and come out the other side. Jesus experienced hunger, betrayal, was abandoned even as he was crucified. He has been where you are, been broken and rose again and this advent he is waiting for you. Will you trust him? You can know him by asking pray …
As you reflect on 2022, was it the best ever? If not maybe there’s trouble: financial, a relationship, addiction, illness and you have no peace. You need the peace prince Jesus Christ who can breathe peace into your life and transform your dark to light.
Mighty God came into history as Peace Prince and you can know him personally, imagine it, Jesus, the peace prince, with you and within you.
Advent is a time of waiting, Jesus is waiting for you to respond. Look at what he did to get close to you what are you doing to get close to him? Are you too busy, too costly, not sure about him. Can you compare anything to knowing you will be transformed and you will know his peace? I commend the Lord Jesus Christ to you this Advenrt.
We will finish with a song: Christmas Song which has a challenge for all of us:
From the manger stable
To the cruel cross,
You were faithful to it all.
I worship and adore you
Humbly bow before you,
Now I answer to the call.
© The 3-B’s
