How many of you are wondering what’s all this stuff on the table and why is it here? These are all “Advent” helpers!

The blue Angel Card is an Advent Calendar. It has twenty-five little doors that are opened every day in December. It helps children (and adults) count down to Christmas day.

Behind the doors of some Advent Calendars you might find a small toy or a piece of chocolate.

This Angel Calendar offers a scripture passage to look up and reflect upon.

The branch, the hammer and harp are items that help bring the Jesse Tree to life.

The Jesse Tree is an Advent aid that dates from the Middle Ages. It is based on the prophecy of Isaiah:

A shoot shall sprout forth from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom” (Isaiah 11:1)

The twenty-five symbols used help to show the Biblical genealogy of Jesus.

They are taken from both the Old and New Testaments. The symbols are usually displayed on a branch or wooden stick type tree.

The White and Gold symbols are called Chrismon. The “Chrismon” is a combination of the two words: CHRISt and MONogram.

A “Chrismon” is a monogram for Christ.

Again, there are twenty-five “Chrismons” in a set. Some of the symbols are associated with images from the Bible; other come from the tradition of the early church.

The “Chrismons” are made from the liturgical Christmas colors of gold and white. The symbols are usually displayed on a green fir tree.

The wreath with the candles is known as the Advent Wreath. It is in the shape of a circle as a symbol of God’s eternity.

The green color speaks of life and health. The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent.

The three dark color candles (purple or dark blue) denote a period of waiting, expectation and preparation.

The pink candle (which is lit on the third Sunday of Advent) symbolizes joy for the promise of the Savior’s coming is very near.

And finally, you see lots of little devotional booklets that can be used daily. These booklets offer short mediations, often scripture based, to help us get spiritually ready for Christmas.

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So now that you have had some time to review the items on the “prop table,” we can begin our Advent Journey.

Today we begin the Liturgical Season of Advent, Year C, focusing on the Gospel of Luke.

The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”. For some people, even churchgoing people, Advent means getting ready for Christmas, the birth of Jesus.

Do you, or have you ever, used any of these Advent-related items in your life or home during the four-week period prior to Christmas Day?

This week at my Bible Study I mentioned the Jesse Tree. No one present, not even the pastors, knew what the Jesse Tree was all about, nor its relationship to Advent.

Some people knew what an Advent Calendar was, but most never used one in their homes. Everyone was familiar with the Advent Wreath, perhaps because one is always used in church services during Advent.

We continued to talk about the meaning of Advent and how hard it is to focus on the meaning of the season in our contemporary, consumer-driven society.

We have been seeing Christmas decorations in the stores, starting the day after Halloween. Since the middle of October, Christmas movies fill the airways on TV, especially on the Hallmark Channel.

We have been hearing Christmas carols round the clock on many radio stations. Christmas is everywhere!

Yet for Christians like us, we are not in the Christmas season. Our focus is on waiting or preparing for the coming of Christ.

So if we are focusing on the coming or the birth of Jesus, today’s Gospel reading is very strange.

One would think we would be reading about the nativity or at least the angel's announcement of the coming birth. No, none of that is heard in today’s scripture.

Today’s reading continues along the same theme as last week, namely the end of time (or the Parousia).

Often the end of the world is portrayed as a scary and fear-filled event.

There are many Biblical passages that allude to what might take place at the end times and we should take them to heart; to heart but not to despair.

Jesus tells us:

“…when these things begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

So, to be ready for the Second Coming we need to grasp the meaning of the First Coming, the birth at Bethlehem.

Let’s stop here for a moment to hear (and see) a portion of a contemporary holiday song, “Where’s the Line to See Jesus”.

You might want to concentrate on verses two and three, beginning where the woman is walking past men standing outside a food shelter:

Advent is the time of waiting and preparation.

The First Coming has happened long ago in Bethlehem; the Second is yet to be.

So, where does that leave us? We are waiting and preparing for the time we will see Jesus. As we heard in the song, “Why don’t we see him more?”

Yes, why don’t we see Jesus more?

Could it be that we have not prepared ourselves to welcome him, to become like him? The Jesus Story reveals the secret of being ready. So, what is the Jesus Story?

In a nutshell it isto love God by loving and serving your fellow human beings.

If we live our lives, following in the steps of Jesus, we will have no reason to fear when “we will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” for we have indeed prepared for the Advent of our Emmanuel, God is indeed with us!

NOTES

Delivered (preached) December 1, 2018 at Spirit of Christ Parish in Roseville, Minnesota

First Sunday of Advent, Year C

References:

Jeremiah 33:14-16
Psalm 25:5-5, 8-9, 10, 14
1 Thessalonians 3: 12-4:2
Luke 21:25-28, 34-36