Nov. 29 Sermon by Michelle

The days are surely coming, says Jeremiah.

No kidding, you say. It seems as though the days have been coming for some time now. This year, Amazon emailed me last week to let me know that Black Friday deals had already begun. No need to wait for Thanksgiving, let alone Advent. I could get all my holiday shopping done from the comfort of my living room on a balmy November day.

As we embark on this season of Advent, the season when we prepare for the coming of the Lord, it may feel as though the Church is a little late to the party. And, that their message is perhaps just a little off…

For the rest of the world, we're already in the season of Christmas. If you have any doubt of it, you need only walk to the nearest store, to hear Christmas carols playing on the sound track. In early November, people were already complaining about "the war on Christmas," as evidenced by a certain plainly-decorated coffee cup - never mind the fact that Christmas was a month and a half away. And when some of us point out that it's not the war on Christmas, but the war on Thanksgiving and Advent that we should be protesting, well, the rest of the world looks at us with confusion or outright contempt.

Because the world does not look at the calendar the way we do. Just as the world does not look at life the way we do. In the age of the quick fix, the idea of waiting in joyful expectation seems difficult and foreign. And though the world will encourage us, telling us that we are entering "The most wonderful time of the year," for many of us, we are entering a time of stress. And it has nothing to do with God.

Jesus may well have said "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves." Too often for us, however, the more appropriate warning sounds more like, "There will be signs in the windows, the malls, and the websites, and in the parking lots distress among shoppers confused by the roaring of loudspeakers and doorbuster deals." And that doesn't even count the fears for the future, when the bills come due.

Jesus may well have warned of the end of the world by telling the disciples ""Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap." But this time of year, it might be more appropriate to warn about the coming of the office holiday party, "Be on guard so that your comments are not weighed down with inappropriate jokes and drunkenness, or complaints about your colleagues, so that your boss may catch you unexpectedly, like a trap." And that doesn't even include the ongoing stress of work, which seems to demand more and more and pay less and less.

This is the time when rest of the world urges us to show our love by buying things, bigger things, better thing; stressing us out; and then encouraging us to believe that the solution to our stress is to buy more things, more food, more drink, more vacation. And, when we cease to have the money to buy those things, the rest of the world blames us for not working hard enough. It is a vicious cycle. And it is not from God.

It is, perhaps, ironic that the Ash Wednesday service begins with the priest inviting the congregation to observe a holy Lent. Because, in my experience, keeping a holy Lent is relatively easy, compared with keeping a holy Advent. Aside from the photo op with the Easter bunny, and of course the temptation of chocolates on Valentine's Day, we do not face the same soul-sucking onslaught of commercialism that we do in the weeks prior to Christmas. During Lent, we are largely left to our own devices, to come to church, to pray, to give to charity, to love our family and our neighbors.

In Advent, by contrast, we are bombarded with pressure to make the most of our resources: our money, our time. Everything seems to demand those things. Judgment and competition reign supreme, as we try to find just the right gift for -

For what, really? To show people that we care about them? To secure a position in our the company? To bring to another party - squeezed in among so many holiday parties - to make sure that friends, relatives, and neighbors don't look down on us? Judgment and pressure, competition and commoditization, all wear away our every single minute and penny, leaving us very little of the precious moments we think the season is all about. And, instead, we tell ourselves that all these things will suddenly appear on Christmas day.

It's enough to make one wonder - to paraphrase Tina Turner - What's God's love got to do, got to do with it?

And so, this year, I'm going to invite us into the true observance of Advent. Not simply the anxiety-provoking countdown to Christmas. But the true remembrance of God's promise, and God's presence in our lives.

In the Episcopal tradition, as in many others, Advent reminds us that God is coming - not just at Christmas, but in the future as well. The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning coming, but is also the Greek translation of parousia, which refers to the Second Coming of Christ. This is why our readings in Advent often seem so dark and ominous, so filled with the prophecies of the end of time. It is one reason why Advent seems to be an unsettling time of year in the Church, and perhaps why the rest of the world would prefer to move straight on to Christmas.

There's another reason, too, perhaps. Christmas is easy to understand. There is a clear story, which everyone knows. There are heroes, whom we hear about each week during the season of Christmas. Not so for the readings of Advent. Those readings may remind us of the nature of our own lives. The readings seem disjointed. There's no clear story line. No plot with main characters that we follow, no obvious heroes. Just a vague sense of uneasiness, watchfulness, waiting. Some moments of destruction and doom. Some brief scenes of important people, like John the Baptist or the angel Gabriel, who come into our lives and our parishes for one fleeting moment, and then disappear before we can figure out what they were trying to tell us.

How like our lives during this busy season, and this crazy year! Every moment we turn on our radios, or the television, or go online, it seems, there are signs of trouble and destruction. From something as simple as a traffic jam, to tragic news of shootings at home and war overseas. We take a moment to gather with family and friends and God to give thanks, but then dash off, swearing that this year we will keep in touch. Soon, we will get Christmas cards and letters from people who were, or are, important in our lives, but we barely have time to ponder what they mean to our lives. Like Jeremiah, or John the Baptist, you get a sense that people were trying to tell us something important in love, but you just don't have the time to try to figure out what they meant.

Perhaps, Advent is the time to do just that. To stop experiencing our lives as a series of disjointed events, and to take the time to find the places where things make sense.

In today's reading from the prophet Jeremiah, God tells the people that God will fulfill the promise made to the people.

Not just a promise. THE promise.

The promise God made to everyone - that God will bring forth a reign of justice and righteousness.

This is the story of Advent - the story of people waiting for the promise. Throughout history. From prophets reminding the Hebrew people that though they are suffering, God has a plan. From the stories of the Gospel, of people preparing for God. From today's reading of Luke, where Jesus reminds us not to put too much stock in the structures of this world, because God has a better plan. From the readings in the Epistles, offering encouragement to follow Christ to the end. Though they can seem like individual moments, disjointed scenes, they are in fact scenes of a single story - the story of God working to fulfill the promise. They remind us that the days are surely coming, when that promise will be fulfilled.

Advent is unsettling, because it reminds us that there is a story out there that is bigger than us. It spans generations, and is not finished yet. We try to cram several thousand years of history into four weeks of the calendar, and are reminded that the story will not end on Christmas day. It will continue, and God willing, we will be a part of it.

Where do you fit into this story?

Advent is the time to figure out that answer. To reflect on the promise of God - and to wonder where we might be called to help bring it about. To make the most of the days before Christmas, not just by decorating our houses inside and out, but by gazing into our lives and our souls, and making room for God. Perhaps it means taking time to light an Advent candle every night, and say a prayer for God's work in the world. Perhaps it means reading the Bible, to listen for God's promise rather than just a disjointed jumble of words. Perhaps it means reaching out to family and other important people in our lives - to see what they may mean to us, and how God worked through that relationship. And, if things seem a little too overwhelming, maybe Advent means just taking the time to sit down and listen, maybe write or pray, as a way of connecting the seeming frantic disjointed moments of our own lives, to see where God may be working in that.

This Advent, St. Paul's will once again be offering tools to help observe a holy Advent. There are Advent wreaths to make today. Beginning on Wednesday, a three part series designed to give us time and tools to think about what the promise of the Kingdom of God means for us. Next Sunday, Lou will lead a two-part adult forum featuring one of the bishops of the Episcopal Church discussing the meaning of Advent. There will be a contemplative Taize-style worship service, and quiet day, all to give us a time during this crazy season of preparing for gift giving, to stop, and prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ - and not just at Christmas.

If you love the weeks leading up to New Years - the hustle and bustle, the spontaneous moments of charity and goodwill, the holiday gatherings of friends new and old, the cards and connections - rejoice! For those days are surely coming.

But, if you, like many, find it all overwhelming - the pushing and shoving, the pressure to perform, the worries about the budget, and the news that seems to proclaim that there is not enough love or anything else to go around - if you are one of those people, rejoice. Because God promises us that there is a place where there IS justice and peace, where there will be no more fear or poverty, and where love will reign for ever. Rejoice, for those days are surely coming, says the Lord.

And so, let us prepare for a holy Advent. In the days of lengthening darkness, let us do as the collect commands and put on the armor of light. For God's day is surely coming. Rejoice!