12/1
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| With Geraldine and Evgeny at Beverley |
On a cold and rainy morning, the walk up Beverley Road to the church is, to say the least, unpleasant. But there is always warmth in the gathering of the people. On this first Sunday of Advent, here is my reflection....
So a Thanksgiving’s over. (I love the trip back on the train with everyone carrying their leftovers.) Black Friday’s over. (What a weird phrase that is...)The temporary urban forest of evergreen trees has sprung up on every street corner with the sweet smell of balsam and pine filling our noses as we pass by.
And today Advent begins. That four week journey to the celebration of Christmas. There’s a bit of tension in the first place because spiritually, this is supposed to be a season of reflection and contemplation preparing us for the coming of Christ while all around us there is consumer driven hustle and bustle and anxiety. There is that purple of penance and silence and yes, royalty. The air is filled with Christmas carols even while we still await. I always hope that our churches can be places of respite where people can feel a sense of quiet and peace in the midst of all that is going on out there. And that this might be true here this morning.
Every year we experience three Advents, in a way. We celebrate the existential Christmas of this year, 2019, while remembering all the Christmases of our lives. We celebrate the historic birth of Jesus when over 2000 years ago, God chose to join us, to be in our midst, to be present with us in human form. In the flesh. And we celebrate the coming that is yet to come, the final coming when the reign of Christ finally arrives.
The readings in the early days of Advent always point is in the direction of the apocalypse. And to be honest with you, that’s always pretty dicey business. There are always people ready to bring out charts and analyses to prove we are in the final days. It’s been that way since Jesus left the earth.
There are people who believe that our current president is the “chosen one” and if he were to be defeated, all hell would break loose, literally. And others who say he is the apocalypse. And scientists can pretty well prove we’ve reached apocalyptic moment with our environment. Do you remember the Thanksgiving song “Over the River and though the Woods?” It was written in a time when “white and drifted snow” and sleighs were common for Thanksgiving. Countries like Iran and Russia and Israel and North Korea all have nuclear weapons capable of destroying the earth. And the reality is, as a Catholic priest friend of mine used to point out, one medical diagnosis is enough to prove apocalyptic in any of our own lives.
It’s a comfort to read in Matthew:
36“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, or the Son, but only the Father.”
That should make it clear enough. The peoples in Noah’s day were eating and drinking until the last minute. No one woke up the morning of 9-11 knowing two planes would hit the Trade Towers. No one wakes up thinking today I’m going to have a heart attack. Today I’m going have a stroke. Today I’m going to slip in the tub and break five ribs.(Done that) See where I’m going?
The message of this season is clear....we’ve got to be ready. Not just with decorations and trees and presents but with our very lives. Like the old song says “...people get ready there’s a train a coming”...and as another old song says “...the people keep comin' but the train done gone...”...
People, get ready
There's a train a-coming
You don't need no ticket
You just get on board
All you need is faith
To hear the diesels humming
Don't need no ticket
You just thank the Lord
People get ready
For the train to Jordan
Picking up passengers
From coast to coast
Faith is the key
Open the doors and board them
There's room for all
Amongst the loved the most
There ain't no room
For the hopeless sinner
Who would hurt all mankind
Just to save his own
Have pity on those
Whose chances are thinner
'Cause there's no hiding place
From the kingdom's throne
So people get ready
For the train a-comin'
You don't…
Curtis Mayfield "People Get Ready"
At the end of the day, there’s nothing to fear my friends. As the prophet Isaiah tells us,
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
This is good news.
As we celebrate communion this morning, listen for these words...
Christ has died
Christ is risen
Christ will come again.....
Let Advent begin...let’s take this journey together
People get ready....
Alleleluia. Amen
We share our communion together. And downstairs, a piece of apple pie. The walk back to he subway station is no better.
****
I make it all the way to Marcus Garvey Park. A little late. But no one is there. This weather is too much for the homeless and even most hearty volunteers. There will be no Ecclesia service in the park today.
Isaiah 1: 1-5
1The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
3 Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the LORD!
Gospel Matthew 24:36-44
36“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, or the Son, but only the Father. 37For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But 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. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
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