December 1, 2024 – The First Sunday of Advent [YEAR C ]
Fr. Michael Brungardt
Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
Of all of the seasons we celebrate in the Church, Advent is by far my favorite. Christmas is coming! And it’s just pure expectation, pure anticipation.
But Advent is a tricky thing. Why? Because Advent is not a time to let us get ready to celebrate Christmas. (“You are such a Scrooge, Father.” I know it sounds like that!) But it’s true. Advent is not a four-week countdown to get your Christmas shopping done, clean your house, and bake some cookies. Advent is not solely a time to get ready to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. (Which I know sounds bad!)
So then what is it? The season of Advent is what it means to be a Christian! Advent is what it’s all about. All of it. In Advent, we begin to pay attention to that something we’re really waiting for—we pay attention to our expectant waiting for something.
So what are you waiting for? If you had to name it, what are you waiting for? “We’re waiting for Jesus, for heaven, for all that. We know, Father!” But that’s not a helpful answer.
Think of it this way: if someone were to come up to you on the street and ask you, “Hey, what is the thing you’re waiting for? What is it you anxiously anticipate and are waiting for?”—what would you answer? In that situation (when your “Jesus is the right answer” alarm is on), common answers are: a better job, better health, political fixes, the country to get better, my son to get his life together. Do you see what I mean? There are real concrete expectations and hopes we have. We are always anxiously awaiting something.
There’s that great scene in The Incredibles where Mr. Incredible gets out of the car and turns to see this little kid on his trike, and Mr. Incredible (a little annoyed) asks him, “Well, what are you waiting for?” And the kid says, “I don’t know! Something amazing!! I guess.” This is us! What are we waiting for? We’re waiting for something amazing. Something to happen. We’re waiting for an event.
This was the exact same for ancient Israel, in the times of the Old Testament. They had some very specific hopes, very specific prayers—but also, a very specifically preconceived idea of how God should respond. They had a very political idea of how God needed to defeat Rome and end the Roman occupation, make Israel a great and powerful nation, bring a descendant of David to the throne to gloriously rule in the actual city of Jerusalem. (Not too dissimilar to our specific and preconceived ideas of what God needs to do, huh?)
But what if—what if, just maybe—the Lord has a completely unforeseen, unexpected response to the expectation and anticipation we feel? What if, just like when Jesus comes unexpectedly, in a completely unforeseen way in his birth in that little stable in Bethlehem, in a way that didn’t fit with the preconceived expectation—what if the Lord is going to respond to you and your concrete needs and desires and circumstances in a similar way? Completely unforeseen, unexpectedly.
Advent is a season of the expectation and hope that stems from Christmas, or better, from the fact that in the most unforeseen and unexpected of events God opened for us the way to eternal life—He became man and was born to a virgin.
That first Christmas showed us that in the most unlikely and backward of ways, God came once. And because of that, there is a promise, a great promise in which we now dare to hope, that He will continue to respond to us in the most unlikely and unforeseen of way.
So yeah, get your Christmas shopping done, clean your house, decorate, bake some cookies (I like cookies!) Prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior!
But now, with renewed faith and hope, turn that hope and joy and excitement to an expectation, an anticipation for Him to break into your life even now. Be on the watch, “beware that your hearts do not become drowsy,” “be vigilant at all times”—behold, “The days are coming [and are in fact here] when the Lord will fulfill his promises.”