The Confidence of Advent

It is good to be here on the threshold of a new church year. The reading for us this morning has a stark warning, perhaps a little jarring.

“Watch! Stay awake!”

Those are the words that ring out from our Gospel reading today. Does that message feel timely to you this Advent season? Or, perhaps, does it feel just a little bit exhausting?

We live in an increasingly secular society. We move through a world where many don’t see the value of religion, and where faith is often viewed as a relic of the past rather than a vibrant force for the present. And in the midst of that cultural shift, we read this passage about the coming of the Son of Man.

It is a mystery, isn’t it? We live in constant tension regarding this event. What will it mean? What will it look like?

The passage asks us to be vigilant. But I want to name the reality that there is an element of exhaustion in that request. If you have ever cared for a newborn, or sat by the bedside of a sick friend, you know that staying awake is hard work. It drains us. So, we have to ask two important questions: What are we staying awake for and why are we staying awake? I would argue that the second question is the more important one.

What are we staying awake for? Perhaps to care for a sick friend or care for a newborn.

Why are we staying awake? Not to care for a sick friend or to care for a newborn. That’s the what. Why do we do it, because if we don’t they might suffer harm. Why are we doing it, because we are moved by a grace and love that requires us to give of ourselves. We often know what we are doing, we don’t always have a firm grip on why we are doing things.

In the progressive tradition of our faith, we know we aren’t staying awake out of fear. We aren’t staying awake to secure a golden ticket to escape the world. No, we stay awake to ensure that the work of the gospel continues here. We stay awake to be the eyes and ears, the hands and feet of Christ in the world today.

We do know that Christ is coming. We don’t know when, but we know the coming is a reality. It is our job to watch. It is our job in this world to stay awake and ensure that God’s justice is lived out.

At Bible study this week, I shared with the group that I love finding references to Christianity in pop culture. I believe God speaks through music and art in ways that surprise us.

The very next day, as I was sitting at my desk working on this sermon listening to music and the song Free by Florence and the Machine started to play. A lyric caught my attention. I did a quick Google search for the lyrics and discovered the following:

Is this how it is?

Is this how it’s always been?

To exist in the face of suffering and death

And somehow still keep singing?

Oh, like Christ up on a cross

Who died for us, who died for what?

Oh, don’t you wanna call it off?

But there is nothing else that I know how to do

But to open up my arms and give it all to you

That hit me profoundly. “To exist in the face of suffering and death / And somehow still keep singing.”

As followers of Christ, that is what we know how to do. That is what we are called to do. We are called to ensure that God’s justice is lived out even when the world is dark. It is why we stay awake; it is why we stay aware. We do it to do the work, to bear witness to injustice, and to speak out against oppression. We open up our arms and give it all for God. We remain awake not to escape the world, but to embrace it with the love of God. And it really is work that we do together.

There is a small, technical detail in this text that I think changes everything. When Jesus says at the end of our passage, “Therefore you also must be ready…” he isn’t talking to you as an isolated individual.

The word in the Greek is plural. It’s not you singular; it’s all of you.

Jesus is talking to us as a community of believers. This is such a relief, isn’t it? Because we cannot stay awake alone. We cannot fight for justice alone. We need one another to share the watch. When one of us is weary, another stays awake. We do this work together.

Advent is the time of year to be ready. Our reading this morning is appropriate for us as a reminder. This year, Advent begins with a reminder that we are to be confident in Christ’s return. And that with Christ’s return, there is much we might know, and much that we do not know.

The text mentions Noah, and often we think of Noah only in terms of the flood and destruction. But the use of Noah here is interesting because Noah is described in Genesis as a righteous man, someone who was blameless and upright, someone who walked faithfully with God.

Theologian Chelsey Harmon puts it beautifully. She writes:

“So here at Advent we begin again, with the humility of not knowing exactly when, but with a two-fold confidence that we know Jesus will come again and that we know what to do while we wait. We are to be like Noah, knowing and obeying everything God commands. We are to be like Noah, counted as righteous in our time and place, refusing to fall prey to unknowing or feigned ignorance. We are to be people who do not want to escape, but who yearn for the fullest sense and reality of God’s kingdom to come, on earth as it is already in heaven.”

“Refusing to fall prey to unknowing or feigned ignorance.” That is our charge.

We don’t know the hour, and that’s okay. We don’t need a calendar date to be faithful. We just need to keep singing in the face of suffering. We need to keep working for justice. We need to keep our arms open.

So, this Advent, let us stay awake, not in fear, but in hope. And let us do it together.

Amen.