November 27, 2016

  1st Sunday of Advent A Isaiah 2: 1-5; Romans 13: 11-14; Matthew 24: 37-44 We have come to Advent 2016. We know that this is a time of change. The clocks have already changed…we are approaching the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. We have seen ads and decorations for quite a time; Christmas is coming. We know that this is a time of planning and celebration. It is a time of preparation and we hope each year that we will be able to reserve some time to get our inner selves ready for Jesus. We hope…will we…we don’t know. But we do have this moment now to reflect. We are now in the Advent Season, which for Christians begins a new church year or better, liturgical year. Church years are divided into three cycles, called unimaginatively, Years A, B, and C. During each of these we concentrate on a different Gospel writer: Year A - Matthew; Year B - Mark, and Year C - Luke. These three are known as the Synoptic Gospels. John writes quite differently; he is considered the theologian and is the last one written, maybe 70 + years after Jesus’ death and Resurrection. We often assume that the writer of Matthew’s gospel was the apostle, who was also a tax collector named Levi and that since it is listed as first, that it was the first written. This is not the case. We are quite certain that the author wasn’t the apostle Matthew at all because he copied so extensively from Mark’s gospel, maybe even ninety percent of it. If the author had been the apostle and an eyewitness of so many of Jesus’ miracles and adventures, why does he quote Mark and not give his own remembrances? So who was the author…we don’t know. In fact we don’t know for sure who any of the Gospel writers were, they never give their names even though traditional has them as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We do know that the author of Matthew as a Jew who wrote after the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in the year 70. Some even say that the gospel was written maybe as late as 85. Scholars tell us that Mark was more than likely the first gospel written and Matthew wrote this ‘revised version’ of Mark’s gospel because there was much tension in the Jewish community. Jesus had died and rose. Jerusalem had been destroyed. Jesus had predicted the end of the world and very many of the early Christians felt that this ‘end’ would happen in their own life time. Paul certainly was the prime proponent for this and all of his letters were written before any of the gospels. Matthew wants to tell his community of the authentic strain of Judaism that Jesus lived. The Messiah had come…Jesus was the savior of the world…and He is coming now to bring us all to where He is - Heaven. This introduces us to the Church year, to Matthew and to what is lurking behind our preparation: we are remembering Jesus’ coming at the first Christmas and we know the end is coming for our own individual life and for the end of the world because Jesus said so. The time is NOW…what am I doing? Paul says it as it is: “Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now…the day is at hand.” We have our first very strong suggestion for what we are to do to get our inner selves ready for Jesus. Paul is telling us what to do…we see this in the passage immediately before this — Paul tells us that the motivation for what we do has to surround itself with love. Romans 13: 8-10: “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,’ and whatever other commandment they may be, are summed up in this saying [namely] ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.” J. B. Phillips in the New Testament in Modern English translates it in this way: “Keep out of debt altogether, except that perpetual debt of love which we owe one another. The man who loves his neighbor has obeyed the whole Law in regard to his neighbor. For the commandments, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’, ‘Thou shalt not kill’, ‘Thou shalt not steal’,, ‘Thou shalt not covet’ and all other commandments are summed up in this one rule: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ Love hurts nobody: therefore love is the answer to the Law’s commands.” My Christmas mission…my Advent mission - how am I loving the people in my life? By writing cards…sure…By selecting gifts…sure…By celebrations and gatherings…sure. But day in and day out do the people who see me see God loving them? Advent is a time to bring each one of us closer to the Lord and to each other by the way we interact with those in our life. Advent is a time for a lot of work, but constantly being on the go makes us edgy and at loose ends and we can easily REACT in a way that we do not like…so do the people who see me see God loving them? The real work of this season is within our homes and in ourselves. We also are dealing with changes in our country and we do not know what this will all mean. So I wonder…how good am I with change…do the people who see me see God loving them? Jesus is telling us in the Gospel to put our faith and trust in God as Noah did even when plenty of people thought that Noah was crazy. We have to trust in the gifts that God has given us and in Jesus’ teachings on love. When we set time aside for ourselves each day we will continually discover that we are individually loved and cared for, but I need to be open and grateful. In Exploring the Sunday Readings, theologian Alice Camille reflects on today’s gospel. “If the reports are at all accurate, no one could have failed to notice the great flood when it was in progress. The tale of Noah’s Ark is an important allegory of the human condition. Right up until the moment they drown and are swept away, the corrupt folks around Noah are unable to perceive the clues that Noah cans read like neon signs of warning flashing. So they remain on their course of destruction, eating and drinking, conducting business as usual. And every fateful little decision is like a drop of rain that will soon bear them away. Choices, choices. We face them every minute: be kind, or be gruff? Say thank you or act entitled? Offer a word of praise, or take all the credit? Surrender, or fight to the bitter end? Service, or rule? Love, or reign indifferent? Admit you’re wrong, or remain stubborn in your position? Show compassion, or blame others for their predicament? Smile, or return a stone face with another stone face? Drop by drop, the flood of results will follow.” Then she adds these reflections: • What have you planted so far today that will bear good or terrible fruit tomorrow? • Maybe it’s a health issue. Maybe it’s a moral one. Maybe it’s a relationship in jeopardy. Where in our lives are we pretending it’s not yet time to wake up? • Consider your behavior in the last hour. Which choices build an ark of grace, and which betray the sound of a storm brewing? Sacred Space 2017 says, “There are tough images here: floods, capture, thieving. They are frightening, life-changing events. We have one life, and it is precious and fragile. We need to be in tune with Jesus constantly, ready for whatever comes our way, not sleepwalking through life. Lord, make me present to Your daily appearances in my life. As the post Tagore says, ‘He comes, comes, ever comes.’ Lord, do not let me miss You, even in my ordinary routine