Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
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Today’s Gospel might seem highly unusual to some. Here we are in the season that is supposed to prepare us for the celebration of Christ Jesus’ birth and we’re talking about the end of the world.
But think back to the readings for the past few weeks. They too have spoken about the end of days. As our reading today, those past few weeks have spoken about being ready, being prepared, and keeping awake.
We’ve just ended one year on the church calendar and are beginning another. Yet they seem to cycle into one another. They seem to be talking about the same things.
To understand, we need to look at the church calendar. We start by preparing for the Birth Narrative, the remembrance of Jesus entering into this world. Then we remember His life and the very reason He came into this world: the salvation of the world through Jesus’ death and Resurrection.
After this, we remember the start of the church following Jesus’ Ascension and our role in this world as members of the church. We end this time looking to the hope of the life to come after Jesus’ return.
The thing is, Advent didn’t start out as a preparation for Christmas. It began as a season of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. As we remember Jesus’ initial coming into this world, we hope for His return.
The cycle of the year is meant to remind us of who we are as Christians. All of our hope and celebration is centered on the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We carry that hope with us every single day, and we are called to share that hope with the world every single day.
In the end, we prepare ourselves for the hope to come in life with Christ Jesus, and in that hope, we remind ourselves of the hope of Christ that initially came into this world. This season is about looking ahead, but it is also about reminding ourselves who we are. All that leads us to what is actually the most important day in the church year and for all of us as Christians: Easter Day.
This Advent, don’t just celebrate that Jesus came into this world. Celebrate why Jesus came, particularly the new life He gave us all through the Cross and Resurrection.