A Sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley on December 1, 2024.
We begin the new Christian year this morning and it is a time of year of thoughtful preparation. Madison Avenue would have us think it is about preparing for the delightful day of gift-giving we call Christmas, but it is so much more than that. It is true that Christmas is about the great unwrapping. Yet, it is not about the gifts left under the tree. This season, we get the nursery ready. We prepare to swaddle the gift of the child called, Jesus. Advent is the time of slow, thought-full dawdling our way to Christmas.
The word ‘advent’ derives from the Latin advenire,[1] to come. It is a time for us to remember who is coming so as to best prepare for their arrival. For those who make up the Church, it forces us to choose whose arrival we are preparing for. Are we preparing for a fat, jolly elf? Or are we preparing for the child in the manger? Whose arrival we prepare for will decide how we spend the next four weeks leading up to Christmas.
Thursday morning, I sat with my granddaughter watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Aside from feeling sorry for those high school kids in their soaking wet band costumes and tights, it was nothing but a non-stop commercial hawking wares, shows, or upcoming movies from Disney. Even poor old Al Roker wandering about in the rain looked like a walking mannequin for L.L. Bean with his rubber hunting duck shoes, waxed canvass rain jacket, and fedora. It was a brutal reminder for me how culture has co-opted a season of spiritual preparation and gratitude and has transformed it into one of consumeristic largesse. This is why Advent doesn’t begin with the Macy’s parade or Black Friday deals. It begins on its own day – the Lord’s Day.
Advent is the time of preparing for God’s arrival. To quote author Stephen Covey, the first Sunday of Advent is a day we begin with the end in mind. The church mothers and fathers have an intentional purpose for us. They want us to look at the second advent first. This refers to the second coming of God on the first Sunday of our preparation for Christmas. Why do we do this?
As we start our walk to Christmas Day, we begin by taking our bearing of where we are going. For the Church, that bearing, that pole star, is the fulfillment of time when our Lord will come again in glorious love. At that time, all balance is restored, and we are reunited with God and those we love in heaven. We start with the second Advent first. It reminds us that amid this swirly, chaotic world, God has the ultimate last Word.
On a practical level, starting the Christian year and Advent with reflections on the second coming of Christ gives proper focus. It helps us put the rest of our life in perspective. Are we frenetically preparing to open presents on Christmas morning? Or are we preparing for meeting The Presence of the Holy on Christmas morning? Both have very distinct ways of preparing for their arrival. Advent is a time for us to figure out for which or for whom we are preparing for exactly. Our morning’s text from Jeremiah is a powerful waypoint showing us the direction to go.
Turn in your Bible to Jeremiah 33:14-16. Jeremiah wrote about 550 years before Christ’s birth. He was known as the weeping prophet. Many of his prophecies were perceived as gloom and doom. Let’s be clear about who and what a prophet is. When we hear of a prophet, we tend to think of someone who foretells future events that will happen. In Jeremiah’s case, he warned the people in the southern kingdom of Judah that unless they get their act together, they will be forcibly taken away by a foreign army and Jerusalem will be destroyed. But a prophet just does not tell of future events, a prophet is a truth-teller. A prophet is someone who calls it the way they see it whether it is something the people want to hear or not. Jeremiah fit both of these roles. He told the people the truth that there are consequences for their blatant disregard for God, and as we see in today’s text, Jeremiah also foretells a time of peace in the future. Our text comes from what has been called “The little book of comfort” amid a larger book of roaring complaints. Listen for the Word of the Lord.[2]
Jeremiah 33:14-16
14The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”[3]
Here we have the Good News declared: Even though the people have forgotten God, God has not forgotten them. He remembers His promises to them. This was during a time when the northern kingdom of Israel had already been sacked and taken into exile. The southern kingdom of Judah was preparing to be invaded. Jeremiah speaks a word of hope into a hopeless situation. God will raise a righteous branch from David’s family. He will restore Israel and Judah into a unified nation once more. Although they cannot see through the fog of war and turmoil now, their deliverer is coming. He is a descendant of King David. The Messiah is on His way.
God has Jeremiah remind the people of the promises God once made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and to King David. God made a covenant to be with his chosen people until the end and will never leave or forsake them. The nation of Israel under King David was later split into two nations. Foreign powers ultimately destroyed it. Yet, God will make a way through in the end. This is a vision of the future which lifts forlorn faces upwards from seeing political betrayal and violence in the moment. It points to a restorative, just future where God’s ultimate power and purposes will abound. As one commentator says, it directs us towards a future adorned and blessed by God. It diverts our focus from “the clamoring demands of a paralyzed present.” [4]
Well, this all sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Yet, it begs the question: So, what? What does this have to do with you, me, and the Church in the midst of this dystopian society we live in? The coming of the Lord’s righteous Branch is a reminder that we are not to be so heavenly minded we are no earthly good! We have work to do! We have preparations to make, and I do not mean shopping or baking, either. You see, beloved, we are not just preparing for LBJ’s birth, or as we say down South, Little Baby Jesus; we are preparing for the Righteous Branch of David’s return.
The great Reformer of the last century, Karl Barth, wrote, “The earthly-historical existence of Jesus Christ himself” is the church today.[5] Jesus has left a guaranteed deposit until his return in and through you and me – the Church. The Church prepares for the Righteous Branch’s arrival. It does this by creating paths of steadfast love and faithfulness. This is as Psalm 25 directs. Psalm 25 reminds us the Lord’s way, the Lord’s paths, are paved with the four stones of truth, mercy, humility, and graceful love.
Until Christ comes again, our job is to establish these cornerstones. We must cultivate truth, mercy, humility, and love right where we live today. Whereas Jeremiah tells us “the what” of Advent, Psalm 25 tells us “the how” of our preparations. This, Church, is how we prepare in Advent. We speak Truth to power. We demonstrate mercy to those who do not deserve it. We live humbly and practice playing second-fiddle to one another. And we love, deeply, passionately all those secret angels we meet in the faces of people we bump into every day.
There is no more beautiful and living reminder of this than this meal placed before us. In this meal, we are reminded that Jesus is the Way, the Life, and the Truth. In this meal we are shown mercy. In this meal we learn true humility and sacrifice. In this meal, God proves his passionate love for us. Let us eat, get nourished and then get to work. We have preparing that needs to be done! Amen.
© December 1, 2024, by Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, NY. They shall not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.
[1] See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Advent.
[2] Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship: Year C, Volume 1, Advent through Epiphany. See https://a.co/8NiUuFg/
[3] The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[4] Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship: Year C, Volume 1, Advent through Epiphany
https://a.co/2yZPgH3
[5] Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship: Year C, Volume 1, Advent through Epiphany. See https://a.co/iK1W0ca.
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