Proper preparation for the incarnation does not
include counting down the remaining shopping
days 'til Christmas. The commercialized
materialism that has come to mark the secular
celebration of Advent is in many ways the
direct opposite of the spirit called for as we
seek to make ready for God's insertion into
human history.
While Advent is the season of anticipation, it is
also one of the times in the church year most
focused on the here and now. Advent calls us
as the people of God not only to reflect on the
Lord's coming as a babe in a manger and his promised return at the end
of time, but more important to open our hearts and our lives to be
changed by the Incarnate Word. The one who is to come is close at
hand. Be ready.
November 30 Cycle C
Those Who Wait
Psalm 25:1-10; Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians
3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36
Advent is the season not just of waiting for the coming
Christ child, but of anticipationùwhich is waiting combined
with hope. The biblical writers, while conscious of the past,
are looking toward the future. The apocalyptic texts in Luke
at first glance seem out of place: What does heaven and earth
passing away have to do with the unfolding Christmas story?
It is clear that Advent is about much more than the coming of
a poor baby in a manger. Advent is of such significance that
the entire cosmos reverberates with signs. It is a time both
to remember JesusÆ first coming and to anticipate his
second.
How do we prepare for his coming? Today's readings are
filled with guidelines. In the gospel Jesus warns that there
is no automatic exemption from the coming distress; we are
called to prayerful watchfulness and told to avoid
"debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of
life"(21:34). The first two instructions are
clear—a call to personal righteousness and to shun the
"intoxicating attractions of the sinful world,"as
one commentator put it.
But what's this about avoiding the "cares of
life"? Other translations provide an insight: Be on
guard that your heart not be weighed down with worries of
this life, with anxiety or preoccupation about things. In
other words, don't be caught up in materialism or worrying
about "earthly treasures"—Jesus spells it out
plainly in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 6:19-33).
While Luke omits the phrase found in Mark's version,
"Nobody can know the day or time of the end,"he
uses a similar formulation in Acts 1:7. The point of the
passage is that we not be preoccupied with signs and wonders,
but that we instead act with righteousness in the here and
now.
The passage from Thessalonians gets even more specific. To
prepare for Jesus' coming requires both personal and social
acts; we are to strengthen our hearts in holiness (3:13) and
abound in love for one another (3:12). Jeremiah promises that
the Messiah will come to execute both righteousness (personal
holiness) and justice (fair and equitable relationships,
protection of the weak from the strong). We join the psalmist
in praying, "Do not let those who wait for you be put to
shame"(25:3).
