peace be with you and happy first sunday of
of advent to everybody you
you know when i was a high school student
student many years ago a very wise uh benedict
benedict the nun who was one of my history
history teachers gave
gave me a template for understanding advent
advent that is very simple but very clear
clear and i've never forgotten it she said
said advent's about three
three comings of christ so adventos just means
means arrival or coming christ
christ came in history christ
christ comes to us today and christ will come
come
come definitively
definitively at the end of time simple
simple template but really helpful and i find
find the readings for our first sunday advent
advent correspond beautifully to this template
template let's take a look at the first reading
reading which is from the 33rd chapter of
of the prophet jeremiah and
and it speaks very clearly now of the historical
historical coming of christ listen the
the days are coming says the lord when
when i will fulfill the promise i made to
to the house of israel in judah in those days
days in that time i will raise up for david
david a just shoot fulton
fulton sheen one of the heroes of word on
on fire said the only religious founder whose
whose coming was clearly predicted was
was jesus
was jesus and
and think about it the
the old testament is filled with anticipations
anticipations of
of the coming of the messiah this anointed
anointed figure and when at last he came his
his followers made reference constantly to
to those anticipations how often in the gospels
gospels you hear that little phrase katagrapha
katagrapha which means according to the writings
writings according to the scriptures so
so
so jesus
jesus is seen as the fulfillment of
of all the institutions of israel he's
he's the definitive temple he's
he's
he's the
the fulfillment of the covenant he's
he's the law or the torah incarnate all that
that israel represented
represented now came to its fullest expression
expression in
in
in jesus
jesus
jesus he
he came in history 2000 years ago bringing
bringing israel to fulfillment and becoming
becoming thereby the
the fulcrum of all history he
he became the point by which we understand
understand time isn't it marvelous by the
the way that still at least in the west but
but really all over the world we
we still measure time by
by his adventures we
we still speak of things you know when i was
was a kid we said just before christ and then
then we said a.d anno domini in the year of
of the lord and we still gauge
gauge time just that way and that speaks of
of a very important truth everybody that history
history
history does
does not climax in let's say the 18th century
century which is what many moderns believe
believe
believe you
you know the 18th century with the great political
political revolutions with the scientific
scientific revolution that's when the modern
modern world was born everything before that
that is is dark and obscurantist everything
everything after that participates in in modernity
modernity and progress the turning point of
of history is the 18th century no
no no say christians not at all in
in fact the 18th century yes gave us many
many good things but modernity i
i don't know i think game has a lot of bad
bad things besides that's
that's not the fulcrum of history rather
rather the decisive moment we look back now
now to the first historical adventist christi
christi the first coming of christ made
made all the difference his dying and his
his rising [Music]
[Music]
[Music] that's
that's the still point around which all of
of history revolves and
and so it's very important everyone on this
this first sunday of advent that we do indeed
indeed look back
back
back to
to that moment to
to that time something
something
something happened
happened
happened something
something broke into history that was unexpected
unexpected and
and we do look back at it with deep
deep spiritual attention that's
that's part of what advent means but
but now let's keep following my my high school
school instructor the
the second dimension of advent has
has to do with the adventus christi the coming
coming of christ that
that is happening now
now
now not
not just a long time ago but now in the life
life of the church and here our second reading
reading
reading taken
taken from one of the earliest christian texts
texts we have paul's
paul's first letter to the thessalonians some
some argue that's the very first letter that
that paul wrote certainly
certainly an early one listen to him brothers
brothers and sisters may
may the lord make you increase and abound
abound in love for one another and for all
all
all we
we earnestly ask and exhort you in the lord
lord jesus that you should conduct yourselves
yourselves to please god now
now what's paul talking about here but
but the coming right now of christ into
into the minds and the hearts and yes indeed
indeed into the bodies of those who follow
follow him you
you know paul would have known with all the
the first christians that we live in this
this age now where christ has sent his holy
holy spirit to guide the work and activity
activity of his church christ's
christ's spirit now wants to dwell in us think
think of the image from the book of revelation
revelation of
of jesus
of jesus knocking
knocking on the door of
of our hearts christ
christ
christ right
right now
right now especially
especially on this first sunday of advent
advent christ coming right now knocking on
on the door of your mind in your heart so
so that he might enter and then see accomplish
accomplish this may he make you increase and
and abound in love for one another and for
for all that's the sign of the adventus christi
christi in our hearts now that we become more
more and more people of
of love
of love now
now in the first coming he presented himself
himself in the context of ancient israel right
right emerging as the as the climax of that
that history the fulfillment of israel but
but now in this coming today he presents himself
himself in the context of the
the church i
i always love my
my my intellectual hero francis george of
of chicago would
would say that just as you can't know me apart
apart from my body so i mean you see this
this image of me now you hear my voice and
and so on so in the same way christ can't
can't be known apart from his body and that
that means for us his mystical body of the
the church church
church is not extraneous to christ not just
just a mere human organization entered
entered into by those who follow him no it's
it's much more dramatic than that much more
more organic than that the church is the vehicle
vehicle by which christ becomes present to
to his people and so in the coming today of
of christ
of christ it's
it's the context of the church that matters
matters
matters so
so now we're talking about the sacraments
sacraments especially
especially the eucharist the source and summit
summit of the christian life we're talking
talking about the saints the witness of the
the saints we're
we're talking about the art and the architecture
architecture of the church we're
we're talking about good
good preaching we're
we're talking about the poor didn't
didn't jesus say whatsoever you do to the
the least of my brothers and sisters you do
do it to me that's
that's what i'm talking about that's not the
the church of some little human organization
organization off on the side that's the church
church as the mystical body of jesus and so
so in the cry of the poor in the face of the
the suffering poor we
we have access to christ who's knocking right
right now in the door of our hearts okay
okay so everybody on this first sunday of
of advent we do indeed look back at this decisive
decisive moment in history and we look around
around right now and
and we say okay the
the most important decision i can possibly
possibly make more
more important than my decisions regarding
regarding my job or my education or even my
my family and my country more important than
than any of those is
is the decision do
do i allow christ into
into my life to become my
my lord
my lord and
and so on this first sunday of the adventist
adventist christi we
we look around we
we listen for that knock on
on the door of our hearts and
and are we willing and able to let him in
in
in okay
okay let's keep following my high school teacher
teacher
teacher we
we look back to the coming of christ we look
look around to
to christ coming now into our minds and hearts
hearts
hearts and
and on this first sign of advent we look forward
forward
forward to
to the definitive coming of christ at the
the end of time here's
here's an important point everyone to see
see
see for
for christians history
it's not just one thing after another nor
nor is it just a cyclical you know return
return of the same a constant repetition over
over and over again no no those
those of us who come out of the biblical imagination
imagination know that history has a trajectory
trajectory it's moving somewhere it's moving
moving toward its culmination
culmination it's about something and what's
what's it about it's about christ's second
second coming we call it when he comes adventures
adventures at the end of time to draw all
all things to himself to bring history to
with that in mind let's turn now to our third
third reading the gospel for today jesus
jesus speaking to his disciples listen there
there will be signs in the sun the moon and
and the stars and on earth nations will be
be in dismay people
people will die of fright in anticipation
anticipation of what is coming upon the world
world and then they will see the son of man
man
man coming
coming in a cloud with power and great glory
glory
glory reference
reference there to the seventh chapter of
of the book of daniel by the way the coming
coming of the son of man on a cloud but the
the important thing here is he's talking about
about
about the
the falling apart of the political order all
all those things that govern human life but
but even the falling apart of the cosmic structures
structures this
this
this old
old fallen world giving way to
to what the bible calls a new heavens and
and a new earth god's
god's purpose is finally to save and transfigure
transfigure and transform time
time and space and history and the earth and
and our very bodies and
and that culminating moment we associate with
with the second coming of christ at
notice please everybody that the church lives
lives in this kind of in between time so
so looking back 2
2 000 years ago that was the fulcrum of history
history absolutely the
the dying and rising of jesus and we measure
measure time by that things that came before
before it things that come after it because
because that was the moment we look back but
but then we also look forward to this definitive
definitive coming of christ and where do we
we live well in the in between zone
zone
zone has
has the battle been won the decisive battle
battle yeah it has in the dying and rising
rising of jesus sin and death have been in
in principle conquered but
but is the fight over no
no there's a kind of mop
mop up operation if you want i've often used
used that image of this is for history buffs
buffs
buffs after
after the the normandy invasion right in june
june 1944
june 1944 you
you know prescient people would have said
said yeah hitler's finished you know once
once the allies had broken through and it
it was just a matter of time before hitler
hitler would fall but yet there was still
still a lot of fighting ahead including
including that terrible battle of the bulge
bulge in the winter of 44 or 45. there
there was a there was quite a slog ahead even
even though the
the battle had essentially been won at normandy
normandy but we still had work to do before
before the war was finally over well
well that's where the church lives in between
between that fulcrum moment 2000 years ago
ago and the definitive coming of christ and
and in that in between time what do we do
do well we we try to welcome him into our
our hearts now so that we can get into his
his army and fight the good fight so
so there's a way to think of of the three
three comings history now future of how they
they are tied together you
you know just maybe a last thought people
people wonder like especially for for christians
christians who believe in god they believe
believe in jesus and god's providence how
how come our lives are still so fraught with
with danger and anxiety and failure well because
because
because we're
we're still waiting for
for the definitive coming notice
notice please and once you see this you start
start seeing it everywhere in the liturgy
liturgy the liturgy is constantly reminding
reminding us of
of the second coming just a couple of examples
examples
examples um
um
um as
as we wait in joyful hope for
for the coming of our savior jesus christ
christ we're not talking there about his coming
coming in time that's happened but now in
in hope so we're not there yet we're
we're still beset by anxieties but in hope
so first sunday of advent we look back yup
yup
yup fascinated
fascinated by
by this turning point in
in history we
we look around ready
ready to make a decision right now to let
let christ into our hearts and we look forward
forward that one day at
at the end of time when god will be all in
in all
in all history
history and the earth and our bodies will
will come to their fulfillment and
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