His advent today
Sermon on the Second Sunday of Advent
St Michael’s Church, Camden Town
Isaiah 11:1–10; Psalm 72:1–7, 18, 19; Romans 15:4–13; St Matthew 3:1–12
+ In nomine
If Jesus met you today, how much of himself would he see in you?
I’m going to be 40 next year. Given that I don’t look a day over 45, that may come as a surprise to some of you. But, all the same, I’ll be 40 next year; and, so, I’m allowing myself a bit of a mini-mid-life-crisis this Advent.
I’m conscious that I’m no longer young. Physically, gone are the days when body and mind are effortlessly united, one bundle of energy — agile, unreflective, dynamic. I’m now aware of all of my body — of parts of me that hurt, of the way I can’t quite keep up with all I’d like to do, of the need to take care of myself. Spiritually, gone are the days when what I’ll be is all. I’m now aware that who I am is as much what I’ve done, who I’ve known, where I’ve been, what I’ve been.
And acknowledging all of that can be hard. It’s easy to be in denial. And the point of a mid-life-crisis, I suppose, is that you come out the other side of it knowing yourself as you really are — seeing one’s self not through the lenses of wishful thinking, not as who one wants to be now, but seeing one’s self as others see us, as who we truly are. And that knowledge is a fundamental basis for becoming who one wants to be in the future — for making contingent, wise, honest but nevertheless solid decisions about who one wants to become.
And all of that makes Advent a good time of year for a mid-life-crisis. Yes, Advent is a time of waiting for, hoping for, yearning for the coming of Christ as the Incarnate one, the baby in Bethlehem. Yes, Advent is also a time, with its apocalyptic hymns and readings, of waiting for, hoping for, yearning for the coming of Christ at the end of time, as Culmination and Judge. But Advent is most fundamentally a time of waiting for, hoping for, yearning for the coming of Christ to each of us, personally, here and now; Christ born in our hearts here and now, this day and every day.
Advent is a good time of year for a mid-life-crisis because the foundational question of Advent therefore is: If Jesus met you today, if Jesus came to you today what would he make of you; what would he think? If you saw yourself as Jesus sees you, all of you, the true you, what would you see? Or, given that the fundamental calling of the Christian life is for us to become more like Jesus, to become more Christ-like, if Jesus met you today, how much of himself would he see in you?
We hear three clear voices in our readings today — three prophets calling us to righteousness of life here and now — three biblical agony-uncles advising us about what’s really important on our journey to meet the Christ, to know God with us, to become more Christ-like ourselves.
John the Baptist, along the lanes and bye-ways of Galilee, says: “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Be ready, John says. Don’t put things off. Know the commitment you’ve made, the responsibility you hold. Be ready to meet Jesus today, John says. Deal with the things that get in the way, and do so today. What do you need to deal with in your life, in your relationships, this week? What do you need to put right? Now is always the time, John says. Be ready.
Isaiah, speaking to an exhausted nation of Israel, says: “The wolf shall lie with the lamb.” Dream of a better world, Isaiah says. Don’t get caught up in negativity and cynicism. Don’t give up because the vision seems distant. Be people of hope, Isaiah says. In these busy, wearying political times, how will you vote on Thursday as a hopeful person, caught up in hope of what can be? Have the courage to dream of a better world, Isaiah says.
St Paul, writing to his Christian friends in Rome, says: “Welcome one another.” God’s saving love is for all, Paul says. So extend the invitation. Hold the door to this place open for everybody. Be people of hope for all. Bring more people to meet Christ here. Talk to somebody this Christmas, perhaps, about what’s important to you — why this place, why this Eucharist, why this way of being gives you life. Share the hope that you have, says Paul. Welcome one another.
“Prepare the way of the Lord,” says John. “The wolf shall lie with the lamb,” says Isaiah. “Welcome one another,” Paul urges us.
If Jesus met you today, how much of himself would he see in you?
To become Christ-like, to be ready, to dream of a better world, to welcome all — this is the work of a lifetime. And our hope is that, when all is done, and we look at ourselves in the mirror, as we all will one day, we will see not just ourselves, but Christ, too, in us — we will see not just ourselves, but nothing less than Christ himself.
St Augustine wrote that, when we make our Communion, when we eat and drink the bread and wine, the True Body and Precious Blood of the Mass, Christ does no become part of us — we become Christ. When you take and eat this morning — when Jesus meets you today — how much of himself will he see in you; and how much more like him do you dare to become?
