Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when He shall come again in His glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for First Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer)

Carl Moore, an old time vaudevillian type entertainer, used to sing a ditty called “Someone is Coming to My House.”  This was a song about the birth of a child and the anticipation associated with the birth.  Advent is about the coming of a very special person into our lives.  The celebration of the coming of Jesus as our Lord and Savior is anticipate with great hope by small and big alike. Mostly for all the wrong reasons. We await the coming of Santa more than the Christ.  I know I have my list for Santa.

What about His first coming?  How was He anticipated?  What did they look for back then before the time of i‑phones and Guitar Hero?   The world was not so different then then it is now.  Small feudal lords tried to gain control of larger areas and states and countries.  The used spears, slings, swords and knives instead of IEDs automatic weapons, missiles and bombs.  Terrorism was as much a part of their lives as ours.  For centuries they had prophets and sages that promised the coming of the Christ that would make things better.  He would teach a message of peace, love and salvation.  They, like us, looked for the instant gratification.  They looked for the military might that would bring peace.  But that is not God’s message in Advent.  Peace must start in ourselves first.  We must use this time of Advent to drive all the hatred, fear, and anger from our hearts.  It scares me how angry the world around us is.  Look around and see how many knit brows, scowls and frowns.  Listen to the angry speech that comes so easily in all situations.  Look at the rage that touches our lives every day.

Every week in the Eucharist we say some form of “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” Christ has promised us that He will return. And, when He returns He will judge the living and the dead.  To prepare for that judgment He gave us some simple instructions and lots of help.  We are “to cast away the works of darkness “  How are we to do this?  We don’t have the strength to fight the Devil and all his minions. 

Christ promised and has given us the help we need.  He has sent us His Holy Spirit to help us.  As Paul said, we are to put on the armor of light, to put on our Lord Jesus.  We put on this armor of light in Baptism.  It is when we put Christ on.  Now is the time we need to live out our Baptismal promises.  We must respond to others with love.  We must look to do what we can to make the world of those around us better just for the sake of improving their lives.  We are admonished by Paul ‘to live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead put on the light of Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Rom 13:13-14)

Now for a really dumb statement: LIGHT DRIVES AWAY DARKNESS. Duh!!!!! Of course that is the purpose of light.  But why would we want to drive away darkness?  It is in darkness that evil thrives.  Light is protection from evil because it allows us to see evil coming.  It exposes evil for what it is and shows us the danger in it. That is why we have streetlights, and walkways are lighted.  It allows us to see.  Christ is our light because He makes it possible for us to see.  He illuminates the way so we can distinguish between the righteous path and the path to damnation.  His Holy Spirit guides us onto the path to salvation. He is with us in our daily lives calling us to lives of love.

Christ will come again.  He will come with the Father to judge the living and the dead.  What about this judgment?  Why will God judge us?  God’s justice requires judgment.  We are constantly judged in our daily lives.  Most of our judgment is of God’s kind.  Judgment designed to keep on track, designed to help us.  There are those who would judge us to harm and destroy us.  They desire our destruction.  God, however, desires our salvation.  When we put on the light of Christ and try to live in that light, God acts to keep us on track.  He teaches us to live lives that are loving and in service to others.  He presents us with and shows us opportunities to live the life Christ intended for us.

The fact that God will judge the dead along with the living tells us that there is more after we pass from this plain of existence onto the next.  God judgment will be tempered by His mercy.  We will all sin and fall short of the goal that is set for us.  He realizes that and has sent us a mediator to act on our behalf, His son, our savior, Jesus Christ.  We see it all the ballgames the sign in the stands that reads: “1John 4:10” He so loves us that He sent His only son to atone for our sins.  He has paid our fines and served our time for our transgressions.  God did this not because we love Him but because He loves us.

As we look at God’s judgment we realize that it is not a negative thing.  It is not a condemnation.  It is to give us a clearer understanding of His love for us. Through His judgment He continually provides for our well-being and rehabilitation.  His judgment is two fold in nature. It gives us affirmation of what we are doing correctly and guidance for where we have gone astray.  God’s judgment is made up of love and forgiveness.

It is God’s coming judgment that brings us to this Advent season.  A season of preparation.  My wife is of the old school that still does a thorough cleaning of the house twice a year. The old spring and fall cleaning.  Advent is the season for us to do a good old fashion fall cleaning of our souls and lives.  Let us move all the furniture and clean out all the clutter.  Let us clean the windows of our lives so that the light of Christ may shine into us illuminating His living presence in lives and letting that light shine through us onto others.  Let us prepare for His second coming in a spirit of love and forgiveness.

BD