"But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. (Matthew 24:36-44 NRSV)

Who here has played hide-and-seek?
I cannot think of anybody who has never even played the game
at some point in their lives.

It appears to be a universal pass-time for children the world over --
even in the Soviet Union --
oops, Russia --
Hide-and-Seek is a favorite of children.

[Cover face, turn to a wall, and count from 1 - 10 very loudly]

“READY OR NOT! HERE I COME!”

This morning,
on this first Sunday of Advent,
God is counting.

It’s a game of heavenly hide-and-seek.

God is Preparing to return,
incarnate in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Are we hiding?

In the game of hide-and-seek,
the object is to not-be-found.

The world would appear to have taken this objective to heart.
Are you hiding?
Are you failing to wait?
Are you failing to watch?
When he comes,
will you have hidden yourself so well that you’ll be left behind?
That’s the question the Advent season asks of us
even as we, with much anticipation and with much festivity,
prepare to celebrate,
yet again,
the coming of our Lord as a child.

Would you pray with me?

Gracious God, move among us this day so that we may always know that we are never alone; and speak to us so that we may always hear, understand, and remember -- give us your word by which you mold and shape our living; in Jesus Name we pray. Amen.

The First Sunday of Advent
is not only the First Sunday of the Church Year,
it is also the beginning of the shortest liturgical season of the Church Year.

The season always begins on the Sunday closest to November 30th.
The observance of Advent originated in France
way back in the fourth century,
and has varied in length over the centuries from four to seven Sundays until,
in the Sixth Century, the Bishop of Rome set the length of the season at four weeks.

In ancient times Advent was strictly observed:
every Christian was required to attend Church
fast and pray daily
and give special offerings to the Church
--> Ah ... Those were the good-ol-days!

The word “Advent” consists of two Latin words

ad and venire

which, when taken together, mean: “To come to.”

Advent’s message is that God, in Christ, is coming into the World.
This coming may be:

1. A past experience.
God did come in Christ back over 2000 years ago.

2. A present experience.
God may come to you this Christmas in terms of a spiritual re-birth,
a renewed vision and vigor in your religious life.

3. A future experience.
Christ will return unpredictably at the end of the world.
In the words of the Apostles’ Creed:
“He shall come again in Glory to judge the quick and the dead.”

Since Advent promises the sure coming of the Lord,
its message is a simple one: Prepare!

Just as in the game of hide and seek,
where the one who is “it” is going to finish counting
and come looking for those who hide “ready-or-not”

So also our Lord Jesus Christ is coming into the world
to look for and save lost and hiding sinners,
ready or not.

And the scripture makes it plain that,
for those unprepared,
His coming means judgement.

Just look at how Jesus equates that coming with
the great flood and a Thief in the night.

For those who are not ready,
For those who are hiding,
His coming is a catastrophy
....because they will miss it.

For those who are ready
For those who are watching
For those who are “preparing”
His coming means salvation.

How does Advent suggest that we prepare for the coming of Jesus?
1. Repentance
2. Prayer
3. Patience.

As such, these four weeks prior to Christmas
are really a time of thoughtful, reflective, and watchful preparation.

The sad sad truth about our modern, American culture
is that this is not how we prepare for our annual celebration
of the Birth of Jesus.
Let alone his second coming.

Our secular culture has taught us
that the days and weeks prior to Christmas
are reserved for the frantic purchasing of presents.
We have been taught that, for Christmas to be complete
we simply must find that “perfect” gift.

The Church has its own frantic schedule.
Think about it:
We go to Church bazaars
many covered dish meals
several Christmas dinners
There are a dozen and one Sunday-school class parties
We have Christmas Pageants to rehearse and put on
And then there are the many wonderful Christmas light tours.

All of these activities enhance
the community life of our Church.
None of these things are bad,
in and of themselves.
There’s nothing wrong with having fun,
with having a party,
with enjoying the holiday spirit at this time of the year.
It is, generally, a good idea to give someone else a gift--
and no one hates receiving one!
Certainly, no one thinks that a vibrant Church-life is bad for the soul
Or that we should all be kill-joys at this time of the year
Because of the secularization of the season.

But through all of these various forms of preparation,
through all the insanity of the four weeks before Christmas,
it sometimes appears as though we lose sight
of whom we are preparing to receive.

The season of Advent begins the Church year in a very profound way,
a way that we cannot afford to overlook.
We begin the new Church year
waiting
watching
preparing
for the coming of our God and King.
The Good News in all of this is that we know he eventually comes.
After all, we’ve all been through the Christmas celebration before.
We all know what happens on December 25th.
On that day we celebrate the birth of a Jewish Baby in Bethlehem.

Let’s set aside, for a moment, the historical FACT that Jesus wasn’t really born on Dec. 25th.
Let’s set aside, for a moment, the historical FACT that Jesus was really born,
probably,
in the Fall of the Year,
and that December 25th is really the Winter Solstice,
the Feast day of Saturn.
Let’s set aside that this was, once, a great big pagan party
that the church Christianized because they couldn't stamp it out.
Let's forget all of that for a moment, because, for the last 1600+ years
the Church has celebrated the Birth of Jesus on December 25th.

We are not so advantaged regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Indeed, while we are called to prepare,
at the same time,
for the celebration of Christ’s birth as a Baby,
his eternal presence through the spirit,
and his return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords
most of us don’t.

The Baby in a manger is easy.
Likewise, at Pentecost it is fairly simple for us to proclaim
his Real Presence through the Holy Spirit.
But his return is not so simple.

We don’t do much watching and waiting--
and, if we do,
most of us certainly don’t do it with the vigor
the anticipation
or the excitement
that we have for the great big party that is Christmas.

Today, I’m preaching to myself as well as to you.
Don’t get caught hiding.
God is counting.
But he is going to stop counting, soon,
and Jesus will come looking for you.

We know that, in just four weeks, we will celebrate,
yet again,
the birth of a special, holy baby.

We also know that, 50 days after Easter,
We'll celebrate the birth of the Church
and the continued Real Presence of Jesus
through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

But we really don’t know when we will celebrate
that baby’s return in clouds of glory.

Let’s live the next four weeks
in true preparation,
my brothers and sisters.

Let’s not let the insanity of commercialism
and business of acquiring stuff
get in the way of being faithful watchers
for our Lord’s coming.

Let’s be an Advent People,
waiting for his coming.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
-- Amen

© 1992, Rev. Gregory S. Neal
All Rights Reserved