Advent One: The Unexpected One

Advent One: The Unexpected One

            Happy New Year. Happy first Sunday of Advent.

            We have now turned the page, moved from Luke’s Gospel to Matthew’s.
-Matthew warns us that there is bad religion and good religion
—one that is narcissistic and the other that is humble.
-The story of Jesus’ life echoes the stories of Hebrew Scripture more loudly in this Gospel than in the others.
-We are confronted with parables about separation and judgment in Matthew’s Gospel.

            Matthew is writing a community into existence, forging an identity for his church of Syrian Christians, defining who they were. Insisting:
“We are not this, but that.
We are not Rome, but we are the Church.
We are not Rabbinic Judaism, but we are followers of the Messiah.
 We are not these so called ‘Christian Prophets’, but we are the true heirs of Jesus.”
            He is creating a unity by creating division, by building up boundaries. 

            All that, just to be clear what we’re getting into here as we begin this Year of Matthew.

            Now, you’ll notice your “bingo” card. Please try to bring it with you for the 4 weeks of Advent, so you can keep track of the season.

            Scholars often describe the season of Advent as consisting of “History, Mystery, & Majesty.” We prepare for Christ coming and coming again
—Christmas and Apocalypse
We do this:
-through memory, our own experience, and anticipation.
-The Past, the personal, and the promise.
-History. Heart. Hope.

            And today, this first Sunday of Advent, we consider Jesus, the Unexpected One.

Let us pray

            The History, Heart, and Hope of the Unexpected Jesus.

The History—

            Surely, there was an active sense of anticipation in the era of Jesus’ birth
—many making claims of Kingship, many claiming Davidic Lineage, or some sort of radical connection to God, claimed that they knew the day and the hour, or planned to perform some task that would save their people.

            But when the Unexpected One, Jesus, showed up… who would look at the peasant girl, Mary, and know that her son would overturn the earth?

            How did they know? They needed a star or angel to announce it to Shepherds (per Luke) Magi (per Matthew)
… either way, foreigners finding God located there, or smelly shepherds stumbling in, surprised by an angelic army.

            The Unexpected One, born in a stable not a château,
found by unexpected people,
asleep save a divine wake-up call…
who… we might ask, was awake for this child… save Mary… maybe Joseph…
(new parents are always awake, are they not?)

            Who was awake to Jesus’ call to follow him, save fishermen, zealots, a couple of women, and a tax collector? What kind of Rabbi calls these unexpected rejects
—who would be awake to what was coming.

            Who was awake, not even these fishers-of-men, for that gallow-night at Gethsemane, their spirit was willing, but their flesh was weak. They could not stay wake one hour—The Hour. Asleep, when they needed to be awake.

            Who was awake to what happened on that cross? Certainly not Peter, as he denied…
All asleep to Pilate’s words, asleep the pieces of silver, asleep to the sign above his head… an unexpected end…

            Who was awake, who expected the unexpected? None, none save the scared guards, none save the women who came to find him woke from death
—unexpected, this resurrection.

            None knew the hour. Keep awake. Be ready, for the Son of Man comes at an unexpected hour.

The Heart of it…

            What does this mean for you personally?

            Jesus will come in unexpected times and places, so we ought to be awake…

            Wakefulness—it is not terror or anxiety… for Christ is not a burglar or a flood—though those metaphors are used
—it is to be conscious, aware of God’s imminence, of God present with us through Jesus.

            What would happen if you pushed yourself beyond your normal routine, to seek Jesus there?
To be awake for him among the unexpected, in those surprising times…
among fisher-men and tax collectors, at the tomb with Mary and at his birth with the Magi and Mary and Joseph.

            Or, what if you prepared yourself for the Unexpected One, in the mundane…
family gatherings, work, meeting with friends, cooking a meal, as you get ready for bed
—what if you were ready, even then?
Awake to Christ’s presence at those times when you are most likely to be asleep and unaware? Looking for Christ to meet you, ready, even then.

            “Be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour”…

            What if your anticipation was so fed that it blossomed into hope?

            Hope—an ideal. Hope a goal… Hope—always rooted in God’s promise.

            Fulfilled—all of it—because they are promised by God.

            It’s like Luther says… when we pray, “Thy Kingdom come.” We aren’t coaxing or tricking the Kingdom into existing… no, it’s coming. We only ask that it might come among us, for us
… for us…
always the greatest promise of God…
for you…

            That’s the wink and nod about all of this—no one knows the day or hour, but be ready… How can you be ready if you don’t know what is to come? You have to trust the Father, who knows the day and the hour… you have to trust, have faith, believe… the Father is for you, not against you…

            I say have to, not in some sort of shaming or commanding, “Do this or else” way…
no… you have to because there is no other choice. The Son of Man shall come like a flood or a thief, unexpected—and so we have to trust that the one who came as a babe in the manger shall come for you… for you, that radical gracious promise
—for this gift, the Son of Man
… the one coming, is Jesus!
It is Jesus!
That we can expect and he we can trust! A+A