First Sunday in Advent, 27 November 2016

You know what sort of times we live in, and so you should live properly. It is time to wake up. You know that the day when we will be saved is nearer now than when we first put our faith in the Lord. Night is almost over, and day will soon appear. We must stop behaving as people do in the dark and be ready to live in the light. So behave properly, as people do in the day. Don’t go to wild parties or get drunk or be vulgar or indecent. Don’t quarrel or be jealous. Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to you as the clothes you wear. Then you won’t try to satisfy your selfish desires.

Romans 13:11-14 CEV (Epistle for the First Sunday in Advent)

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Across our church today worshippers have celebrated the beginning of the season of Advent. What a joyous day, filled with longing for the Saviour who first came to us in the flesh, and who will return to us as the Lord of Life.

In the congregation I attend we sang Robin Mann’s well-known Advent song, ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come’, which he wrote 40 years ago. The words still speak to me now as powerfully as they did then, ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come into this weary world. Oh, how we long for you to come, Lord, come.’

Advent points us to the Christ who has come and who is coming. The humility and the glory of the coming Christ fill us with hope. He lifts us up, just as he will be lifted up. The Father will receive us, saved and reborn, because of his one and only Son Jesus Christ. Everything began in Christ, and everything, including his church of faith-filled believers, will end in him.

For me, Advent always arrives just in the nick of time. By the end of November we are, frankly, getting tired. There is so much to deal with. We have so many things to do, issues to work on, people who need our attention. The more we fix things, the more broken things we find. We don’t have the strength. We can’t get it all done by Christmas!

And that’s the nub of the problem. Of course we can’t. Too easily, we rely on human strength to do what God says is his job. We try to take over his world and his church and make it fit our image, the way we think things should be. In his day Martin Luther would have called this idolatry.

But Advent lifts us out of this death spiral. Suddenly, Christ shines in the darkness, and inside our own hearts. Suddenly, we can stop trying to be perfect. The One who really is perfect, humble and loving is here to stand in our shoes. He is our Advent gift of life, hope, love, and salvation.

Whatever you hope for, whatever you struggle with, whatever you are holding out for, the Advent call leads you to Christ. God’s light is on its way. He will show you what matters most right now, and what will matter most in the time that is coming.

Thank God for Advent. Thank God for each of you and the hope you hold in your hearts. Thank God for how you live your Advent hope in worship, devotion, and service to God, one another, and to the world.

May God bless us all this Advent, and may we be ready to receive him when he comes.

John Henderson
Bishop, Lutheran Church of Australia
First Sunday in Advent, 27th November 2106