Watching For What’s Already Here (Advent 1)

Isaiah 2: 1-5 & Romans 13: 11-14

Roger Lynn

December 3, 2017

First Sunday in Advent

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

(click here for the video of the entire worship service - the sermon begins at 21:09)

Today we enter the season of Advent. This is the beginning of a new year in the liturgical calendar of the Church. It is when we begin again to tell the story of faith. We lift up themes of hope, peace, joy and love. We speak in hushed whispers of expectation and anticipation as we watch and wait and prepare for the message of Christmas – the coming of Christ into the world. There is a stillness about this season, as we wait in the pre-dawn darkness for the wonder of the new sunrise. This is a season for stories, poetry, and metaphor, because the reality we are trying to describe far outstrips the ability of our language to express. When we approach the Sacred by fully immersing ourselves in such stories and rituals we stand a chance of experiencing the fullness of God in ways which are far deeper and richer than mere thinking allows. 

But it is also important to make very sure that our stories don’t lead us down unhelpful paths in our understanding of God and the ways in which God relates to us. Because we are are finite people who experience life in a linear way, with a past, present and future, and because our stories tend to flow in the same sort of linear fashion, there is a strong temptation to think that God fits into that pattern as well. Particularly in this Advent season, it is easy to start talking about God doing a new thing. Even the word “Advent” points us to something happening in the world that has never happened before. Both scriptures for this morning play into this kind of thinking. “In the days to come...” writes Isaiah. “You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep...” writes Paul. Surely God must be doing something new, we find ourselves thinking. And pretty soon, unless we are very careful, we end up with a very odd understanding of God. Robert Capon, theologian and author, described it as the sewing machine view of God. History moves along from one event to the next, without much or any of God’s presence. And then, occasionally, from time to time, God pushes down into history and then pulls back out again. So, for example, we might see God entering history in the burning bush for Moses, then in various and periodic events through the wilderness experience, once in a while through the prophets, from time to time in the life of kings like David, and finally, in one extraordinary push, God shows up in the life of Jesus. Such an understanding leaves us with a whole lot of life untouched by the presence of God. We spend our time watching and waiting for those rare moments when God might show up. Not really a very satisfying way to live. But there is another way to look at life.

What if what we are watching for is, in fact, already here? What if we are waiting, not for God to show up, but for us to be open enough to perceive that God is already here? Advent, then, becomes the season when we anticipate finding God in each new moment, rather than in one particular moment. When we start looking for God everywhere we discover that God has been here all along, just waiting to be noticed. When we allow such a shift in our perspective we find that everything is fresh and new. When we read the promise in Isaiah, that God will come to all people everywhere and mediate harmony in the midst of disputes, and peace will reign supreme, we are tempted to ask, “When will this happen? What is God waiting for?” But with a shift of perspective we begin to see that it is, in fact, already happening, and the more we open ourselves to it, the more real it becomes. God is not waiting for anything, except for us to notice. Paul writes to the Romans that it is time to wake up. It would do no good to wake up unless the reality into which we are waking is already what we are seeking. We are like children asleep and safely enfolded in the arms of a loving parent. The reality of the parent’s arms around us is not affected by our sleep-induced lack of awareness. All that is affected is our ability to fully enjoy the experience. And all that is required for such enjoyment is waking up.

So this Advent season, as we speak of watching and waiting and anticipating, I invite you to remember that God is already fully present, right here and right now. No amount of attention on our part can make it any more real, and no lack of attention on our part can make it any less real, because it is already fully and completely and eternally real. The watching and waiting and anticipating does not bring God more fully into our presence. It does, however, bring God more fully into our awareness. And the more fully we are aware, the more fully we are alive. Let us, therefore, be fully alive with God in this and every season of our living.