In our gospel reading for today, Jesus warns his disciples to stay alert until his return – to use the time of waiting to prepare with excited anticipation. And as we count down the weeks and the days to the celebration of our Messiah's human birth, we too use this time of Advent to look beyond, to anticipate the time when Jesus will come again....
The magnitude of the news hits you like a ton of bricks. You rub your eyes and look once again at the indicator on the little plastic strip, and once again, it is still bright blue. According to the directions on the box, you ARE pregnant. Sometime within the next 7-9 months, you and your partner will go through the radical transformation of delivering your first child. Suddenly, there is SO MUCH to do. We have to quit smoking! We have to quit partying! We have to start eating better! We have to start sleeping better! We have to build a nursery! We have to sign up for life insurance! We have to save up money for the strollers and the cribs and the bottles and the clothes! We have to be ready EARLY, because Junior might come earlier than expected, and we don't want to be unprepared. And behind all the preparations is the raw excitement – a NEW LIFE is growing within you or your partner, and there will be signs – first the sensation like little butterfly wings fluttering, then the first few gentle kicks, then the increasingly frequent head butts into the ribcage. And then, at the proper time, this new life will emerge and EVERYTHING will change. This is a time of excited anticipation.
Jesus' disciples must have been in a similar state of excited anticipation about Jesus' return. The return of Jesus will also be a time when everything about life will change. Heaven and earth themselves will pass away – the kingdom of God will be present for us in a completely new way that cannot be described to our understanding. And along the way, while they wait, the disciples can expect to encounter signs – signs in the sun, moon, and stars, in the wind and the waves, in the unmistakable thumbprints of God in their lives – reminding them that as disciples, they too carry new life within them. And at the proper time, this new life, this resurrected life, will emerge at Jesus' return. “Until then,” says Jesus, “be alert at all times. Don't get weighed down with dissipation. Don't let the day catch you unexpectedly – unprepared.”
What if Jesus were to actually return during this next 24 days? Would he find us spiritually alert and prepared, with our bad habits kicked and the nursery finished? Or would Jesus find us weighed down with dissipation, that is, spending all of our time and energy on things that don't really matter? We know which direction our society is choosing – it seems Advent is now set aside as a time to EXCEL at dissipation! Busyness is the rule of the season, and if the scheduling of lights and decorating and baking and making lefsa and finding a tree and buying gifts and wrapping gifts gives you a feeling of ANXIETY instead of joy, obviously YOU need a transfusion of “Holiday Spirit”. If the obligatory office parties and team parties and church parties and school parties and town parties are a DRAIN of energy for you, and not a SOURCE of energy, obviously your heart needs to grow three more sizes, doesn't it. If you are going through a tough time during this season, society says “suck it up”; jolly-ness will be strictly enforced, and if you can't paste a Christmas-card smile on your face while in public, then you are on the naughty list. So much time and so much energy spent on “making Christmas perfect”! So many ways to be weighed down with dissipation! So many distractions that can leave us unprepared for what really matters...