Rev. Donald Sensing had a thoughtful (as always) sermon yesterday, reflecting on Fallujah, the end of history, and the meaning of Advent.
The Scripture for the first Sunday of each Advent season always looks forward to the return of Christ. The Advent season, celebrating Christ’s incarnation, is always begun with passages to remind us that the reign of God over human affairs is ultimate and for all time. Advent thus does not celebrate only Christmas, Christ’s first coming among us. It also looks ahead to the completion of God’s redemptive acts in the coming again of Christ in judgment. Advent’s first question is quite properly, “Are you ready for Christ?” rather than “Are you ready for Christmas?”Posted by Alan at November 29, 2004 12:29 AMYet the coming of Jesus in the manger and Christ’s coming again in judgment are not so very different. Business as usual describes not only the world when Christ will come again, but also the world when Jesus was born. After all, Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem in the first place because their taxes had been raised. There sure isn’t anything unusual about that!
The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was an act of God’s judgment on the world. No savior would have been born if the world had no need for a savior. When we celebrate Christmas we celebrate the judgment of God on each of us. To visit the manger is both to be indicted by God and invited by God to be reconciled.
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