Soon!
A reflection for the First Sunday in Advent
As most of you probably know, Sarah and I are expecting our second child… soon. Very soon. As in so soon I had to make contingency plans for this morning just in case I couldn’t be here! If this isn’t me preaching this sermon, then you’ll know why I’m not here… Officially Sarah’s due date is December 12th, which happens to be my daughter’s fifth birthday. We have scheduled her birthday party to be early, so that if soon is sooner rather than later, we can deal with it. Granted, as I’ve indicated to many of you who have asked, soon can’t come soon enough for Sarah.
But this is something that is happening soon. We don’t know precisely when, but it’s soon.
I can’t think of a more appropriate welcome into Advent. Advent is the Season of “Soon” it’s not the season of Christmas, it’s not the season of “now” it’s the season of “Soon.” Something that we don’t do very well. We would rather it be “now” –we’re more comfortable with “now” we get “now” –but soon? We don’t get what “soon” really is.
Soon is not a definite timetable. It’s not something you can set your watch by. In fact, if anything, soon is always that next moment that we don’t quite get to until it’s actually here. We don’t do “Soon” well. Our society as a whole doesn’t do ‘soon’ very well either. We live in an age where if we want something, we go out and get it. Life is about immediate gratification and doing it now, and not about waiting.
Add to that the state of unrest that this world finds itself in currently – the conflicts between North and South Korea, the continuing war in Afghanistan, the cholera outbreak in Haiti – and it’s hard to find a reason to hope, to look forward, to anticipate a future that is different or that will be different anytime soon.
But “Soon” is what Advent is all about… and in many ways “Soon” is very much a part of our faith. A few weeks ago, I preached about this sense of “already and not yet” that we often have as Christians. Advent as a season holds that up for us, as a season of looking forward, of planning of anticipating, but also realizing that we’re not quite there yet. This is what “soon” is all about, and Scripture speaks often about it. Both Isaiah and Matthew are all about “Soon” and the genuine sense of hope that it instils... but these words don’t come in a vacuum.
Isaiah proclaims that soon will be a time of justice and peace, “In days to come...” he proclaims, “The Lord shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
All of this is in the face of an extraordinarily uncertain future. I think that’s what makes this all the more powerful. Isaiah speaks that this shall be, this shall come to pass... and yet in the minds of the people of Israel and Judah, the only thing that was certain was the impending arrival of the Assyrian army... The prospect of peace seemed as distant as it ever has, and Isaiah proclaimed a time where nation will not lift up sword against nation... when? Soon.
For Isaiah, this sense of “soon” was something as close as one’s next breath. In days to come... soon... This “soon” would be realized when people looked beyond themselves and their own personal self interest. That day is surely coming Isaiah says, where the Lord’s hope for peace will be realized for all people. There’s something about “soon” that gives a sense of hope that no matter how dark the present might seem, that something better is coming. There’s something that we lose in translation, when Isaiah says “In days to come...” there is a certainty in this language that this hope will certainly be realized.
This is Advent, this is the season where we immerse ourselves in this sense of hope that something better is truly coming, and truly coming soon. Paul writes in his lengthy letter to the Christians in Rome, “Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light” In part it is realizing what God has already done for us in Jesus Christ, but there is still more to come, more to work towards, more to be a part of. It’s trying to get us past this sense that the best is all behind us. That’s not what our faith is about. It’s about what is yet to come.
Some of you might have noticed the background that I used for today’s screen. This is the Orion Nebula from a picture taken by the orbiting Hubble Telescope. It lies some 1300 light years away… and is one of the few of its kind that you can see with the naked eye… In the grand scheme of things, this massive cloud of gas and particles is actually a reasonably close by, in the same general neighbourhood of our galaxy. What makes it so interesting is the Orion Nebula is a stellar nursery. What we witness when we are looking at it is the birth of stars forming at its center, with baby stars and infant solar systems forming and making their way out into the galaxy. Soon they will mature and become main sequence stars with their own solar systems… One could look at this and see the hand of God in the potential and possibility in what is soon to come on a galactic scale. It is soon, but on a much different time scale than we are used to…
Isaiah proclaims “in days to come.” Matthew reminds us that “soon” is not something that we can assign a day or hour to. Only God truly knows what “soon” is. Advent is a reminder for us to place our trust in God. “Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…”
But how do we wait? As we begin this Advent season, we cannot wait passively, and simply let things come to us. As people of God, I believe that if we desperately want, nay need, the world to change, we need to be part of actively trying to make a difference? Our waiting cannot be one of ‘well, that will never happen’, but is called to be an expectant ‘soon. Advent calls us to wait with hope instead of despair. Faith calls us to trust in the promise expressed best by Julian of Norwich 600 years ago: “All will be will, all will be well, all manner of things shall be well.” We wait for the changing of the world in ways big and small. We wait for peace, for justice, for good news, for the announcement of liberation and salvation for all people. We gather at the table… we light the candle of hope… we are encouraged by the promise that in this small flame we get a glimpse of a holy radiance that is powerful enough to remake the whole world… and soon… soon… it shall be.
As most of you probably know, Sarah and I are expecting our second child… soon. Very soon. As in so soon I had to make contingency plans for this morning just in case I couldn’t be here! If this isn’t me preaching this sermon, then you’ll know why I’m not here… Officially Sarah’s due date is December 12th, which happens to be my daughter’s fifth birthday. We have scheduled her birthday party to be early, so that if soon is sooner rather than later, we can deal with it. Granted, as I’ve indicated to many of you who have asked, soon can’t come soon enough for Sarah.
But this is something that is happening soon. We don’t know precisely when, but it’s soon.
I can’t think of a more appropriate welcome into Advent. Advent is the Season of “Soon” it’s not the season of Christmas, it’s not the season of “now” it’s the season of “Soon.” Something that we don’t do very well. We would rather it be “now” –we’re more comfortable with “now” we get “now” –but soon? We don’t get what “soon” really is.
Soon is not a definite timetable. It’s not something you can set your watch by. In fact, if anything, soon is always that next moment that we don’t quite get to until it’s actually here. We don’t do “Soon” well. Our society as a whole doesn’t do ‘soon’ very well either. We live in an age where if we want something, we go out and get it. Life is about immediate gratification and doing it now, and not about waiting.
Add to that the state of unrest that this world finds itself in currently – the conflicts between North and South Korea, the continuing war in Afghanistan, the cholera outbreak in Haiti – and it’s hard to find a reason to hope, to look forward, to anticipate a future that is different or that will be different anytime soon.
But “Soon” is what Advent is all about… and in many ways “Soon” is very much a part of our faith. A few weeks ago, I preached about this sense of “already and not yet” that we often have as Christians. Advent as a season holds that up for us, as a season of looking forward, of planning of anticipating, but also realizing that we’re not quite there yet. This is what “soon” is all about, and Scripture speaks often about it. Both Isaiah and Matthew are all about “Soon” and the genuine sense of hope that it instils... but these words don’t come in a vacuum.
Isaiah proclaims that soon will be a time of justice and peace, “In days to come...” he proclaims, “The Lord shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
All of this is in the face of an extraordinarily uncertain future. I think that’s what makes this all the more powerful. Isaiah speaks that this shall be, this shall come to pass... and yet in the minds of the people of Israel and Judah, the only thing that was certain was the impending arrival of the Assyrian army... The prospect of peace seemed as distant as it ever has, and Isaiah proclaimed a time where nation will not lift up sword against nation... when? Soon.
For Isaiah, this sense of “soon” was something as close as one’s next breath. In days to come... soon... This “soon” would be realized when people looked beyond themselves and their own personal self interest. That day is surely coming Isaiah says, where the Lord’s hope for peace will be realized for all people. There’s something about “soon” that gives a sense of hope that no matter how dark the present might seem, that something better is coming. There’s something that we lose in translation, when Isaiah says “In days to come...” there is a certainty in this language that this hope will certainly be realized.
This is Advent, this is the season where we immerse ourselves in this sense of hope that something better is truly coming, and truly coming soon. Paul writes in his lengthy letter to the Christians in Rome, “Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light” In part it is realizing what God has already done for us in Jesus Christ, but there is still more to come, more to work towards, more to be a part of. It’s trying to get us past this sense that the best is all behind us. That’s not what our faith is about. It’s about what is yet to come.
Some of you might have noticed the background that I used for today’s screen. This is the Orion Nebula from a picture taken by the orbiting Hubble Telescope. It lies some 1300 light years away… and is one of the few of its kind that you can see with the naked eye… In the grand scheme of things, this massive cloud of gas and particles is actually a reasonably close by, in the same general neighbourhood of our galaxy. What makes it so interesting is the Orion Nebula is a stellar nursery. What we witness when we are looking at it is the birth of stars forming at its center, with baby stars and infant solar systems forming and making their way out into the galaxy. Soon they will mature and become main sequence stars with their own solar systems… One could look at this and see the hand of God in the potential and possibility in what is soon to come on a galactic scale. It is soon, but on a much different time scale than we are used to…
Isaiah proclaims “in days to come.” Matthew reminds us that “soon” is not something that we can assign a day or hour to. Only God truly knows what “soon” is. Advent is a reminder for us to place our trust in God. “Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…”
But how do we wait? As we begin this Advent season, we cannot wait passively, and simply let things come to us. As people of God, I believe that if we desperately want, nay need, the world to change, we need to be part of actively trying to make a difference? Our waiting cannot be one of ‘well, that will never happen’, but is called to be an expectant ‘soon. Advent calls us to wait with hope instead of despair. Faith calls us to trust in the promise expressed best by Julian of Norwich 600 years ago: “All will be will, all will be well, all manner of things shall be well.” We wait for the changing of the world in ways big and small. We wait for peace, for justice, for good news, for the announcement of liberation and salvation for all people. We gather at the table… we light the candle of hope… we are encouraged by the promise that in this small flame we get a glimpse of a holy radiance that is powerful enough to remake the whole world… and soon… soon… it shall be.
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