“…this Advent I invite you to spend a little less time anticipating, no matter what you’ve been told Advent is all about. I invite you to spend less time anticipating whatever it is you think will finally make you whole, whether it’s more time or more knowledge or more progress toward anything at all you don’t think you have enough of. Instead of yearning for some other life or even for a Messiah you hope will come barreling through the wilderness to give it to you, this Advent, practice the liberating humility of Isaiah. A humility that rests on resting in the miracle of the one short life you’ve been given.”
I’m often asked when will the Second Coming of Jesus take place, or has it already taken place, or is it constantly taking place. A more important question is: what is Jesus coming to do? Yes, he is coming to restore us and to save us. But more importantly, he is coming to recondition our hearts.
Today is the last Sunday after Pentecost, the final Sunday of our church year, we mimic the trees outside in shedding our green coverings. Since about 1925, this day has also been called Christ the King Sunday. In terms of public holiday awareness, I think this day probably ranks right up there with Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day or National Scrapple Day, these holidays that really do exist but only for a few people with some very niche interests.
There is a deep paradox in the way of Jesus. At its heart, it is a way of grace over law, a way of unconditional love and radical acceptance. But he also tells us this way will cost us everything, beginning with our impulses toward self-preservation and our need for security above all else. The liberating, world healing, abundant life of Jesus demands making our peace with these risky lives we’ve been given, and not giving them over to fear. Or, as Marilynne Robinson puts it, “Fear is not a Christian habit of mind.”
Covenant inherently means there are separations and divisions that need to be knit back together. We can see this in our personal and communal journeys, especially when we try to move forward without God. We can see this in our national life, where we as the Church are called to be the voice of unity, civility, service, understanding, healing, hope, peace, and love.