In one way, Advent is the opposite of Lent. Lent comes from the same word as lengthen and refers to the days getting longer in the springtime. Conversely, we know that the days will be getting shorter during these four weeks of Advent. The shorter they get, the more Advent candles we will light. We are Christians, people who overcome darkness with the light of Christ.

Today, the First Sunday of Advent, is the beginning of our Church Year. Each year on this day we embark together on a year long journey during which we celebrate the life of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. The Sundays of Advent are the four Sundays prior to the Celebration of our Lord’s birth on December 25^th. The seasons that we journey together through during every Church Year are the four weeks of Advent, the twelve days of Christmas, the 7 or 8 weeks of Epiphany, the 40 days of Lent, the 50 days of Easter, and the long Season after Pentecost.

We Episcopalians belong to what is called a liturgical denomination. The word liturgical refers to our liturgy, our way of worship. The word liturgy came from the two Greek words, laos which means people and ergo which means work. Therefore, our worship or liturgy is the work of the people. When we gather for worship, the clergy and others appointed LEAD the worship, but the worship itself is the work of the people.

Therefore, all of these Sundays in these various seasons are times when we gather together for this particular kind of worship. In our denomination, a priest is not permitted to celebrate the Eucharist by himself or herself. Why not? Because worship is the work of the _________.

These seasons of the Church Year keep us honest and on task. It keeps the leaders of worship and the people from drifting off on the rafts of their own favorite Scriptures or practices. Rather, the Church Year provides a map for our journey, a journey that begins with Advent, four weeks of anticipation of the birth of the Savior. Remember, the word advent means coming or arrival.

On this first Sunday of Advent each year, our Gospel lesson points to a Second Coming when Jesus will come at some future time to judge the world and to gather us to Himself. Thinking about the future Second Coming of Jesus on the first Sunday of the Church Year is a bit like flipping to the end of the story before we read the first word. It is a reminder that Christianity is rooted in history and as such is headed toward an end of history. Someone, I think it was C.S. Lewis, once said that you know that the play is over when the playwright walks out onto the stage. The same is true with the story of history.

Our Gospel passage for today contains a lot of seemingly scary references that we do not completely understand. For example, Jesus says that “there will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.” I know myself well enough to know that if I were there when Jesus spoke these words, I would have raised my hand and asked the question, “Lord, what kind of signs in the sun, the moon and the stars? And Lord, what do you mean by ‘distress among the nations’? And Lord, how will this be ‘confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves’?” But, unfortunately, I was not there and you were not there. So, we hear these words and interpret them as best we can. They must mean that “a lot of unusual things are going to happen in the heavens and a lot of distressing things are going to happen on the earth immediately right before Christ returns”.

And that’s okay that we don’t understand every detail, isn’t it? Because it’s not the details about Jesus’ Second Coming that matter so much as the fact that, as we say in the Creeds, “He IS coming again to judge the living and the dead.” Notice that Jesus says in effect, “When you see all this stuff happening, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” That is the important part, “Your redemption is drawing near.” What that means, in effect, is that Jesus has come to deliver us from the travails of this present world and to take us with Him to be with God forever.

Jesus goes on to say, “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory’. Now for the wicked, it seems that Jesus’ Second Coming is going to be a fearful event. For the wicked, it will be like the police showing up right after you have clicked open the door of the bank vault to rob it. !” Our hope is that this moment for the wicked will be a grand epiphany, a moment of recognition where what St. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians happens for the righteous and the wicked alike. Quoting from Philippians, (2:9-11), ⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” But we don’t know for sure how the wicked will respond to Christ’s Second Coming.

For us, as God’s children, Christ’s Second Coming will be a tremendous relief. It will be like when the father arrives home in the evening after a long day at work and the children scream with glee, “Daddy’s home!” The point for us is that as the preface for Advent says “that when Christ will come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.” BCP, p. 378. The Second Coming for us as Christians is something to look forward to, to long for and to prepare for by simply being God’s people day by day.

I know I’ve mentioned that amusing bumper sticker which says, “Jesus is Coming! Look busy!” But, that’s not what the Second Coming is about for us. We don’t have to worry about “looking busy”. Having thought about this Second Coming business for many years I have come to the conclusion that there is a sense in which it should not concern us at all. When Christ comes again is God’s business, something we don’t really have to worry about.

Rather, whether the Second Coming of Christ occurs tomorrow or a hundred years from now, our simple task is to follow Christ, to yield to the Holy Spirit day by day. Each of us does have this battle to fight between one’s false self and one’s true self.

It is the age old battle between flesh and spirit, flesh being defined as our false self, that part of us that is in rebellion against the Holy Spirit. The desires of the false self are so incredibly deceptive because it SEEMS like yielding to what I selfishly want or what you selfishly want will make us happy. But, it just doesn’t, does it? As we yield to what God wants, what the Holy Spirit inside of us wants, we find that peace which we desire, the peace that comes from being one’s true self rather than one’s false self.

This battle between one’s true self and one’s false self is a never ending battle. If you are like me, in this battle, sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you which means sometimes we allow the true self to prevail over the false self and at other times we don’t. I do have good news about this. The Holy Spirit is right there with us all of the time like the player on the sidelines who is constantly saying, “Let me in, Coach!” The Holy Spirit is always right there with us saying, “Let me take this one. Let me in the game of your life. I want to help.”

In fact, one of the descriptive names for the Holy Spirit is Paraclete. The word Paraclete means one who comes alongside to help. Therefore this Paraclete or Holy Spirit, comes alongside each of us at every moment saying, “Let me help you. Let me handle this argument. Let me take on this problem. Let me help you make this decision. Let me help you with this fear.”

As it is with everything else, practice makes perfect. Pardon the continuation of the sports metaphor, but when the coach puts in a player and that player is successful on the field, the coach is more likely to call on the player again. The same is true with the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we call on the Holy Spirit to help and then we experience the positive results, we are more likely to ask for the Spirit’s help the next time.

As children of God, we were designed to call on the Holy Spirit within us for help. That is why God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us. That is why Jesus told His disciples that it would be better for them when He went away (cf. John 16:7f), because then God would send the Holy Spirit who would be with them and in them (cf. John 17:20f). Know this, beloved ones, the Holy Spirit of God is the best thing that ever happened to us. BUT, it is up to us to allow our true self to emerge by allowing the Spirit access to our lives.

Maybe we will be trying to make an important decision. Maybe we will be beside ourselves with anger at a family or coworker. Maybe we will be feeling anxious or depressed and we don’t know why. Let’s agree that the very next time something like this happens, you and I are going to stop and pray this five word prayer. “Holy Spirit, please help me.”

Or how about this? Why wait for the stressful moment? Why not be proactive and as we arise in the morning pray, “Holy Spirit, please help me in my life today.” If we were to do this, I’ll bet we would be amazed at the results. For when we defer to the Holy Spirit in this way, we are denouncing the false self and living into the true self which God created us to be. Remember, your true self is the person that you really are. Why not pray these five words throughout the day? “Holy Spirit, please help me.”

Just so you’ll know I’m not making all of this up, I’d like to read a verse or two from the Scriptures about the Holy Spirit before I close.

In Romans 8, St Paul writes, “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

In John chapter 6, Jesus Himself says, “It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” John 6:63

Frankly, I don’t think that we have emphasized the Holy Spirit enough in the Episcopal Church. And when the Holy Spirit is not emphasized, what we have are people who love God and want to serve God but find that trying harder to be God’s person just doesn’t do the job. If trying harder worked, we’d hear Jesus saying, “Blessed are those who try harder.” But we never hear Him say that, do we? Trying harder just makes us tired. What we need is help…big help…the help of the Holy Spirit.

As the daylight fades and we light our Advent candles, as we wait and watch and pray over these next four week, may we remember that one day Christ will come again. And we have every reason to look forward to that day with great joy. In the meantime, the Holy Spirit is with us and in us, waiting for the opportunity to help us in our lives.

AMEN.