SERMON FOR THE
SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT
REV. FR. RICHARD L. STAPP
At
the beginning of this Chapter of Luke's Gospel Jesus and his disciples are at
the
Then, Jesus foretells to his disciples the complete
destruction of the temple and the Jewish nation
along with it. This is followed with another prophecy often confused with the first one concerning
the second coming and the end of the world; which is our gospel lesson for
today. Accordingly, the gospel for
the Second Sunday in Advent must be read and understood in the context of the foregoing conversation about the
We are now two Sundays into Advent which
is the season of the Church Year set aside on our liturgical
calendar for prayer and contemplation in anticipation of the imminent birth of
our Lord and Savior. Many Christians are already celebrating this yearly season of good
will with carols and other traditional music. Our liturgy, by contrast and somewhat
curiously, on this Sunday speaks not about joy and celebration but about
disobedience and divine judgment.
Nevertheless, the
use of these few weeks in advance of the traditional birthday of our Lord, for the
cultivation of an attitude of prayer and penitence, agrees with our tradition as well as the proper attitude
of spirit that should precede the coming into the world of the Son of God.
Spiritual preparation in , anticipation
of Jesus' birth is a theme struck in the Sentences prescribed for Morning and Evening Prayer in Advent where we are
enjoined to repent and make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. In that same wise, in our gospel
for today, Jesus is telling his disciples
to prepare for a judgment that will follow when Jesus returns the second
time corning in clouds of glory and power.
There is, in. our contemporary American
society, a certain complacency about our individual. spiritual destiny that was
reflected in a recent national poll. We are always, of course, having polls of one sort or
another and it is usually a good idea to ignore most of them for the serious
nonsense that they are.
However, this recent poll to which we
refer concerns the belief of Americans in a heaven and a hell. It seems
that an overwhelming majority of us believe in a heaven and a hell and that
ninety percent or more of those who so believe, think that they will end up in the
better zip code.
It is not just the general public that
seems to be convinced that we are not going to be held accountable; but
several of our mainline Christian brothers and sisters seem to be similarly
convinced. The societal values, such as moral relativism, have been
incorporated into Christian belief and practice. All of us here this morning are
still reeling of the deliberate perversion of episcopal
office.
Traditional
and scriptural prohibitions on human moral conduct are softened. or ignored; even celebrated in some instances as emblems of
tolerance and good will. Church teaching on traditional morals is
lambasted in the press as unprogressive narrow mindedness.
It is
instructive, therefore, that our liturgy reflects both. the
joy of anticipated Christmas as well as the sharp pang of conscience as we reflect upon the
serious purpose that attends upon the birthday
of our Lord.
In the first
corning of our Lord, his birth in
Some thirty years
later, John the Baptist is in the desert wilderness of
The other aspect of Advent is the
unspeakable joy in the reconciliation of humanity with their God; tempered
with the knowledge of the price that had to be paid by the Son of God on the
cross.
It was the rejection of Jesus as the
Messiah that brought the judgment upon
It is proper, therefore, for Anglicans to
adopt some of the habits of Lent in our Advent Season because those
habits are more appropriate recognition of the unimaginable cost of sin.
Jesus in today's gospel
is, therefore, is clear in his warning that judgment for disobedience will also attend upon the
second coming just as it did for the Jewish nation in the first one. The Apostle, Paul, in Romans 11 provides us with a more complete analysis when he
compares us gentiles to grafts upon olive tree of the Jewish Church. Paul rightly
points out that if God did not spare the natural branches he will certainly not
spare the grafts.
All of the prophets of the Old
Testament, Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Joel spoke at length about the coming of
the Messiah. The very name of Jeremiah has been established in dictionaries and is synonymous with
prospects of a calamitous future. Prophecy, nevertheless, that is not
complimentary is usually unpopular; particularly so amongst those who are
the targets of criticism.
Christmas comes upon us through
scriptural prophecy by slow degrees; very much as a reasoned argument
in the law where the issue is outlined and made relevant to the circumstance by
argument
and resolved by applying the law. The event is then advertised at large by the
appearance in the heavens of a sign in the form of a star that moves in a
deliberate progress to a place certain.
The second coming is foretold by a
promise certain from our Lord himself. The second coming of our
Lord will be rather sudden; announced by something like lightening that will split the sky
from east to west with our Lord appearing in clouds. The warning, if any, of
the Day of the Lord will he too brief
for the kind of repentance demanded by John the Baptist. The only similarity with the first coming will be that there will be signs
in heaven and on earth that will be rather unpleasant.
Christians are often endlessly fascinated with the mechanics
of the end of the world. There have been
movies made attempting to graphically illustrate Paul's vision of those souls who are written into the book of life
joining our Lord in mid-air; leaving the unfortunate behind to endure a millennium or so of hell on earth.
Others have concocted elaborate timetables based on everything from the position of certain of or all of the
planets to dates set in man-made calendars that reference a weird sort of numerology.
We are reminded, nevertheless, by our
Lord himself, that only God knows the when and there is no cheating allowed. Our job is to strive to become
as Christ-like as we can. Obeying the law insofar as we are capable of making our human
nature conform.
This, then is the
theme and spirit of Advent. That we should reflect upon our fallen human nature and make a
sincere effort to be better Christians in preparing ourselves for the Second Coming of our
Lord.
Last Sunday, the First Sunday in Advent, we recited the Decalogue in the place of the Summary of the Law. This tradition conforms
perfectly with the theologically sound idea that we must be reminded of the necessity of being saved
by grace through the sacrifice of our Lord. None of us can perfectly keep the law no matter how hard you try. None of us can save ourselves by any act of the divinely unaided human will. There is
no service or good deed that will pay your passage into heaven as is seemingly imagined by many of
those in the recent heaven and hell poll.
Rather, it is the
spiritual attitude that is faith itself; represented by the two mites of the widow, that counts for
righteousness.
Those of you who
have come today to this new mission Church of Our Lady of Walsingham
have
exhibited righteousness by honoring God on the Sabbath Day this Second Sunday
in Advent.
In a few moments we will begin the Canon
of the Mass or the Holy Eucharist in which we enact in the form of earthly
shadows that heavenly feast where mankind is reconciled with our God in an eternal
banquet of joy. We will say together ancient prayers both in penitence and
praise as we honor God and give thanks for our redemption. which
draws nigh.
This then is the
preparation for the Season before the first corning of our Lord and gives us
the typology for the preparation of the Second Coming when our redemption will be complete.
Therefore, from the gospel of St. Mark: Watch ye, for ye know
not when the master of the house cometh, at
even, or at
OUR LADY OF