November 29, 2020 – First Sunday of Advent

How much longer?

About five more minutes…

Today marks the beginning of the Church year, and in fact, today is kind of like the church’s New Year celebration. We begin the year with the season of Advent, an expectation for the coming of the Christ child, yes – at his birth over 2,000 years ago – but more about in the age to come. There are a few signs around the church that tell you we’re in Advent. The vestments change from green or white to blue (or in Roman Catholic churches, purple). But the most notable change for me was always the Advent wreath. The Advent wreath originated among German Lutherans in the 16th century. Originally, it resembled more our modern Advent calendars, where a new candle was lit daily, with small candles representing weekdays and larger candles representing Sundays.

In modern times, Advent has progressed from a period of fasting and expectant hope of Christ’s second coming to a season that is the lead up to Christmas, and in this context, our Advent wreath serves as a reminder of the approach of the feast of the Nativity of the Lord.  Regardless, Advent wreaths are circular, representing God’s infinite love, and are usually framed by evergreens, which represent the hope of eternal life through Jesus. The candles generally represent simply the four weeks of the Advent season as the light of God comes into the world through the birth of Jesus Christ. However, more recently the four individual candles have been assigned to symbolize hope, peace, joy, and love, or in other traditions, the candles are assigned to be Prophecy (to represent the prophets who predicted the coming of Jesus), Bethlehem (to represent the journey of Joseph and Mary), Shepherds (to represent their joy), and Angels (to represent the peace they bring to the world).

That all said (and your history lesson completed for the week!), looking forward to Christmas is certainly important… but the lectionary makes it quite clear that this expectation is secondary to the historic outlook of the return of Christ in the Second Coming. The author of the Gospel of Mark tells us over and over today to keep awake, wait, and watch. 

I want you to think back to when you were a child. Think back to when you would wake up on Christmas morning… For most families, it meant waiting until the family was all awake until you could go look at the tree to see what gifts had magically appeared while you were sleeping. Were you a good waiter? Or were you like me, fidgeting, intentionally trying to make noise to wake everyone up without making it seem like you were awake. Did you, too, try to “accidentally” wake others up so you wouldn’t have to wait?

As I’ve grown older, I find that I enjoy that time before others wake up, just being able to sit in silence and take in the house, the tree, the nativity set. It’s not just the anticipation of the fun that is to come, but the great love that fills the room. It’s the memories of previous Christmases and the expectations of future joys together that make waiting on Christmas morning such a wonderful time.

And then, like you I fear, I am in motion. I wish there were more time to be present like I am on Christmas morning. For too soon, it’s back to the crazy hub-bub of daily life and work and school. I’m headed towards the next thing I have to do – my next responsibility, my next event – trying to find the right answer to the next question. I think that it must have been similar for those first Christians in Corinth. Paul reminds those Christians that the day of Jesus is coming, and that they should stop worrying because they have everything that they need to make it to the time of Christ’s coming. Paul writes, “you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:7-8). The good news that Paul shared with those Christians almost 2,000 years ago is just as true for us today. We are not only waiting FOR God; we are also waiting WITH God.

And that, to me, is what makes all the difference. Have you ever noticed how waiting is so much easier when you’re doing it with someone? When I visit people in the hospital, I often just pull up a chair and spend 30 minutes or an hour sitting with them and talking. And then when I say I must go, they often comment that I had only been there a few minutes. Waiting, like many other things in life, is something that is often best endured in the company of others.

And that, I think for those of us who do not live alone is one of the blessings in the pandemic we are enduring. And at the same time, it is a curse of loneliness for those who are alone. But as a child, I always remember the answer to “How much longer?” being “About five more minutes.” Taking five minutes more at a time is doable. Rarely was the amount of time left just five minutes, but it seemed like I could get through that five minutes easily.

Friends, our pandemic is not over.  And by some accounts, we are deeper in it than we have ever been. But if we take five minutes at a time, it is doable. We are walking with Christ, we are waiting with God. And that makes all the difference. We can endure the waiting in the company of God.

I know waiting is hard. It’s not easy work. It wasn’t easy for the early Christians, and it isn’t easy for us today, especially in a culture that supports instant gratification in so many ways. But we WILL be there soon. We are all in this together. We will be back together in person and we will look back at our journey and be amazed that it was as long as it was, because on the other side, we will find other things to occupy our time. 

Five more minutes. God is coming. The end of the pandemic is coming. Take those five minutes at a time. We are waiting together. And God is waiting with us. Just five more minutes.