First Sunday of Advent
I want to introduce you to what I would like to call, the theology of juxtaposition. We understand juxtaposition – placing two opposite side by side in order to highlight their difference. Life, as opposed to, death: Juxtaposition – placing two opposite side by side. Heaven and hell: Juxtaposition – it is an important tool to teach important lessons.
As we begin the season of Advent, the scripture readings use juxtaposition to prepare us for Christmas. Let me begin with the first reading from Isaiah. The very last sentence is the very crux of today’s message: “Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” (Is 2:5) Light is best juxtaposed against darkness. As Paul would say in today’s second reading, “Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Rom 13:12). Paul uses yet another juxtaposition – being asleep and awake. He says, “It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep” (Rom 13: 11). Jesus uses all these images together, when he says, “Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” (Mt 24: 43-44) In other words, as we begin the season of advent, God is inviting to walk in the light of the Lord. God is inviting us to be awake as in daylight and not to be asleep as when it gets dark.
Let me offer three practical implications from these readings for the upcoming advent season.
1. What does it mean to walk in the light of the Lord? When Isaiah invited people to walk in the light of the Lord, he was inviting Israel to align every aspect of their life with God’s will made known through the commandments. It was an invitation to fashion their political, social, economic and religious life according to God’s plan for them. So for example, to worship another god would be walking in darkness; or, to steal, to treat widows, orphans and foreigners without compassion; to lead an adulterous life, to murder, bear false witness, make alliances with other nations in a way that compromised the kingship of Yahweh would be to walk in darkness. In contrast, in juxtaposition, like the prophets – Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah and the holy men and women like Ruth, David, and the Maccabees, to walk in the light is to let the word of Yahweh guide their life. In our times too we know of people, both Christians and others, who have walked in the light. Think of Mother Teresa, Dorothy Stang, Martin Luther King Jr., and Gandhi. We look up to them as people who fashioned their life in a way that was compassionate, holy, just and peaceful. At the very beginning of Advent, scripture invites us all to “walk in the light of the Lord.”
2. Another imagery used in today’s reading is that of asleep and awake. The juxtaposition here is between people who are enlightened and those who are senseless, foolish, as if in a haze. Let me juxtapose two kinds of people. There are those who let superficial aspects of Christmas dominate the story of God coming to earth as one of us. On Black Friday, for example, it is one thing to look for a good deal but it quite another to do so at the cost of the deal of all deals – Jesus Christ. An enlightened person, one who is awake, one who walks in the light of the Lord is one who keeps his or her eyes focused on the Son of Man. So here is a test. Think about the most important person in your life. Do you know what you are going to give this person as a gift this Christmas? It is my presumption, but I think, you probably do. Here is the next question – do you know how you are going to spend this advent preparing for the gift of all gifts, Jesus? What will you offer Christ this Christmas? If there is a dichotomy between these two issues, then the reading are calling out to us to wake up.
3. How do we know if we are walking in the light? The gospel gives us an indication. Jesus says in today’s gospel reading, “So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” If Christ were to come today, would we be ready to meet Christ? Or are there things we must put in order? Are there relationships we must restore? Are there sins we must wipe away? If we find ourselves wanting, then let us take the time this Advent to prepare ourselves for Christ. The bottom line is this – when Christ comes in his second coming or not we do not know. But we do know that this Christmas Christ will knock at the door of our hearts once again. May Christ find us ready for him.
This Eucharist is another way that Christ comes to us. It is possible that at Christmas or at the last coming Christ will find us only as prepared as we are today? Hopefully that is a comfort for us. Come let us throw away the works of darkness and let us walk in the light of the Lord. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph