Sermon on Second Advent, Year B: How should we be waiting in Advent?
Advent is about waiting. Waiting, as it says in the collect, in repentance to prepare the way for our salvation, to heed warnings, to forsake sins. Isaiah conveys the comfort of God, that the hard times are over, everything will fade away, but the God will not.
In 2 Peter, though, it is clear that God’s time is not our time, but repentance is still called for during our time of waiting. Indeed, that waiting, which we are to do in patience, is the equivalent of salvation.
And then we have the gospel of Mark, repeating the prophecies of Isaiah, to connect them to John the Baptist, who, again, is all about repentance; who is announcing the coming of both Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Repentance and waiting.
Repentance and waiting.
These days we are probably all waiting for the plague of COVID-19 to end, more than anything else.
Waiting for it to end, so things can get back to normal.
But there is no getting back to normal. The world has changed, and we along with it. We cannot, should not, forget what we have gone through, what we have experienced.
We cannot neglect to see how this time of trial fits in with what God will for us.
He is there, has always been there, to comfort us. He is also expecting us to do something while we wait.
As we wait, let us use that time for repentance; let us use that time for obedience; let us use the time for healing; let us use the time for caring for others; let us use the time to comfort those who suffer; and let us use the time to plan to labor for a better world of more justice and peace.
And finally, as we wait, show our love of our neighbors by wearing good masks, social distancing, washing hands, and staying home as much as possible.
Written for the parish of St. James & St. George 2020 December 6
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