Welcoming Jesus

Preached at St Alphege, Solihull, 9.15 Sunday 03/12/06
Year C – Advent Sunday
Readings: Jer 33:14-16, 1 Thes 3:9-13, Luke 21:25-26

It is Advent Sunday. The first day in the Church’s New Year and the build up to Christmas begins. I say it begins, but if I am honest I have to admit that a fair bit of Christmas preparation has already happened in our house. We have done our Christmas cards early this year, because we wanted to tell people about our change of address. Several Christmas presents have already been bought, a Christmas tree has been ordered and dates have been set aside for extended family get togethers. Last Sunday we had the post communion prayer “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people,” which many people take as a reminder to stir up their Christmas puddings. In our house we don’t need to worry too much about Christmas puddings, because one of or best friends works in a Christmas pudding factory. What we worry about much more is logging onto tesco.com and booking a grocery delivery in one of those precious slots just before Christmas. My wife and I begin to think that a contemporary Advent liturgy needs a collect that implores us to “log on and double click” so that we are reminded to book our pre-Christmas deliveries.
So in our house preparations for the Christmas festivities are well underway. What about or preparations to welcome Jesus? Well, he said, shuffling awkwardly round the pulpit, that is a bit more difficult, isn’t it.
In Advent we prepare ourselves for the arrival of Jesus in two different ways. In one way we are thinking of the baby Jesus who arrives on Christmas day. The baby Jesus is perhaps one of the most attractive ways in which we think about Jesus. The baby is charming and helpless. We love to share the story of the birth of Jesus with our children, and to celebrate it in our families on Christmas Day.
But in Advent we are also thinking about Jesus’ second coming. Every Sunday we say the Nicene creed which includes the phase, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.” We are also preparing ourselves for this second coming of Jesus, and in many ways it is a much less comfortable image of Jesus. This time Jesus is no helpless baby, but rather, we will see “The son of Man, coming in a cloud with great power and glory” and that “people will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming over the earth.” This is what our gospel reading today told us. In that reading, Jesus emphasizes the importance of being ready for him when he comes. He tells us to be on our guard because the day will come unexpectedly. He tells us not to be distracted by drunkenness or the worries of this life, but rather to stay alert and be prepared.
And although the second coming sounds in many ways very frightening, Jesus does not tell us to be afraid. Rather he says to us, “stand up and to raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” He also tells us to pray that we might “have the strength to escape all these things that will take place and to stand before the Son of Man.”
So, how do we prepare for the coming of Jesus? How do we get ready to stand before the Son of Man? How do we prepare ourselves to greet that baby Jesus? Remember that the helpless baby and the cosmic king are one and the same person; both are Jesus.
I would like to suggest that the best way to prepare to meet Jesus is to meet him and recognise him and value him in our everyday lives. If we become accustomed to meeting Jesus in our everyday lives, then we make ourselves ready to meet Jesus, whether it be Jesus the baby, Jesus the great king, Jesus the teacher or the Jesus who suffers and dies for our sins.
So let us learn to meet Jesus in our everyday lives, to recognise him, welcome him and love him. One outstanding way of meeting Jesus in our everyday lives is by coming to church. Jesus himself promises that where two or more meet together in his name he will be there in the midst of them (Matt 18:20). Let’s also recognise that there is some effort and challenge involved in this. First of all there is the effort of getting to church in the first place. Then there is the effort of meeting lots of different people, most of whom we don’t know very well. Then there is the effort of learning to love the other people, some of whom are very different from us.
Also in church we can meet Jesus in the sacrament of Holy Communion. Jesus is present in the sacrament, and he transforms s when we receive him in this way. So let’s take the trouble to come to the sacrament. Let’s learn to recognise Jesus in the sacrament. If we don’t yet receive the sacrament, let’s have a look at the Just Explore course or at the other ways that the church prepares people to receive the sacrament.
Also in church we meet Jesus in the scripture. The Church sometimes describes Jesus as “the Word made flesh” (John 1:14). Jesus is the things that God has to say, presented as a human being. And so we can practice welcoming Jesus by practicing welcoming God’s word to us in scripture. We have just listened to three scripture readings in this service. If you are anything like me you will have already forgotten just about everything in them, but that’s OK because they are printed on the pew slip so we can read them again during communion or when we get home.
It is best to read the scriptures little and often. When we read the scripture let’s try to open our hearts and our minds to receive Jesus in what we read. To help us do this we can say a little prayer, “Heavenly Father, as I read your scripture today, help me to receive your Word. May your Word enter into me and transform me, so that I become more like Jesus each day. Amen.” Don’t let’s worry too much if we find we don’t understand the scriptures, but rather let us try to receive what the scriptures say to, even if it is rather challenging. Pondering the scriptures readily leads us to prayer, and this is another important way in which we meet Jesus and build our relationship with Jesus.
Finally, and especially in our lives outside of church, let’s try to recognise Jesus in other people. Let’s remember that all people are created in the image and likeness of God. Let’s remember that Jesus told us that whatever we do for one of the least of his brothers is done to him. Let’s practice trying to see Jesus in the other person. Jesus might be very small in that person. He might be terribly disfigured by sin or by misfortune, but surely he is there. If Jesus in me loves Jesus in the other, then Jesus in both of us grows.
So these are some ways of finding Jesus in our everyday lives. If we practice welcoming Jesus in these ways then we will gradually get better at finding and welcoming Jesus. It will become very natural to welcome him. This will stand us in good stead at the second coming. It will also make it very natural for us to welcome the baby Jesus at Christmas with the fullness of joy. Amen.