Advent I, Year A

Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 24:37-44

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Are you a control freak? There are a lot of us who do have control issues, at least in some aspect of our lives. We try to make the world and our lives conform to our expectations. I've noticed that when I've eased up on the reins and allowed things to take their course, it can not only be a liberating experience, but also I am more open to God, more open to his will, and less inclined to mine own will. I am not saying we should be lackadaisical or apathetic or aloof, only that not trying to control things all the time has a lot of merit. In almost everything we do, in almost every relationship we have, we have to strike a delicate balance between being involved and committed and being too controlling.

We know this tension on a personal level and on a macro level. Human beings have a driving need to control. Our desire to control nature is what gives us culture - our language, our manners, our art, our food, our shelter. Again, the balance is delicate, and we disagree with one another about what we should control and what we shouldn't. Should we control population? Should we control birth? Should we genetically control plants and animals and even human beings? Should we control the way we look with surgery as well as with makeup? Should we try to control our climate? Or has human involvement in the environment been so irresponsible, even disastrous, that expanding our control over the environment will make us miserable?

On observing automatic insurance machines in airline terminals, Cecil Beaton snickered, "Americans have an abiding belief in their ability to control reality by purely material means…. airline insurance replaces the fear of death with the comforting prospect of cash." Americans, like every other bold, innovative people, have numerous ways we try to control the reality of death. The truth, of course, is that we are not in control.

One of the primary themes in today's readings is: God is in control. We fashion our lives so that they are stable and secure, so that we appear to control our destiny, but the truth is that God created us, and protects us, and nurtures us, and renews us, and we are headed to meet him. The stability and safety we've produced is ephemeral, a temporary illusion. Sooner or later - in this life or at our death, the reality of God is going to break into our lives.

In today's gospel, Jesus implies that then end of time will be like the beginning of time. In the beginning, Genesis tells us, the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters and brought forth the earth; from the dark waters of chaos God brought forth light and form and order. In the days of Noah, God renewed his creation by creating a flood. The coming of the Son of Man, the coming of God in glory, will be like the days of Noah.

Jesus talks about the end of time many different ways. A couple weeks ago, we heard about the wars and famines and earthquakes to come at the end of time, but today's gospel is much different. The weird part today is that despite the flood, despite this cataclysmic tribulation, many people will go about their ordinary lives and are oblivious to God's judgment. People are eating and drinking, working, marrying, sleeping. The extraordinary breaks into the ordinary, and some people do not recognize the extraordinary.

Early Christians thought that Jesus would come again soon, that the end of time would happen any moment, and certainly within their lifetimes. When that did not happen, they began to understand that for each of us our death is a bit like the end of time. Death, like the second coming, often comes suddenly: two men are working in a field and one is taken and one is left; two women are grinding at the mill, and one is taken and one is left. Just like we can't control the end of time, we don't control death. But we must be ready for it.

One of the chief ways we prepare ourselves for death is by being honest about it. We tell ourselves, "My life here is going to end. Ordinary life is not all there is." That's a powerful way to remain mindful of God's reality and presence. One of the great themes of Advent is watching and waiting for the coming of God. Watching and waiting for God means keeping in mind the reality that our earthly end may come at any time. Our challenge is to live our ordinary lives in perspective of our ultimate end, to live for the big purposes, not for the immediate gratification of little things.

To be ready for death requires us to repent and change our ways. Since death comes suddenly, since every day we sin, we have to repent daily. Every day we rededicate ourselves to God and to following him faithfully. Repenting means turning around, changing the orientation of our lives from ourselves to God. We are not in control of death, but we do have control over ourselves. We can repent and prepare ourselves for the end. We have to do it everyday.

A couple of days ago, someone sent an email to me with an obituary of Vic Sussman, who died suddenly last Monday. ⁽¹⁾ Sussman was an "intensely curious man" with an enormous range of interests and pursuits and a number of jobs, including writing for The Washington Post and U.S.News & World Report, reporting and producing for public radio, teaching English at Montgomery College, working at a variety of internet and computer jobs, and homesteading as an organic farmer, both in Potomac and Vermont.. He was both a hippie and weightlifter, a Thoreau-esque farmer and a techno-geek - a fascinating man.

I replied to the sender asking why he'd forwarded this. He responded: "Because he never considered himself a final product. He tried new things, got intellectually involved with them, and pursued them with enviable commitment. Because he was informed, knowledgeable, and cared. He took risks. He was courageous."

I don't know whether Sussman was a Christian, but that description of him is what we want to be. 'He never considered himself a final product.' Getting up everyday and repenting opens us to God and to growing in him. Our faith in Christ should transform our lives continually. We should expect change and renewal.

In a few moments we'll have the rite of admission to the catechumenate. Four people, each accompanied by a sponsor, will courageously risk a deeper commitment to following Christ. They will be asked a series of questions, and their responses are our responses. Their responses should deepen our sense of purpose and help us be more committed to God.

The first question is about what we all want from God - faith. We want to trust God and to know his love. We want to orient our lives toward what is far bigger than ourselves, to what is eternal, to what fills life with goodness and beauty. Trusting God enriches this life as well as giving us eternal life.

The candidates commit themselves to God's commandments, to his desire for us to love him and one another, and they renounce all those things that get in the way of loving God and one another. We do not live up to this commitment, and that is why we need to repent every day, continually turning around and directing our lives to God.

"Do you believe in the one living and true God?" "I believe; Lord, help thou my unbelief." I love that response, that prayer: "Lord, help thou my unbelief." The beginning of being a Christian is not believing, but belonging, simply becoming a member of the Church. Belief grows because God grows it in us, because the Holy Spirit works in us. The more we risk, the more we commit, the more our belief grows.

The candidates pledge to continue to learn about the faith of Christ. Again, all of these pledges are things to which each of us should be committed. The catechumenate teaches faith, that is not only knowing about the faith and practice of the Church, but also about trusting God, about building a relationship with God, about allowing God to be part of our lives.

One of the chief ways that happens is through Christian community, through relationships with other people. So in the rite of admission, the congregation pledges their support. How we live our faith affects other people. We have a responsibility not only to God, but to one another, to pray, to worship regularly, to serve, to give, to build friendships. This is a serious pledge, and we say a prayer asking God to help us do our part.

Then we say another prayer not for the congregation, but for the candidates, asking God to continue the work of the Holy Spirit in them. We pray that their pilgrimage, that all of their lives, will be dedicated to God.

The catechumenate is as essential as any aspect of our ministry here. We need new people among us because they bring courage, humility, openness, curiosity, enthusiasm, seriousness - qualities we all need continually renewed in us as we make our pilgrimage with God, to God. The spiritually mature know that they've not arrived, but must wake up each day and re-dedicate themselves to God.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1. Adam Bernstein, 'Vic Sussman Dies; Journalist, Farmer,' The Washington Post, 24 November 2004, p. B06.