November 28, 2004; The First Sunday of Advent Readings: Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 24:37-44; Psalm 122.   The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith Stay Awake Today begins the church’s new year. The season of Advent, which is a time of waiting and watching for the coming of Christ. It is a time of staying alert to the movement of God. It is a time when we are urged to wake up to the way God enters our lives and our world. There is a fullness and a richness to Advent. In our culture of instant gratification, Advent calls us to wait. In the waiting, in cultivation of patience and attentiveness, we prepare ourselves for Christmas. We prepare ourselves for the great feast day of the nativity of Jesus. We are preparing ourselves to experience once again, or maybe for the first time, that particular way by which God entered our world, with great love and compassion, vulnerable to life as we are vulnerable. To be with us, to be with you and me always. During Advent, we prepare ourselves to remember the power and strength that came into our world in the form of one most unguarded—in the person of Jesus, the baby. This time of preparation for Christmas, is a time of being open to the coming of God in a most unexpected way—the way of vulnerability, with love and compassion. As we are God’s hands in the world, this is also a great time to consider what God is bringing to life in you. How will Advent and Christmas strike you and move you this year? As you hear the reading from Isaiah about God’s coming bringing peace to the earth, are you moved to seek that peace to some part of your life or for our society? How does God call you and me to walk in the light of what we know about God? Paul in his letter to the Romans was clear. The Good News of God on Christ means that we should wake up. Wake up to the salvation that has come and love each other. This is it, Paul says, this is the time to wake up. Advent also has a penitential aspect to it, why is that? The term Advent means literally the "arrival" or "coming." As we heard in our opening prayer, we are preparing also for the last things—for the Second Coming, when Jesus shall come as judge. The gospel reading urges us to stay alert and awake for we do not know when Jesus will come. The dual focus of Advent—the birth of Jesus and the Second Coming—can find a unity in the idea that God comes to us in unexpected ways and at unexpected times, not once or twice but many times in our lives. The focus on the Second Coming is what gives Advent a penitential flavor. Sometimes known as "little Lent," Advent is a good time to open ourselves to God’s forgiveness and be refreshed. However, Advent should not reduced to a "little Lent." Advent has a distinctive theological focus. In a sense, repentance is always appropriate when we prepare to encounter God. However, we do not omit all of our "alleluias" during Advent. What makes Advent different is the focus on watching and waiting—staying alert. Stay alert to the ways in which God will work in this season. Be alert to the fact that Jesus will come again for us. Advent urges us to prepare for that as we cannot know the time of it. Stay awake and alert to God’s love, which comes to us in many ways. Prepare by allowing God’s love to enter your heart. We wait for our savior who comes to us in unexpected ways—that first Advent and in many ways since. May this season of Advent prepare you and me to receive the greatest gift of all. Amen.