Advent: Anticipation
Are you the sort of person who likes surprises, or who likes to look forward to something? My Dad surprised me on A Level results day – instead of driving me home from school having collected my results, he drove me to London to see U2 play live at Twickenham!
It was a complete surprise – which for some of us would be a complete nightmare! Some people prefer to know what’s coming so they can look forward to it, even if it’s a present. For them, the anticipation is as important – perhaps even more so – than the thing itself.
Advent is a time of anticipation. We know what’s coming. In worldly terms, for many of us Advent is an exciting time of preparing for Christmas: planning meals, buying presents, working out how to avoid drunk uncles on Boxing Day, looking forward to re-watching our favourite Christmas films, playing our Christmas playlists. For some of us the anticipation is less positive: maybe we don’t have a family to share it with, we know we’ll miss a loved one, or we can’t stand hearing the same dozen songs in every single shop for a month. Or for others of us, Christmas means a lot of hard work!
But Advent is about more than this Christmas.
Jesus told his disciples:
‘Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Â But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. Â So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.’
Matthew 24.42-44 (NIV)
The thing about anticipation is that it’s hard to maintain. If you know something is coming next year it’s hard to stay excited… but if it’s coming next month it’s a different story. Here we are, two thousand years after Jesus spoke those words, so it’s hard to be excited for Jesus’ return.
But that’s not quite what Jesus meant. ‘Keeping watch’ and ‘being ready’ are not about being constantly excited, looking up at the sky every other minute to see if Jesus is coming back yet.
Jesus continues:
‘Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? Â It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.’
Matthew 24.45-46 (NIV)
Being ready and keeping watch are not about staring at the sky waiting for Jesus to come back, but doing the things he’s called us to do, caring for one another, living holy lives as his children – knowing and trusting that Jesus is coming back, and wanting him to find us serving him faithfully when he does.
What has God put before you to do this Advent? How can you do it as if doing it for Jesus? For that is what it means to wait faithfully for his return. And if he does come before this Christmas Day, may he find us doing all that he has called us to do.
Revd Ben Green – Vicar