The Second Sunday in Advent.
Did you find the readings for last week a little disconcerting; No one will pass away until I come again in glory? Well so did the Thessalonians.
Paul’s response to the Thessalonians is a pastoral one, and I should offer the same with you. And it has to do with the resurrection and life after death. The Thessalonians raise the question about those who in the meantime die and have died. What about them? They were confused and a bit scared because Jesus hadn’t come back as he said he would. It was easy to understand why they were confused. However, Jesus makes the answer very clear in St John’s Gospel, when talking about death. He says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms and I go there to prepare a place for you, and if I go there, I will come again and take you to myself so that where I am there you are too”. Paul also acknowledges those feeling of grief, helplessness that accompany the feeling that God has abandoned us. He declares that we wait with faith.
Waiting with faith is to acknowledge that waiting is not pointless. It is to believe that waiting will be worth it and that the outcome will be as Jesus promised.
The lead up to Christmas is always busy with making preparations for the holiday, buying presents, inviting friends round, sending Christmas Cards and so on. But let some of the time be ‘Advent time’. Take time to stop, to hesitate in the busyness of your life and think through the questions that might come to you. It is never wrong to examine our faith – faith and doubt are good bedfellows.
We believe in Christmas. We believe in the incarnation of Jesus as the Son of God. Let us also with faith believe in Advent too.
And now a prayer for you
Loving Father, living today can sometimes feel just too busy and too hectic. Help us to be able to stop from time to time and take stock of how we feel, help us to take the time needed to restore our physical, emotional and Spiritual strength. Help us to accept the promise that Jesus made to his friends, “I will never forsake you. I will be with you always, even to the end of time”.