Advent I—Yr A 2004 

Welcome to the first Sunday of Advent.

This Sunday is nicknamed, "Wake-up Sunday."

Because of the scriptures that urge us to wake up to the spiritual realities of Christ’s coming.

Advent means coming.

And the season is marked by the Church for preparation…

The word "adventure" has the same root as our word "advent". Adventus. Advent. Adventure. I believe we are to look for adventure in advent. We are to seek god in new ways and new places. Ours is a lively faith…and God is full of surprises that delight and challenge us.

One child was caught in the swirl of pre-Christmas preparations, all of which seemed to be coming to a head that day…a few days before Christmas Eve.

Her father was loaded down with bundles of gifts and seemed to be burdened more with worries than with the packages.

Her mother, feeling the pressure of getting everything ready for the family celebration, filled up with tears and cried several times during the day.

And the girl? She wanted to be helpful but found she was always underfoot and being shooed off to another room.

Finally, near tears herself, the young girl was hustled off to bed. As she knelt by her bed to say her night prayers, the days’ events became entangled into her prayers. She began to say the Lord’s Prayer. . . . and then. . . . this…

"Forgive us our Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas against us."

A mistake?

Her mind and her tongue mixed up?

Or a sad truth on how we approach the holy days that mark our celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

"Forgive us our Christmases."

We are that mother and father.

Like the father carry his packages…we get more concerned about Christmas shopping then Advent stopping—stopping to renew our relationship with God.

Shopping. I heard that the average family will spend about $1000 this year on Christmas. Here’s the underside of that number.

First, most of us will do it unintentionally. Impulsively.

Second, most of us have not saved for the expense. Many people will charge this Christmas and add it to their already existing credit card balance. The average household currently has a consumer debt of $8000.

And if this sounds crazy to you, because you are a saver and pay off your cards—remember you are counted into that averaging. So many people carry larger balances.

Jesus wants us to enjoy the abundant life of grace. We don’t buy that life. It is not a life marked by possessions. We are called to be good stewards of God’s good providence.

"Forgive us our Christmases, as we forgive those who Christmas against us."

We are that mother and father.

Like the mother, we want to keep all the holiday traditions. We get enthralled by the Martha Stewart syndrome. If we have the perfect wrappings, decorations, cards and candles, love will be in our home. If we bake the perfect cakes, candies, cookies and pies, love will be in our home. That’s not the way it works. Love will be in our homes if love is in our hearts. We know our God as love.

God so loved the world that he sent his only Son…to be born of a woman…in a stable…in the little town of Bethlehem.

We keep the holidays best by keeping them holy.

Christmas will come. It does not depend on any one of us to make it perfect for others. I know that for some of us this flies against our training and experience.

I was a young mother.

I wanted a perfect Christmas for my family.

I shopped. I baked. I make the gifts I would give.

Then Christmas Eve morning, I gave up and went to the doctor’s. I had a strep throat. He said I had to stay home for the next 48 hours until the medicine kicked in.

It would be hard to exaggerate how distressed and  depressed I was. Plans were reshuffled. Others were sympathetic and stepped through the gates I had been keeping. They  did many, many last minute things—

And I took to my bed.

Uncomforted.

The next morning,  the dawn broke.

From my window, there was a beautiful sunrise…one that took its time going from a silvery mist to a golden glow. And God gave me the comfort of knowing, Christmas had come. Christmas was about God’s timing and God’s planning. Not mine. There was not one thing I could have done to make that Christmas morning more beautiful.

My role in that miracle was to be still.

And to know God.

Don’t let Christ get crowded out of your life this year.

 Let us keep this holy Advent—a time of waiting and preparation.

Together let us all remember that the first Christmas gift was love wrapped up in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger.

Together let us come with joy to the annual celebration of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Gracious God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of your Holy Spirit. We offer our lives as home to you and ask for grace and strength to live as your faithful, joyful children always. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.