But let's take a step away from the commercialized holiday season, which appears to have begun at the same time as Halloween this year, and take a look at what Advent really is. Yes, it's the weeks before Christmas, but it's more than that. It's a time of watching, waiting, and preparing. Not for the best sales, or for cards to arrive in the mail, or for cooking the biggest feast you can imagine. It's about watching, waiting and preparing for the coming of Christ.
In the Isaiah reading we have the prophet lamenting that the people have forgotten God, and pleading for God to break in and redeem them. The people have become distracted by false idols and have forgotten the covenant with God. Isaiah pleads for healing and reconciliation with God. When we hear this lesson today, it reminds us that we are constantly in need of the healing peace that only God can give. Just because God doesn't part the Columbia River or perform any other larger-than-life miracles doesn't mean that God isn't active in the world. God still hears our cries, and God will redeem us. But we have a part to play in that redemption too...we have to keep awake.
And that's what Jesus is asking the disciples to do in Mark. To watch and wait for the coming of the Son of Man. Jesus didn't give the disciples or us a specific date and time when this will be, so we have to keep awake!
So what does it mean to be awake? Well, it means paying attention to the stuff that really matters. It means that we act as partners with God in redeeming this world, be it through donating food or working at FISH, making meals for the Warming Shelter, visiting one of our members on the prayer list, or spending some time in quiet with a loved one or neighbor. And in those moments, watching for glimpses of the holy.
How will we know when the Son of Man has come? When there is no more suffering in the world, when no one is oppressed, or hungry, or cold. Isaiah tells us that we will feel like we--and here I'm speaking of the global we--can't endure any more, God will intervene to turn the world right side up. But in that "in between" time, we watch and wait and pray.
This Advent I invite you to keep awake for Christ, knowing that God will give us the strength we need because we have been called.