1st Sunday of Advent (Year A) | Sunday, 30th November 2025 | St Anne’s, Wrenthorpe – Eucharist
Isaiah 2:1-5 | Romans 13:11-14 | Matthew 24:36-44
Now, this might surprise you, but I am not an early riser. I like a lay in…!
I remain under the duvet until the very last moment – and with the alarm on snooze… again… I use this treasured time wisely, by going back to sleep… or… hopefully… in a little prayer to ask the Holy Spirit to guide me into the day; that all the possibility of God will be before me and that I just might understand what on earth is going on!
I mention this, in passing, because Advent is about NOT being asleep, but being ready for God….
Yes it’s Advent Sunday – the first of four Sundays before Christmas. Intended to be a time of preparation, through prayer and reflection, on the coming of Christ at the Nativity.
Last week we finished the Church year celebrating Christ as King. This week, the end of November, we begin a new year…. by getting ready for a King who has yet to come….
No one said it would make sense all of the time, eh?!
I try and see it like gardening…. Whatever you are doing in the garden, you mostly have an eye on the next season – the preparations in any season might be for now, but are mostly for what will come next…. Eyes open… gratitude and watchfulness… joy in the smallest blessings…. Sounds good!
I do wonder what this time of advent means to you and those you know who perhaps don’t engage as Christians, or at least, as “Jesus-aware”.
Are you admonishing the early tree-people? I am really trying not to say: ‘hmm, well we put our tree up a week before Christmas Day…” – as if that makes me more “ready” for Jesus!
Or maybe you inwardly weep at the madness you find in shops, from the end of October, with staff in Santa-hats and jolly jumpers, singing along to seasonal tunes on a loop! It’s always the garden centres first, isn’t it?
And the TV adverts targeting our heartstrings, and endless reminders of Black Friday – all pushing you to be ‘ready’ for a few days in late December that may or may not bring you closer to other humans, or have any real meaning at all.
Before I go any further, I am NOT anti-festivity at all, quite the opposite, but our discipleship does call on us to make a more spiritual effort, of some sort.
Beginning today, with…. The prophet Isaiah… who offers a vision of the world made right – the House of God on the highest mountain…. As the prophet tells us – this is where the people want to go…. But why? What did those people want?
This is a period 800 years before Jesus, during one of the many dark, oppressive periods of history in that region – even before their exile.
And I expect they mostly wanted the same as people do now. So much had diminished them. They were tired of wars and wanted a life that had value and purpose, and they wanted God to show them the way.
The word of God would go out to teach and guide – war would be ‘unlearned’ – something that was not needed or wanted, so much so that weapons would become the tools for a better life. Can you imagine…..?
Sometimes we hear of weapons being “put beyond use” – a phrase used during peace talks, for example. It sounds like a good thing but my cynicism kicks in – well, aren’t they just going to make more, in secret?
Isaiah speaks about a mountain – Holy Zion – Jerusalem – from where God will give wisdom and the people will find direction… and the things of war will not only be removed from use but will be as if they were never even imagined. This Jerusalem was not about its rulers or even its rules, but a people who came to God, raw, in their need to see – to see the way ahead.
Isaiah’s promise of hope, in God – becomes our Advent – bringing that hope forwards to a Messiah who comes to the people to show them the way, and to set us free.
Also today…. Something familiar from Paul, who speaks about living a wholesome life in readiness, for a time that is oh so close now! Put on the armour of light, he says… Live the life as Jesus calls us to…. Do it now… for to do so later would be folly – putting on armour after you have been run through my a massive sword is too late…. and you wouldn’t get the chance! 😉
And of course Matthew…. Time and time again Jesus says – pay attention to the world around you… live in the moment and be ready, ready for anything…. That ‘unexpected hour’? It comes when you least expect. Oh yes!
Apparently no one noticed Noah completing his advanced marine carpentry course, or his sideline in animal husbandry….!
Of course not. We don’t notice even the most obvious of signs because we are busy getting on with the stuff we believe to be important, or are compelled to do.
Matthew’s Gospel was written in yet another dark period of history that was about to get much worse. Jesus, anticipating the fall of Jerusalem, some 40 years later, wanted to prepare them for the terrible times ahead, offering a glimmer of hope in the Coming of the Son of Man – not just earthly destruction but heavenly restoration too. The rebuilding of the Kingdom here on earth. Which echoes what Isaiah was saying – a true hope from God as a light in the dreadful darkness.
So, you and me then, in this life… Add to our usual distractions of entertainment, news doomscrolling, celebrity shenanigans, loony-leaders and shopping for bargains….that seasonal batch of extras….
Making cakes – shopping for gifts – deciding on menus and play-lists – decorating with lights and shiny things – managing the expectations of children – etc, etc.
All of which…. Takes our attention but doesn’t necessarily bind us together… its too easy to overlook the stuff that really needs our presence and our resources, and those for whom the words ‘festive joy’ are pure misery.
What do we seek… what do we wait for…? Advent is full of waiting, but so is ordinary life….!
We wait for budgets… to see how they affect us…
We look for the way forward from politicians, of all different flavours, to see if they say something we like….
We look on to see if the fools doing foolish stuff are called out and taken to account for their actions… they never are.
We wait to see if that thing we want is cheaper today than it was last week, ‘cos we need it to be.
We watch and wait, by the bedside of loved ones, hoping for a miracle…
We hope for the light that will come after the darkness….
In all of this, are we still watching out for what God wants us to do? Or is it just a response to fear? Do we open our eyes to the working of the Spirit… calling us to make the changes we need? Are we listening to the prophets…. To the Christ who tells us to be ready for the unexpected? Are we?
Do we hear the politicians having a go at the Christian church for being too understanding of poverty?
Do we hear the urgency of climate change talks and still think it’s someone else’s problem?
Will we notice when nationalism seeks to hijack and undermine the very words of Jesus Christ?
Are we so fatigued by other peoples wars that any solution to end hostilities seems a relief?
It might not seem like end-times to us, but for many in this world, near and far, it very much is. And that remains our concern.
That’s the thing about being a Christian… it’s ALWAYS about being ready…. Aware, on standby…. Watching and waiting…. Whether you are just beginning your journey with Jesus, or are still trying to live a Gospel life, after a lifetime of years….!
The “being ready” is a constant requirement. To love, to encourage, to bind-up, to heal, to listen, to call-out…. To be the prophets we can surely be in this life… lamps on a high shelf that others might see by…
Now is the time of our preparation. The looking within and without, asking: is there something we can change to improve life for others? You are mostly likely doing that already, and we do it here too.
In the here and now… We light our candles (point) one at a time. Not all at once, in a blaze of light and heat….not yet.
We prepare a place… We grow the light and nurture the warmth…. Amongst ourselves and in the cold world outside.
The kingdom will come…. In our hearts and our homes, in our communities, and into our futures. I believe that.
How will we receive the child born into poverty – the Messiah that comes to save – the Christ that transforms – the soul that arrives in our own soul and speaks about love?
Will we say – ‘we had no idea – we were not ready – much too busy celebrating Christmas!”?
Or will we say that we looked around us and saw that all was not well, that our sisters and brothers needed some real hope and a light to see by – and we put on the armour of light – spoke of Jesus, showed our own pain and transformation, and we turned up?
Will we do that, this Advent, you and I? Sometimes together, often alone, but always in the Spirit of Christ.
Have hope, my sisters and brothers. God be with you this Advent.
Amen.
Image: I forgot to take a pic of the Advent Wreath at church, this morning, so I asked ChatGPT to do this one. It was a very specific prompt! It’s ok, I guess.