An Advent sermon from the Rev. William Klock

Prydain ^ | 11/29/2004 | Will

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An Advent sermon from the Rev. William Klock
Continuing something of an Advent theme, here is a sermon for the First Sunday in Advent, from the Rev. William Klock, rector of Christ Church (REC) in Portland. He writes:

We need to use the time we’ve been given wisely. The life we’re living now is the night and eternity is the morning. We don’t know exactly how far away the dawn is, but it’s closer than it was yesterday. St. Paul reminds us that we don’t have time to waste by indulging our sinful nature. Through Christ we are new creations. He calls us to put on the armour of light and to leave the darkness behind. Put on the armour of light and live as if it were morning, live in the promise that Jesus made that he would return and complete our salvation.

It’s hard being light in a dark world – especially when we were darkness ourselves before being brought to Christ. It’s really easy to forget that Christ’s coming back and his call to follow him. The problem is that we have a limited amount of time to do God’s work and when we fall back into our old ways – or even if remain, so called “Good Christians”, but get lazy about being proactive in God’s work – you know what I mean, we don’t do anything bad, but we aren’t go-getters about doing good either – we waste that limited amount of time. I figure that if God’s going to give me 80 years to live here, I don’t want to wait until I’m 70 to get started doing his work – I want to get started right now so that I can do as much as I can. Not because I’m afraid that Jesus is coming back and I don’t look busy, but because doing God’s work to build the Kingdom is the greatest privilege any of us can have.

St. Paul calls us to put on Christ. He is to be our example and we are to reflect his character. When you leave this place, there are people you’ll meet for whom you’re the only Jesus they’ll ever see. It’s like you’re wearing a Jesus suit. They know you’re a Christian and when they look at you they see Jesus. Now ask yourself what they see. Do they see someone who exemplifies the character of the Saviour, or do they see someone who makes Jesus look just like anyone else? When Jesus does return, will he recognise you as his own. That’s how we become fully prepared for his coming.

This is an excellent point to contemplate as we recall the first Advent and prepare for the second Advent, when He comes in glory.

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(One might note in passing that this comes directly from the Epistle for the 1st Sunday in Advent, according to the 1928 BCP lectionary: Romans 8:8.)

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