For the first Sunday in Advent Rev. Cari preached on Matthew 24:36-44, a text from the “little apocalypse” of Matthew’s Gospel. It’s full of vaguely threatening imagery, heralding the “day” or return of the Promised One, and we are asked to wake up, and stay awake.

Why do we get this kind of material in Advent?

Because Advent is a time when we notice again that the world is not as God would have it be. It is full of suffering, pain, oppression and injustice. The nights are long. The days are short, and yet it is this time in which we begin to prepare for all the comings of God. Not just the first coming, in Jesus’ birth, but the final coming, when the promise of justice and peace is fulfilled.

This is the world that God comes to, and we are the ones who stay awake to see that coming.