First Sunday in Advent Collect

 

First Sunday of Advent

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the

works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now

in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ

came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when

he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the

quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through

him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Cast away the works of darkness

Collect for Advent 1

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Advent – Putting on the armor of light

With the arrival of December 1^st, we are now into the first week of Advent.  It is a time of busy-ness all around us.  Families gathering, shopping to do, decorating, an increase in social obligations, work parties, community parties, school parties – is this true for you as well?  It is also a time of increasing darkness as we move toward the shortest days of the year just before Christmas breaks in with all of its light and life. 

With all this busy-ness, and all of this activity, we may feel bombarded with “to do” lists, and also with the sense that there is a disconnect between the spirituality of Advent and the reality of the “holiday season.”

A helpful balm in the midst of this busy time is our Collect for the first Sunday of Advent.  Some of you might have missed hearing the Collect if you were away for the Sunday just after Thanksgiving, but it is perhaps my favorite Collect of the entire church year:

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

We pray that in this time of Advent that we would “cast away the works of darkness,” that, even in this busy time, with all the temptations to be “of the world,” we know that God is giving us grace.  In this time, we know that God is empowering us to find time to reflect, to ponder as Mary did, to seek to go deep, and also to remember God in the midst of the blitz of the holiday shopping season.

We pray that we would put on “the armor of light,” which is a fascinating image, one in which we use our own deep hope and joy to create a physical protection around ourselves.  However, this protection is not merely defensive, rather, like light itself, it fills the world with the light of Christ.  If you have read Harry Potter, this is something like (in my thinking) the notion of a patronus, which is a figure of light and life which emerges from our own positive thoughts of joy and hope.  This patronus or armor of light casts away the works of darkness, and all the things of this world which can steal away our hope and joy and love.

And so, I pray that even in the midst of the increasing darkness of these days, we all might find new ways to “put on an armor of light,” or (if you like) to push out our own patronuses into the world, projecting light, and hope and joy and peace and love into a world that is in such desperate need of them.  As we walk the ways of Advent, we prepare for the coming of the one true light, and we do not walk alone, for our armor is not merely protection for us, but is projected outward, and together we will fill even the darkest places with the light that God has provided.

Peter+

Advent 1 Sermon - 28 November 2010

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Advent I Sermon – 28 November 2010

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, VA

In the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

The holiday season can be a set up for major disappointment.  No matter what our age, we may have some images or dreams of the way that this all should go.  Perhaps you are someone who just craves some time to reflect upon this season of expectation, to try to focus upon the image of Mary as she was told that she would give birth to a most amazing child – Emmanuel, God with us.  And so, you desire some time to reflect, to “ponder these things in your heart” as Mary did.  But then, the season is one that blitzes us with social engagements, craziness of holiday shopping, longer “to do” lists, and events at school, at the organizations you support, and even at church.  This is to say nothing of the nearly daily reminders in the mailbox of all the wonderful organizations who need your financial help at this time of year.  So, where do we find the time to reflect, to “ponder these things in our hearts”?  It seems like it would take a spiritual giant such as Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, or Dorothy Day to remember “the reason for the season.”

Perhaps your image or dream of the way that this all should go include aspects that just aren’t possible anymore.  Loved ones live far away or are no longer with us.  We can spend a great deal of energy trying to incorporate the new realities of our lives as we enter the highly-charged season of Advent.  It reminds me a bit of the psalmist who sang, “how can we sing a song of Zion in a strange land.”  As we move through our lives, even the familiar holiday season can feel quite unfamiliar, and we can feel strange – or even feel like a stranger in a strange land as the contexts of our lives deal up changes that our hearts and minds are not quite ready for.  How do we weather these changes as we enter the season?

In addition, the “magic” of the time may seem dampened as we enter middle-age, or even as we enter middle school.  You may desire a white Christmas, like the ones we used to know … this is possible, as the snow buried us last year, but our dreams and images in the minds of our hearts may not match up with the reality. 

Our nostalgia for things past can lead us to cling to things that give comfort, but which may not really feed us.  Creating the image of the “perfect” Christmas tree with a huge pile of presents under it may offer momentary relief from the reality that we are anxious about our lives.  Adorning the house with decorations may give us a fleeting gloss over the fact that there are some key loved ones who are no longer with us.  Our nostalgia for things past can even lead us to focus on the past with an ever tighter grip.  What kind of pie will be served, which church service will we attend, will we be reading from the King James version or some “modern” edition, will we be wearing purple or blue vestments, will we find the cherished stockings, or are we going to have to buy new ones at Target? 

As we enter Advent, I pray that we might have a holy Advent. 

Richard Rohr

“This Advent, I’d like to invite you beyond a merely sentimental understanding of Christmas as “waiting for the baby Jesus” to an adult and social appreciation of the message of the Incarnation of God in Christ.  We Franciscans have always believed that the Incarnation was already the Redemption, because in Jesus’ birth God was already saying that it was good to be human, and God was on our side, and on the side of all creation.

The need on this earth for adult Christianity and the actual message of Jesus is so urgent that we cannot allow this great feast of Christmas, and its preparation in Advent, to be watered down in any way.”

As the swirl of the holiday begins I would offer a few ideas for us as we strive to have a holy Advent that is beyond the merely sentimental understanding of Christmas.  1) Reading the Bible; 2) Pondering these things in your heart like Mary; 3) Preparing the way like John the Baptist; 4) Being shocked with awe, like the shepherds 

When I see the bumper stickers and the billboards that say, “remember the reason for the season,” I wonder if it might somehow be liberating to actually read the Bible.  Ok, here’s what I propose – several ideas:

1)    Get a good Children’s Bible and read the Bible to your kids before bed.

2)    Read the readings for the Daily Office – daily readings from the Old and New Testament which move along through the Advent season.

3)    Read and reflect upon the Sunday readings that are upcoming, so that when you come to church, you’ve done your own thinking on them – and see if we preachers are onto anything at all!

4)    Focus on the Birth Narratives in the Gospels and the narratives of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  Do you know about Zechariah?

5)    Focus on the words of Isaiah, whose prophesies lay out a vision of a new heaven and a new earth – an age of peace which will follow the judgment of the Lord.

6)    You could download a podcast of James Earl Jones reading the New Testament, which I did, and listened to one Lent while I drove the DC Beltway from Alexandria to Silver Spring.

I would argue that setting out time to read the Bible may offer a bit more depth to the season then you have experienced before.  Listening to a podcast on your drive to work, instead of incessant Christmas tunes.  Reading the stories of the Bible at bedtime instead of an escapist novel.  Reading outloud the stories of the Bible to your children, or spouse (!) instead of Berenstain Bears.

The visions that we have of our past Advents and Christmases stay with us.  In some key ways, reading the Bible may also offer us visions and images that ….

“He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

Isaiah 2:4

1 I was glad when they said to me, *

"Let us go to the house of the LORD."

2 Now our feet are standing *

within your gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem is built as a city *

that is at unity with itself;

4 To which the tribes go up,

the tribes of the LORD, *

the assembly of Israel,

to praise the Name of the LORD.

Psalm 22: 1-4

salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, . . . Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ

Romans 13