Advent 1, Cycle A
THEME OF THE DAY: The promises of God are urgent! The texts call us to a Realized Eschatology, to stress the urgency of preparing for God coming into our lives.
Psalm 122
Though attributed to David, this is one of the Songs of Ascent, and so could be a Psalm written as a pilgrim song by those returning to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon in the late sixth century BC. However, the final editors of this collection of songs do not seem to have been concerned to present the Psalms as bound to their place and time of origin, as a record of the past, but would have us consider the hymns we read as living voices for the present (Brevard Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture, p. 523). No matter who the author and the circumstances this is a song for pilgrims who are celebrating their arrival in Jerusalem, probably of Zion (the oldest and highest part of Jerusalem). Reference to the house of the Lord suggests the Jerusalem Temple, in which case the Psalm could not have been written early in the period of the return of the Babylonian exiles, since the temple had been destroyed during the Babylonian invasion in 587-586 BC. Those arriving in Jerusalem admire its buildings, how the city symbolizes the unity of the Hebraic tribes, and because of God’s presence in the house of Yahweh located in the city, prayers for the city’s peace and prosperity are offered.
Application: The Psalm testifies to the new day/experience that being in the presence of God affords, leading us to joy, praise, and the hope for peace (shalom, which is not just peace but a state of well-being and thriving — social justice). The text provides occasions for sermons about how praise, the goodness of life, and the quest for social justice inevitably emerge from our encounter with God.
Isaiah 2:1-5
The lesson is likely rooted in the prophecy of the historical Isaiah, whose ministry was to the Southern Kingdom (after the Northern tribes’ secession from Judah) between 742 BC to 701 BC. This was a period during which Judah was increasingly isolated as the Northern Kingdom had been annexed by Assyria. Isaiah was especially critical of the unfaith of the Judeans manifest in the social injustices of the kingdom. After an editorial comment indicating what follows (v. 1), suggesting that the lesson as a whole may be the result of some revisions of the historical prophet’s actual message, a prophecy of a new age that is dawning is offered (an oracle repeated in Micah 4:1-3). Many of the themes of the assigned Psalm reflect in this lesson — the acknowledgment of God’s presence in Jerusalem (in Zion, which was the oldest and highest part of Jerusalem) and the promise that an era of peace will follow. The “instruction” that will come out of Zion (presumably from God in the temple [v. 3]) properly refers to the way [devek] of the Lord, to the Torah, which means that what we gain from God is guidance for living God’s way, a guidance that would have us beat swords into plowshares (Leo Trepp, Judaism: Development and Life, p. 2). Since the Torah did not come from Jerusalem, the text could be understood as testifying to a new word of God and the reference to the light of Yahweh (v. 5) as a reference to Christ.
Application: Another opportunity to proclaim the new day/experience that being in the presence of God (esp. his light who is Christ) affords, leading us to walk in God’s path and giving us the hope for peace. This sense that the new era is dawning and the status quo belongs to the past entails that the faithful respond with urgency (a chance to proclaim the realized character of the eschaton).
Romans 13:11-14
Paul makes an urgent appeal in this letter of introduction to the Christians in Rome, whom he had to date never visited. (Some scholars think he was addressing a specific problem that was preoccupying the Roman church.) Paul advises that because the time for Christ’s second coming draws near, the faithful are to “awake” (a term employed for summoning to moral action). The metaphors of light and darkness used in the lesson (v. 12) suggest a moral change from evil to good (see 1 Thessalonians 5:4-11). The reference to light might also be equated with Christ and/or the reference to the light of Yahweh in the first lesson. Also the reference to “putting on” armor of light (v. 12) trades on a common metaphor in first-century Greek of equating changing clothes with replacing vices with virtues (Ephesians 4:22-24, 6:13-17; Colossians 3:9-14). But verse 14 makes clear that such virtues are only possible when we are clothed in Christ’s virtues; he makes them happen, drawing us away from the things of the flesh. (The Greek term used here sarx refers to sinful existence, not “body.”)
Application: Another opportunity to proclaim the urgency of seeing that the new day/experience that being in the presence of God and especially to the coming of Christ affords, leading us to put aside old ways and behavior (Realized Eschatology and Sanctification). This radically new way of living (its virtues) are only possible because we are clothed in Christ’s virtues (Justification by Grace initiating Sanctification).
Matthew 24:36-44
This most Jewish of all the gospels was not likely written by the apostle who bears its name. The original audience was probably Jewish Christians no longer in full communion with Judaism (see 24:20). The text recounts some of Jesus’ teachings on the end of the age and the need to be watchful. As in the second lesson, we are told that we need to keep awake, he claims, for we do not know when the Lord comes (v. 42). (This metaphor may well refer to the need for moral action.)
Reference to the coming of the Son of Man being like the flood testifies to the radically new state created by Christ’s coming. Also the later reference to one man being taken from the field, another left, and that one woman will remain at a mill while another is taken (vv. 40-41) refers to the fact that Christ’s coming includes separation in the last judgment, that not all will be part of the new order. The comparison between the coming of the Son and Man and a thief is an apt metaphor (vv. 43-44), reminding us that Christ went to the Cross as a criminal. The identification of Jesus as Son of Man (v. 44) fits this theme of the hiddenness of Christ’s coming and of God’s ways, as there is general scholarly agreement that this title is an enigmatic phrase used to identify his earthly activity, not his glory and power.
Application: The text calls on us to be prepared for Christ’s coming (at Christmas, at the end times, and even every day). We are afforded opportunities to proclaim that Christ’s (Christmas) presence among us ushers in a whole new era for which we will want to be prepared (Realized Eschatology). But the text also offers an occasion to proclaim the last judgment (Future Eschatology) in which case we do well to note that as the Lord saved humanity and life in the flood, so his compassion will be with us to the end.
