1st Sunday of Advent 1.12.13 Welcoming Our Lord.
Our Lord has promised that He will come again and it has been the instinctive attitude of the Church ever since the Ascension (when there was a sense of loss at His departure) that we would desire His return.
We want Him back. We want Him as close to us as can be managed. And while we have Him in other ways such as the Eucharist we still would prefer a more visible tangible presence if we could have it.
We understand why He may need to be absent and that He has all this time been leading us in faith; but we still would rather have Him here than not have Him here.
And if we had a choice as to whether He come tomorrow or in a hundred years time we should say, Tomorrow. Of course we realize we are subject to His time scale, but just in terms of what we want it must be that we want Him to be as close as possible and as soon as possible.
In fact it is the constant prayer of the Church – Come, Lord Jesus. This is an Advent prayer but it is always applicable.
If we are to be to Him as brides to the groom then we must desire Him; that is, if we have any sort of love for Him.
We long for His return like the deer for running streams, or night watchmen yearning for the dawn.
What could be more natural than that all His disciples would want Him to return? Yet we find somehow that is not the case.
Somehow we have allowed it to happen that our love or desire for Him is not so straightforward as it should be.
We have sinned against Him and are afraid to see Him, like Adam hiding in the garden. And we have made golden calves in His absence.
Or we have formed other plans which we do not want interrupted.
We have said effectively, Stay away, Lord. Do not interrupt right now. Not many would say this in so many words but it can be our attitude all the same.
Either we fear His judgment or resent His authority.
No, if we love Him we must have unconditional trust in Him. Whatever He decides to do or not to do is fine with us. If He comes early or late, we accept His infinite wisdom. Only, if we are allowed to want something it is simply that He come as soon as possible.
If we have this unconditional trust we can do what the epistle tells us: live in the light. We can be industrious in His service like the servants who multiplied their talents, or who were found busy at their work when the Master returned; or the bridesmaids who kept their lamps lit.
We will have no fear of the ‘end of the world’ which really is just another way of saying ‘the return of the Lord’.
If we fear the turmoil prophesied in the Gospel we can go some way to reducing that turmoil by being ready to receive Him; better still, actively desiring to receive Him. So the Last Day will be a time of joy not of terror.
We express a desire not only to see Him but to be made worthy to see Him.
We confess our sins and we stand ready to abandon any plans of our own.
Anything, so we can have Him close to us. No earthly joy, legal or illegal, could match the happiness of that state.
So we make it our own personal prayer, with the whole Church: Come, Lord Jesus!
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