Sunday, December 1, 2019

1^st Sunday of Advent

The Revised Common Lectionary passages for the Lord’s Day are:

First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm: 122
Second Reading: Romans 13:11-14
Gospel Reading: Matthew 24:36-44

The liturgical color for the day is: Purple or Blue

This Lord’s Day marks the beginning of Year A

It is the prophetic floor.  So, what are we to do? Get in bed and pull up the covers?  No, it is the prophetic floor.  We are to stand upon it.  It says: “Come let us walk in the light of the Lord.”  “Let us walk in the light of the Lord.”  What does that mean?

It means that we are to live as if this has already happened.  We are to live in such a way that what we do now reflects a confidence in this coming about.  We are to live as if it has already happened.  And so, with Isaiah, we are to live right now as if we are the ones who have beaten our swords and spears into plowshares and pruning hooks.

Why do that?  Why?  Why do that when our reality is what it is?  Because our reality is not the violence of the now but the promise of the future.  Our reality is the future world and age that God is binging about.  That reality that seems unbelievable, that reality that seems impossible—that reality which at this moment does not seem real…oh, that is the very ground upon which we are to walk.

That future reality is what is really real.  It is the place of our existence.  It is the motivation for how we live and move and find our being.  That future reality that God is bringing about—it is what is really real.

And so, with a whisper, the heart dares to speak, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Rev. Dr. Daris Bultena
General Presbyter / Stated Clerk