Sermon

St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Durham, NC

December 3, 2006 - First Sunday of Advent

The Rev. Vicki L. Smith

When I was a small child my Uncle Dennis, who was a fairly old man even then, taught me how to twiddle my thumbs.  He said it was a useful skill for when you had to wait for something.  It turns out, perhaps from his influence, that I am a pretty good waiter — in lines, not at tables (I’m very bad at that).  But waiting in line, or in traffic or at the airport — I’m pretty good at that kind of waiting.  I’m fairly patient.

That is in part because I use the time for something else, and I’ve moved well beyond thumb twiddling.  Now, like most people I don’t just wait, I use the time to organize my thoughts, make lists, return phone calls, even pay bills.  We do all sorts of things while we’re waiting.  It is no longer a passive activity — we aren’t just standing still mindlessly, rather — we engage in active waiting, using the time and space that the need to wait creates.

I’m not suggesting frantic, busy, stressful waiting — the yelling at the traffic-light-to-change kind of waiting, but rather seeing waiting as a gift to be used and enjoyed. 

Advent is a particular sort of waiting time.  We’re all waiting for Christmas.  For adults, it will come too quickly and for children it can’t come soon enough, but we’re all waiting to celebrate Christ’s first coming into the world. 

As our lessons today make clear, Advent is also a reminder that we are waiting for Christ’s second coming as well.  It’s an event not as predictable as Christmas, but coming just as surely.  As we say in our worship: Christ has died, Christ is risen — Christ will come again.  We, and all creation, are waiting for that to happen.  Some of our Christian brothers and sisters are more aware of this waiting than we are.  They think about it more (hence the best-selling Left Behind books) and probably expect it sooner than we do but we’re all waiting for the same thing — for Jesus to come again in glory and majesty.

It’s important that this waiting not be empty and passive — this time is way too important for that.  We can’t simply stand still on the sidelines until Jesus comes again, though people have tried.  Instead, this needs to be a time of active waiting — we’ve been given the gift of time here on earth before everything ends – we should use that gift and enjoy it.

Last week I came across a great little piece in Trinity News, the magazine from Trinity Church, Wall Street.  In it, Lindsay Lunnum, a seminarian, lists, “Ten things to do while waiting for the second coming.”

I’d like to share her list with you.

1. Be a pilgrim.  You don’t need Canterbury or Compostela.  Pick a destination that is meaningful to you, walk mindfully and be open to surprises along the way.

2. Budget.  Or rather, budget with a view toward achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals which include cutting extreme poverty by 2015.  Commit 0.7% of your income – personal and parish – to work that will achieve the MDGs.

3. Eat ice cream.  One spoonful triggers the part of the brain known to activate when people enjoy themselves.  Combining ice cream consumption with a swing set may produce even greater amounts of pleasure.

4. Be a minister, regardless of whether or not you wear a collar.

5. Plant a native tree.  There is theological significance in planning a seed and watching it grow into something that will stand long after you are gone.

6. Look beyond the soup kitchen.  The church’s tried and true methods of hospitality are important, but think of how your parish can transform society, making soup kitchens unnecessary.

7. Reconcile.  Contact estranged relatives and slighted prom dates.  Before Jesus comes back, begin the work of forgiveness by offering it to others and receiving it yourself.

8. Watch a movie.  Specifically create a parish event around Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.”  Challenge attendees to change one thing about the way they live their lives for the sake of future generations.

9. Tithe.  No, seriously.  It’s an ancient Christian practice that can transform your sense of community and ideas of what really belongs to God.

10. Join life.  Pray ceaselessly.  Go skinny-dipping.  Sing boldly in the shower and in church.  Waiting for the Second Coming shouldn’t be about cowering in fear of a terrifying future event.  If we love, God, we trust God.  Enjoy one another in the world, while we’re here.  Life speeds by unless we catch it in meaningful moments.

That’s a pretty good list.  This advent I suggest that we all make our own list of things to do while we wait for the Second Coming.  I’ll use some items from Ms. Lunnum’s list, but let’s add some personal ones too — things to do that are important for us, for our relationships with God and each other and for our world. 

We’ve been given an open-ended gift of the opportunity to wait for Christ’s second coming.  Let’s do more with it than twiddle our thumbs. 

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

© 2006, Saint Philip's Episcopal Church
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 218, Durham, NC 27702
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