A Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent

The Fig Tree. Painting by Elizabeth Blackwell

Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. -St. Luke 21:33

We have said that Advent means coming, and in it, Christ comes to prepare us for His coming at Christmas. Last week, Jesus Christ came to awaken us out of spiritual sleep in order to purge and cleanse our souls. The urgency of the call was illustrated in Christ’s purging of the Temple at Jerusalem. The temple as the image of the soul and its condition – a den of thieves, indicative of the character of our souls on the best of days. For this reason, then, we prayed that He might give us Grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life. (Advent Collect) We prayed that Christ, the Everlasting Light, might come to us and penetrate our hearts and souls, freeing up as much room as possible for His imminent coming with new birth in us at Christmas time. Advent’s coming light is the unchanging Word of God, heard and moving the hearts of faithful men, as recorded in the pages of Holy Scripture, and made flesh in the life of Jesus Christ. In both manifestations, Advent’s coming light intends to make our souls spiritual spaces that Christ can indwell by Grace.  

 Now, on this Second Sunday of Advent, we are called to open our spiritual eyes and understand more fully the nature and work of Christ’s Coming Light. St. Paul makes it very clear in this morning’s Epistle that Jesus Christ is the Light that has come into the world to confirm the promises made to [our Jewish] fathers so that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. (Romans xv. 8,9) Jesus Christ is the Coming Light or God’s Word of Promise made flesh. For the Jews, He will be the fulfillment of promised salvation and deliverance from the Law of Sin and Death. For the Gentiles, He will be the revelation of that mercy and forgiveness that they never imagined could emerge from the heart of a God whom they knew but with whom they could never find lasting communion. He was, in a sense, an idea rather than a Person, or something that seemed more conceptually conceived than actually received in the hearts of pagan men. 

Because the promises of deliverance and salvation were made only to the Jews, the spiritual preparation for Christ’s Coming can be found expressed on the pages of the Old Testament as the Word of a Personal God heard and hoped for by the Jewish patriarchs, priests, prophets, and kings. St. Paul tells us that ancient books of the Old Testament were written aforetime…for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. (Ibid, 4) The Word of a Personal God was full of promise for His Chosen People, Israel. To them, God spoke His Word. His Word was Christ. Through Christ the Word, God promised to come to save His People from the sin and death that separated them from Himself. In the Old Testament, we read of hope for deliverance from Original Sin. Through many dangers, toils, and snares, the Jews persistently remembered God’s Word of Promise and believed that God would come to save them. To the hearts and souls of the ancient Jews, the coming light was God’s written Word as Promise.

The Coming Light to the early Christians was the fulfillment of that promise in the life of Jesus Christ. For both Jew and Gentile, the Coming Light was embraced in the heart by faith as the unchanging Word of God. The struggle for both the ancient Jews and the early Christians was the temptation that Christ’s Coming Light might be darkened and even extinguished by the changes and chances of this fleeting world.

 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. (St. Luke xxi. 25,26)  

Men in every age would come to see that the powers of heaven themselves will be shaken as the Word of God judges history.

We Christians must realize that Jesus’ depiction of His Second Coming reveals creation as always changing, coming to be, and passing away. When men are mostly moved by earthly things and what comes to them naturally, they are always in danger of failing to use the creation in the service of their salvation. Distress, anguish, and disappointment are the logical consequences of misplaced hopes and confused loves. Those who put their trust in the false gods of mammon, power, or prestige shall always be filled with fear over the future. They are hewing out for themselves broken cisterns, which can hold no water. Jesus uses the parable of the fig tree to describe how most men receive Christ’s coming.

Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise, ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. (Ibid, 29-31) 

St. Remigius says this:

Or, when this fig shall again bud, that is, when the synagogue shall receive the word of holy preaching, as the preaching of Enoch and Elijah, then ought we to understand the day of consummation is at hand. (Catena Aurea)

Men with the eyes of faith will see that ancient Jewish Law and even Greek pagan Wisdom will be judged by Christ the Coming Light like the fig tree. St Gregory writes, the fruit of the world is [always in] ruin [and] the powers of heaven shall be shaken. (Idem) To both the Jews who seek for a sign and the Greeks who search for wisdom, the Second Coming will judge man’s earthly Law and secular Wisdom as limited and incomplete, at best. What both missed was that the first coming of Christ in the flesh was the Incarnation of God’s Word and Demonstration of His Loving Will for Man.

This Coming Light of Christ that we embrace in Advent is the brilliance of the Word who comes to judge the world here and now. We can see Him only with the eyes of faith. We need not wait for the Second Coming for Judgment. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (1 Peter iv. 17)

Jesus says that heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass away. (St. Matthew xxiv. 35) So Christ the Coming Light and Word of God, must judge us now. Jesus says In patience possess ye your souls. (Ibid, 19) He means, Be vigilant, wait, and watch. He comes to us in this season of Advent, as one who judges the world and reveals that it is always passing away. Our Gospel teaches us that the fear of the Lord, holy terror in this present time should move us to endure patientlyChrist’s Judgment of us. So, we should pray: 

O Lord, let us fear thy Coming Light here and now with wholesome wonder that submits humbly and heeds faithfully thy judgment of our lives. Shed thy Coming Light upon our sins, that we may claim and confess them. Give us deeper sorrow for them. Help us to love the thing that is good and hate that which is evil. Give us patience to suffer for holiness and righteousness’ sake.

To this end, today’s Collect exhorts us to the devout perusal of Holy Scripture: Blessed Lord who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may in such wise, hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy Holy Word we may ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life…(Advent ii, Collect) 

Our relationship with God comes through His promised Word, the manifestation of Christ the Coming Light and the Word made flesh. Christ the Coming Light is the Unchanging Word of God for us made flesh encountered on the pages of Holy Scripture. In patience, we must possess our souls and embrace His Holy Word in our flesh. We must allow Him to judge, punish, discipline, and correct us so that we might more fully become His own. Patience is the companion of Wisdom, St. Augustine writes. With patience, Christ’s Coming Light will enable us to receive with meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save our souls. (St. James i. 21)  

But as we await Christ the Coming Light with patience, we are not excused from cultivating desire. As real religion is filled with the fear of the Lord and holy terror, so too must our hearts be filled with desire for the coming Judgment. Ancient Christians were known for looking for Christ’s Second Coming so earnestly that they were full of impatience because it appeared to be delayed. (The Christian Year in the Times, p. 5) Much more than preparing themselves for Christ the Coming Light in the here and now, they longed for the Second and final Coming. In times of persecution, which might begin to feel again, Christians must cultivate love and desire for their End. To Early Christians the thought of the Judgment was a constant encouragement, an inspiration to continued fidelity in the face of opposition. (Idem)

Christ the Light of the World, who will pronounce judgment at the Second Coming, is the One whom we should know as Our Lord.  Christ the Light is the Loving Word made Flesh who wins our salvation. The desire and love of God in the flesh, the Forgiveness of Sins must be dearest to us. Christ came into the world to conquer sin, death, and Satan from the Tree of New Life on the Wood of the Cross. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He sees most clearly what is in the heart of another. He knows our struggle to embrace His Light, for He is pure Goodness. (Idem) Christ the Coming Light is the God’s Word of Divine Desire for us in His Death and beyond. This Advent, we must prepare for Christ’s coming to see that from the Crib to the Cross there is no phase of human life that is not redeemed as Man’s desire for God and God’s desire for Man. The key to its success in us will be found in our responsibility or irresponsibility, in our approval or condemnation forever. Here and now, there is still time for repentance. Judgment bids us take heart of Grace in the conviction that the opportunity is still ours to attain a life free from past failure and worthy of Divine Approval forever. (Idem)Amen.