Advent is upon us, and I will be celebrating at St Nicholas’ Church in Fyfield: how apt is that? This Sunday in churches far and wide the hymn ‘Come thou Long Expected Jesus’ will be sung, but just what are we expecting when we sing those words?

Ask anyone who is in receipt of an Advent Calendar what they are expecting, and they will probably tell you chocolate, or Santa, or simply Christmas. Ask the Old Testament prophets and they would reply with a description of the Messiah who would bring ‘healing in his wings’. We might go so far as to suggest the baby Jesus, and even have a nativity set laid out with a manger waiting for his arrival. According to the Christmas adverts we can expect to welcome practically anyone: St Nicholas himself (more commonly known as Santa), an alien, Ebanana Scrooge, Jamie Cullem, or even the return of an imaginary friend.*

The readings for this first Sunday in Advent, Advent Sunday, urge us to be prepared, to expect the unexpected.

Today’s gospel passage from Luke begins with a reference to ‘signs and portents’ to the end of the age,

signs in the sun the moon and the stars…

Luke 21:25

Last week I led a retreat in which we meditated upon the poetry and the promise of the stars. The stars that were hung into space at creation, the stars which Abraham was asked to count when he was promised as many descendants as stars in the sky, the star which the magi followed to find the Christchild, Jesus. Each of those moments in time were unexpected, and each of them carried important signs. In them we find our place: we are the stars which Abraham was promised, we are the Magi following a star to find God.

Jesus warns his disciples that before he returns life will become frightening. The times we live in are testament to that: wars and rumours of wars, pestilence and plague… Jesus tells his disciples and through the words of the Bible us too, that even though what lies ahead may be scary

Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is coming near.

Luke 21:28

But what has all this to do with Christmas? Each year we enter Advent expecting to spend the time preparing for the arrival of the baby in the manger. Certainly that’s what happens in schools, with rehearsals for Nativity plays, the making of Christmas cards and decorations. If we are preparing for the baby in the manger we are looking backwards, and Advent is about looking forward; it’s about preparing for the big adventure that is yet to come.

The big adventure is when Jesus returns as he has promised. Like any quest, there may well be challenges and trials and even danger on the way, but the prize is worth its weight in gold. As we embark once again upon this advent-ure we look to the past for the clues to what the future holds. Much of it is mysterious, and so we learn to expect the unexpected; and as we wait with an air of expectation, we focus on God, lifting our heads high, holding onto Jesus’ words which ‘will not pass away’, and praying, praying, praying…

So as we prepare to relive the story of the first Christmas, as we open the doors to our advent calendars, and decorate our homes, let us dedicate time to be with Jesus in prayer.

Advent was traditionally a time of fasting; not in penance as in Lent, but in preparation for meeting with Jesus. Simplifying earthly life by fasting from something (perhaps a meal) so that our focus can instead be on heavenly matters.

Perhaps if we are able to do that we will find ourselves surprised by the unexpected presence of Jesus in our midst, as we come to understand him, and therefore ourselves, in a new light.

Read the gospel passage here.