First Sunday in Advent B.  November 27,  2005.  Our Lady of Grace 7:30, 11:30, 6PM.  Isaiah 63: 16b-17, 19b; 64:1b-7.   I Corinthians 1: 3-9.  Mark 13: 33-37.

Have you ever watched the goalie at a hockey game?   The goalie crouches in front of the goal, ready to leap in any direction to deflect the puck and keep the opposing team from scoring a goal.  If the goalie is distracted or out of position the opposing team will seize the opportunity and score.  If the goalie is out of shape he will not be able to move fast enough to protect the goal.  Above all the goalie must be aware, constantly aware, waiting silently and watching everything.  Much of the success of the team depends on the watchfulness and the vigilance of the goalie.

The same is true of every sport.  The quarterback must drop back and watch the other players on the field, waiting for an opening under great pressure from the opposing team.   If the quarterback waits and doesn’t allow himself to be rushed, and if he watches for one of his team mates to find a place in the open, he has a chance of throwing a winning pass.  If he hurries and is careless in sizing up the field the result may be an interception and a lost game. 

Watching everything and waiting patiently for the right opportunity is an important part of learning how to live well.  Most of us have observed a little boy or girl who was sent to play the outfield and apparently fell asleep because nothing was happening.  When a ball was finally hit to the outfield not only were they surprised, but they were unprepared to make the catch that everyone was depending on.  Watching and waiting and not getting bored or distracted are essential to success in all areas of life.

Jesus said, “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come… What I say to you I say to all: ‘Watch!”

When the first followers of Jesus watched him ascend into heaven at the end of his earthly ministry they expected him to return soon, at most in a few years.  The Apostle Paul wrote about the pressing need to preach the gospel, bringing people to new life in Christ, because the time was short and Christ would certainly come again very soon.  Paul uses the shortness of time before the Lord’s second coming and the need to preach the gospel first and foremost as his reason for not being married.  Paul says, “I tell you, brothers and sister, the time is short… I should like you to be free of all worries…I do not want to place restrictions on you, but I do want to promote what is good, what will help you to devote yourselves entirely to the Lord.”  (I Corinthians 8:29-35)  Paul’s teaching and the example of Jesus are the origin of the celibate or unmarried vocation in the Church.  Paul reminds us that celibacy is a witness to the fact that “the world as we know it is passing away” and that proclaiming Christ is even more important than being married. 

Obviously Jesus did not return in a few short years and the world as we know it has not ended.  The result may be that we have become like that little boy or girl playing the outfield and bored out of our minds, no longer expecting that a ball will ever come their way. Why should we watch and wait when all the evidence says that Jesus has not come as soon as expected and probably will not come again for a long time?   

Jesus said, “Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.  May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.  What I say to you, I say to all, ‘Watch!”

We watch and wait for the Lord’s return, with eager longing, ready to greet him as soon as he appears for three reasons:

1. The Lord has promised that his coming in glory will happen suddenly, like the appearance of a thief in the night.  No matter how long he delays his coming, any day could be the final day in God’s plan for our world.  Because we don’t know when, the wise prepare now to meet the Lord whenever he comes again.
2. The end of our lives in this world as individuals can happen very suddenly and unexpectedly.  This past week two people were killed by a hunk of metal that flew off of a passing truck on the highway.  On the day after Thanksgiving a father and his young daughter fell through the ice and drowned while they were preparing to enjoy some family time skating together.  The world hasn’t ended, but every individual life has or will end, sometimes very unexpectedly.  The wise know this and choose love of God and love of their families and the poor as their first priority every day in preparation for standing before the Lord whenever that happens. The wise know that today is the most important day in their lives.
3. Jesus reveals himself to us now, not just in his past or future coming.  As we retell the story of Christmas we recognize that many people were not prepared to meet Jesus as a poor child lying in a manger.  Their own plans and prejudices, their own desires and their busyness got in the way of recognizing the surprising way that the Messiah came into the world.  While we are not surprised to find the Divine Son of God in a manger, does our faith in the Christ who was born in a manger and died on a cross help us to recognize the hidden and surprising ways that Jesus comes into our lives today? Are we watching and waiting to meet Jesus in the manger and on the cross in our midst – and in the people and events of our world today?  Many in Jesus’ world missed his first coming.  Are we watching and waiting so intently that we are ready to be surprised by the way he comes to us this Christmas?

For the power that watching and waiting have in our lives as we prepare to welcome Christ revealed again in our midst this Christmas, we give God thanks and praise.