Advent means "coming": the coming we await is, of course, Christ's coming. We await his coming at the end of time. We await our celebration of his first coming at Christmas. And we gather to celebrate his coming, his presence, among us, in word and sacrament, in the celebration of the Eucharist.
It is easy to get used to Advent, and to think of Christ's Second Coming as something that happens only in Church, on Sunday, when we recite the Creed! But meditating on the readings and prayers for the season should shake us up a bit. They are full of the Lord's coming, in ways that are sometimes powerful and dramatic, sometimes quiet, but always sudden and surprising.
- Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you, while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for (Isaiah 63, First Sunday of Advent)
- The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together (Isaiah 40, Second Sunday of Advent)
- The heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out (2 Peter, Second Sunday of Advent)
- Stir up your power, O Lord, and come to our help with mighty strength (Collect for the First Week of Advent)
- May the splendor of your glory dawn in our hearts... that all shadows of the night may be scattered (Collect for the Second Week of Advent)
Rain down on us, heavens, from on high;
You clouds, pour forth the Just One.
You clouds, pour forth the Just One.
