This Sunday begins a new Church year. The traditional collect or prayer of the day for Advent 1, slightly modernized, from the 1917 Common Service Book says:
Stir up, we beseech You, Your power, Lord, and come; that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins, and saved by Your mighty deliverance; Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever One God, world without end. AMEN.
The Scriptures for the First Sunday of Advent point us to our need for redemption and how we are to await the coming of Christ. The first or Old Testament reading for this Sunday is from Isaiah 64:1-9. It emphasizes human frailty and our dependence upon God. We are like clay that He molds according to His purposes.
Psalm 80:1-7 asks God to turn us, His flock, so that His face may shine upon us and save us.
The Second or Epistle reading is from 1 Corinthians 1:3-9. The passage begins with the grace of God revealed in Christ and points toward waiting for His coming. Our hope is not in ourselves but in God who is faithful. It is Jesus Christ Himself who sustains us even as we await His final triumph. Only through Him can we be ready for the day of our Lord.
The Gospel from Mark 13:24- 37 looks to the coming of the Messiah/Christ to complete His work at the end of history. As even fig trees adjust to the changing seasons, followers of Christ should learn to adjust as earthly history moves along in subjection to divine plans. On the one hand, Christ's disciples must not be too hasty in their interpretations because human knowledge is limited. Only God knows all the details. On the other hand, Christians should always respond faithfully and be spiritually prepared. God has revealed what we need to know in Christ, We are called to stay awake, and the Advent season is one expression of that calling to be prepared and awake. As the old Phillip Nicolai hymn reminds us, "Wake, awake, for night is flying!"
