Advent is a process for us. And for God.

Advent is more than a countdown to Christmas. It’s  more than a mini-Lent.
It’s more than shopping.
It’s about more than Christmas Carols 24/7 on the radio.
Advent is about the Past. Advent is about the Future. Advent is about the Present. It’s a season of looking behind, looking ahead and looking around.
Advent is:
expectant waiting. You know that kind of waiting we do when waiting for someone we love very much. It’s standing at the airport craning your neck to catch the first glimpse of your beloved. That’s expectant waiting.
Advent is hopeful anticipation. You know when you’re opening a present and you think you know what it is, you hope you know what it is….that’s hopeful anticipation.
Advent is cheerful preparation. It’s one thing to clean the house because it NEEDS to be cleaned. It’s a whole other thing to clean the house because you are getting ready for a grand meal, or a big party, or a family reunion. When we’re getting ready for something good, for a special guest? That’s cheerful preparation.
Yes, Advent is a whole lot all on it’s own because in Advent we expectantly wait, in hopeful anticipation, with cheerful preparation, for God to break into our lives. Big time .
You see, God taking on flesh and plopping smack dab into our lives is a REALLY BIG DEAL.
Because when God does this, when God becomes human in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, EVERYTHING CHANGES--
Every moment, every place, every thing…..Jesus  changed everything when he came the first time, Jesus will change everything when he arrives the second time and today, on this first day of Advent 2012, Jesus is going to change everything again.
That is, if we let it. See that’s the wondrous and miraculous and stunning thing about the incarnation of God in Christ: it only turns our world inside out and upside down if we allow it to. It only changes everything if we welcome it, if we welcome God in the flesh into our hearts, our minds and our souls. Again and again and again.
That’s why we have a “church year,” why we go through the cycle of Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension each and every year. Because the redeeming work of God through Christ is a process. It is not an event.
It’s always evolving it’s not a one time thing.
It’s a dynamic, alive, “always revealing more” process of bringing Jesus’ message of Loving everyone, no exceptions to fruition. Advent is many things.
On the one hand Advent is about preparing us for the coming of the Christ child, but on the other hand, Advent is about us preparing to do all the work that is still unfinished. It’s about getting ready to do the work we’ve been given to do.
It’s not always easy work.
The world is a mess. Israel continues to arm itself to the max, seemingly goading someone, anyone to take them on.
The war in Afghanistan just won’t quit and the violence there continues to touch us all.
Our economy just can’t get into gear and climate change threatens our very planet.
On a more personal level I know that each and everyone of you has a whole host of worries and concerns on your plate. Job troubles, family issues, relationship problems, health concerns.
Life is challenging, life is scary, life is fragile.
We all deal with these issues differently—sometimes we deny them, sometimes we tackle them, sometimes we avoid them, sometimes we just plain worry about them.
But and here is where our readings for this morning (evening) come into play, it’s when everything seems to be at it’s worst, it’s when everything seems to be at it’s darkest, it’s when the “signs in the sun, the moon and the stars…cause people to faint from fear,” it’s when we can’t seem to find our way out of whatever mess we find ourselves in when, lo and behold, God appears.
Advent is about having hope. Advent is about having hope even when the days are dark and the world feels cold and the future seems precarious.
Advent is about trusting that the light will always follow the dark.
Advent is about knowing---deep down in our gut—knowing that a leaf will sprout from the righteous branch of David.
Advent is about remembering that God isn’t finished: not with us and not with the world.
Creation and redemption are not once and for all,
over and done with acts of God.
God created the world and keeps on actively creating it.
God in Christ acted to redeem the world and God in Christ keeps on actively redeeming it.
As Jeremiah says “. . . he will execute justice and righteousness in the land,” and until that is done,
God is not done.
So as we step into these four weeks of preparation, of waiting, of hoping we must prayerfully open ourselves up to this plain and certain fact: there is more to be done.
As long as God isn’t finished, neither are we. As long as the redeeming work of God through Christ is still working on this world, we must keep working here---in Buffalo New York, at the CGS and the COA---working to bring the light of Christ to all we encounter. Working to BE the light of Christ in this world. Working to make sure that we, in expectant waiting, in hopeful anticipation and in cheerful preparation remain the instruments of the Loving, Redeeming, and still working God who came to be among us over 2000 years ago.
Advent is a process for us and a process for God. You see, God becoming human only works if we accept God into our lives---wholly, fully and totally.
That’s what we’re getting ready for, my friends. We are getting ready to welcome, to accept and to embrace the best guest. Ever.
So let’s continue this journey. Not one of four short weeks but a journey for all time, ending when that righteous branch of David returns, joyously announcing that there is, once and for all and forever, Peace on Earth and Goodwill toward All.