First Sunday of Advent

Mark 13: 33 - 37

"Watch"

We tend to live on auto- pilot when life gets busy. Often we become dulled to the very things we should be alert for. In our spiritual lives we focus on the tasks and lose sight of the One we are doing it for. In fact, the Christmas preparations have started in most churches. I hear my children talk about the presentation they are putting up for Christmas......but hardly any discussion about the 'reason for the season'. There is a danger that it becomes another program for this time of year.

Reclaiming the season of Advent prepares us, if we pay attention to the readings, for Christmas.

Today, Jesus reminds us that being watchful is crucial to following him. Our call is not only to believe and obey but to watch.

We watch for the 'coming', the return of our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes again in glory at the end of the age. "Thy kingdom come" we pray each time in the prayer he taught us. This future coming of Christ we all wait and watch for is undergirded by our remembrance of his first coming, his birth that we celebrate at Christmas, and the many 'comings' of our Lord in our daily lives.

As we await the final coming, it can seem long and tedious..."when O Lord? Come, Lord Jesus" we pray. But if we also remember to wait in shorter time frames - if we ask "When, Lord did I meet you today?" (at the end of each day), our waiting is made easier....maybe this could be a spiritual discipline for this season of waiting.