"Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
Luke 21:28
Beginning on Thanksgiving day or the day after (and some even begin before) many radio stations start playing Christmas music. While I realize that everyone, including the radio stations and their advertisers, is trying to capitalize on that 'magical' feeling of Christmas, I wonder about that practice. After all, there is a limited playlist and it is about 30 days from that point until Christmas. Still, it is one way that people begin to prepare for Christmas. And I hear people beginning to hum or sing along with their favorite, familiar carols as they play on the radio or in the stores. They are preparing for Christmas. As Christians, as we prepare for Christmas, we should also be preparing to celebrate and worship the Christ child. Advent is the beginning of that preparation for the community of Jesus that we call church.
The Lukan text for the first Sunday of Advent comes from the portion that is often referred to as the "Little Apocalypse" and speaks, many believe, of the end times. When the disciples, just as curious as the rest of us about the timing of that event, ask when it will be, Jesus replies cryptically that we should watch for the signs, as our "redemption is drawing near." And in a way, some of the early signs of Christmas, the radio and stores playing Christmas music, are a sign that our redemption is near as we begin the Advent journey toward Bethlehem and the celebration of the birth of Christ. For the coming of Emmanuel, God with us, is the signal that our redemption has arrived. It is a journey that, for us, begins at Advent and takes us through to Lent and finally culminates at Easter where our redemption is fulfilled in the resurrection of our Lord.
There is an old story of a minister who encountered a young boy who was carrying a rusty old cage with several birds fluttering around nervously inside. The minister inquired of the boy as to where he got the birds and what his plans for them were. The boy told him he had trapped them in the field. He thought he would take them home and play with them for a while and then, probably, feed them to their cat. At that point the minister offered to buy them - $5 for the cage, birds, and all. The boy protested, "They're not worth much, they don't even sing well." But the minister said it didn't matter he would still give him the money. The boy worried that he was cheating a man of God, but finally reassuring the minister that he was making a bad deal, he took the money. He handed the cage to the man of God and walked away whistling, happy with his new income. The minister walked around to the back of the church, opened the cage and let the birds fly free. The boy had said the birds wouldn't sing, but winging their way heavenward, they sang mightily - they had been freed - redeemed.
It is easy to forget in the midst of living each day that we have been freed from our burdens of sin, fear, and despair. In the day to day busy-ness of living, of family, and of work and play, we can grow tired and become focused on the struggles of life, instead of celebrating our blessings. We become trapped in a cage of our own making. Jesus comes to free us from that cage. At Advent we begin our preparations to receive our Lord again. It is a reminder in the midst of the ordinary of everyday that we cling to a special hope that is eternal. It is fulfilled in the promise of God through the coming of Jesus. Advent is here, Christmas is coming, our Lord is born anew and again in our waiting hearts, a promise of hope and redemption. It's time to start singing....
