In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Be careful not to tell your toddler what your plans for the day or the week are too early. Because toddlers have no concept of time, and if you tell them something too early, they will ask you about it over and over and over again until it happens. For example, if you’re going to go to the park after lunch, don’t tell them you’re going to the park until after lunch, unless you want you them to ask if its time to go to the park every five minutes for the whole morning. This week LauraAnn’s parents came to town for Thanksgiving and we had told our kids that Grandma and Grandad were coming, but we told them a few days ahead of time, and wouldn’t you know, all Alaster wanted to talk about for days was his grandparents coming. I think he even told some of you over a week ago, “Grandma and Grandad are coming!”
Grandma and Grandad with the Family at Parksdale Farms this week.
Young children often have a one track mind that way. They get one thing in their head, and that’s what they shape their day around. If you tell them Grandma and Grandad are coming, they expect them around every corner. A knock at the door is not the UPS guy, its Grandma and Grandad. A car pulling into the driveway is not someone turning around, it’s Grandma and Grandad. A phone ringing is not a reminder of a prescription that’s ready, it’s Grandma and Grandad. They expect them to come at any moment. They are always ready to open the door to them.
It’s not so often the case with adults who live our lives—reasonably so—according to calendars, watches, and plans.
This morning I’m wondering, though, if there is something that we might be able to learn about that eager expectation from the toddlers in our lives.
It’s the first Sunday of Advent, and on this day we always hear an ominous passage of Scripture about the end of the world and the coming of Christ. It’s the same sermon from Jesus that we heard just two weeks ago in the Gospel of Mark. And what we talked when we heard it then, is that perhaps this passage is not so much about the end of the world, but about God’s presence in times when it feels like the end of the world, and I think that’s the case here as well. Those who first heard the words that we hear in the gospel today were living in a concerning period of time in which there was a lot to worry about. And while our world is very different from their world, I know that many of us can relate in some way to this feeling of being weighed down by worry, as it says in today’s reading. Do you ever feel weighed down by worry? And so the question that arises for me as I hear this passage again is this: how? How do I not be weighed down by the worry that I carry around with me all the time? How?
If we listen carefully, Jesus gives us the answer. “Be alert for the Kingdom of God is near.” “Stand up and raise your heads for the Son of Man is coming.” In other words, pay attention to where you place your attention.
When you wake up in the morning, where do you place your attention? I find that for me, often my attention is placed on all the things I worry about. I wake up in the morning worrying about getting sick. I wake up worrying about how I’m going to get everything done that I need to get done. I worry about my friends and family who are struggling through hard times. I worry about the stability of the future. And before you know it, I’m so weighed down by worry I don’t want to get out of bed, it’s too much. Have you ever been there?
But it’s amazing how things change when instead I place my attention on the coming of beauty of goodness of love—on the coming of Christ to every moment. It’s amazing how different it feels when you wake up and say, Christ is coming today. Christ is coming. Amidst all of my concerns and worries and fears, Christ is coming. And when we eagerly expect the coming of Christ to each moment, the weight of those worries is not nearly as burdensome as they once were. But it all depends on where we place our attention. “Be alert,” Jesus says, “raise your heads and watch, not for the falling of stars or the roaring of waves—watch for Christ.”
Which brings us back to the perspective of our young children. What might life look like to expect Christ’s coming in every moment just like Alaster expects the arrival of Grandma and Grandad? What might it look like to shape our days or lives or worlds not around all the things we fear may go wrong, but to shape them around the coming of this joyous and beautiful thing, Christ’s presence? That is what the season of Advent is about. Not all is as it should be in this world, but Christ is still coming. And that is enough. Calendars and watches and plans are good for a lot of things, but sometimes we need to forget it all and just expect Christ to show up. Because he will. And he does. And when he does, if we stay alert and pay attention, we’ll find our hearts full not of worry but of the joy of a toddler at the coming of his grandparents. Be alert. Lift up your heads. Christ is coming. Amen.
Questions for Further Reflection
In what moments do you find yourself feeling weighed down by worry, and how might shifting your focus to the anticipation of Christ’s coming help alleviate those burdens?
What practices or habits can you implement to help raise your awareness of God’s presence throughout your day?
Reflect on a time when you felt overwhelmed by worry. How might the message of Advent reshape your understanding of that experience?
Resources for Further Reflection
Essay: “On Living in an Atomic Age” by C.S. Lewis I came across this letter/ essay by C.S. Lewis this week that he wrote in response to a letter expressing fear and anxiety around the beginning of the atomic age (this essay was published in 1948). While the atomic age continues to be something very concerning, I thought C.S. Lewis’ somewhat direct response of realism was relevant for all fears and worries that weigh us down, atomic or otherwise. In it he writes,
“This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.”
C.S. Lewis “On Living in an Atomic Age”
You may find the rest of the essay interesting and can find it at the link above.
Thoughts on Faith 