This Sunday we entered into the season of Advent, which is the beginning of a new liturgical year. Advent is a season of waiting and expectation. The season helps prepare us for the celebration of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ in his nativity, and it prepares us for his second coming which we still await.

The problem with Advent is that it is countercultural. In today's world, we thrive on immediate gratification. We're used to getting information instantly via the internet. We're constantly getting breaking news updates as a popup on our cell phones. We can talk to whomever we want any time we want by phone or by text. We send live updates of our lives on Facebook. As soon as we want to share information, we pick up the phone and we call our best friend to tell them all about what's on our mind. We can shop any day of the week. We can eat any kind of fruit and vegetable we want, regardless of their natural season; we eat strawberries in December and pumpkins in July. We want what we want right now. We can travel to any continent within 24 hours. Our world is fast paced, hurried, nervous, and impatient. We hate to wait, so the season of Advent doesn't fit into our daily lives. Waiting for Christmas doesn't fit into our daily lives. Stores have been decorated for Christmas for a few weeks at least. We hear Christmas music everywhere we go. Waiting and anticipating are activities that we just don't like to do. That's why Advent is so incredibly important. Advent allows us to slow down, step back, and prepare ourselves. Advent helps us to prepare the way of the Lord.

Amid the frenzy of our time, we also live with angst, we live in fear. Fear of our enemies, fear of violence, fear of those who are different, fear of health issues, fear of lack of resources, fear of having lost loved ones. Worse still, the media and politicians help fuel our fears with their rhetoric that stokes the fires of our fears at the very heart and raise our anxiety and our angst. Not very different from Jesus' own time.

Today's gospel troubles us because it sounds too much like our own time. It makes us think that the end might be just around the corner--of course, we know neither the day nor the hour...and that's a scary thing.  But the good news about today's Gospel is that in the midst of all of the frenzy and all of the fear, God is still there, and we have the coming of Jesus, two thousand years ago and his expected return, to tell us that everything will be ok. Jesus promised never to abandon us, even in the midst of the troubles of the world; he promised to strengthen and encourage us, to equip us, not only to endure the challenges that we are facing, but to enable us to flourish. Fear and hardship will never completely go away, but Jesus's having come and his anticipated return give us courage to be faithful and loving people. That means that until he does return, we have work to do in the world being Jesus's disciples in the world to bring this message of courage and to demonstrate how to live a live of strength and courage in the midst of fearful, anxiety-provoking things. As his disciples, we can engage in the work of compassion for those who are hurting, encouragement to those who are afraid, solidarity with those who are oppressed, resistance to evil, forgiveness for those who have wronged us, and acceptance of all of God's people. And we can go forth in confidence because even if our actions don't change the world, even if what we do changes only one life, we know that Christ's resurrection has already changed the world. We can put our trust in what Jesus Christ has already done.

So we needn't live with the angst of our time, we need just to prepare ourselves, to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light to go forth into the world and tell the good news that Jesus is coming. We can be the John the Baptists of our time to invite all whom we meet to prepare the way of the coming Lord.

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of  darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of  this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit  us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come  again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the  dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives  and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and  for ever. Amen.