December 1, 2021

“Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." (Luke 21: 27-28)

Advent is primarily eschatological. At least the first weeks are. That means that we are intent on waiting, longing, praying for the “long expected Jesus.” A commentator named James Edwards has something quite good to say on the subject. 

“Without eschatology, the purpose and destiny of history fall into the hands of humanity alone. No one, I think, takes solace in that prospect. Unless history can be redeemed, the fallen greatness of human life is the final and tragic word. The longing that things ought not to be as they are, and cannot be accepted in the state they are, is an eschatological longing. The Gospels proclaim that there is a sure hope for the future. This hope is grounded not in history, logic, or intuition, but in Jesus’ declaration that in the final day the Son of Man will return in glory and power to judge evil, end suffering, and gather his own to himself.”

Time to light a candle and wait with hope.

“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.” (First Sunday of Advent – BCP)