Last Sunday in his splendid sermon for the feast of Christ the King, David brought us to the end of the Christian year. So today it falls to me to start off a new Christian year, the first Sunday of the season of Advent.

This is not an easy task. The poem “Wachet auf” by the poet Ann Lewin sum it up:

Advent.

Season when 

Dual citizenship

Holds us in

Awkward tension.

The world intent on

Spending Christmas,

Eats and drinks its way to

Oblivion after dinner:

The kingdom sounds 

Insistent warnings:

Repent, be ready, 

Keep awake, 

He comes.

Like some great fugue

The themes entwine:

Demanding our attention

In shops and pubs,

Bore their insistent way,

Through noise and traffic;

Underneath, almost unheard,

The steady solemn theme of

Advent.

Clashing, blending

Rivals for our attention,

Pulling us with increasing

Urgency

Until in final resolution,

The end attained,

Harmony in awful

Stillness, and

The child is born.

He comes, both Child and Judge.

And will he find us

Watching?

This is the problem for each of us as Christians. We cannot ignore the joy, the anticipation and the excitement leading up to Christmas, especially not if we share this with young children. Indeed, I think it would be wrong for us to do so. Loving and giving are an essential part of even a purely secular Christmas.

But, we have to resist the temptation of allowing ourselves to be drawn so deeply into the preparations and the fun of Christmas that we lose sight of, have no real time for the seriousness of the Advent season. It is the beginning of God’s year. And our God is the God who comes to us. The Old Testament is the history of God’s lovingkindness to humanity, and of human sin and failure to appreciate God’s goodness. Finally God comes himself, in the person of his Son, to reveal his true nature and to draw humanity back to himself. At Advent-tide we recall his gracious coming, and at the same time acknowledge and repent our share in the human sinfulness which made that coming necessary. 

Is there any way for us to resolve the dual tension which the season of Advent forces upon us, the tension between the world and the kingdom? I have to be honest and say that I don’t really think so. We are humans, and we are Christians. But perhaps now, at the beginning of the Christian year, is a better time than the first of January for us to make a real New Year’s resolution. Perhaps to spend more time and thought in the study of Scripture. Perhaps to be kinder and more understanding of our difficult neighbour, or family member. Perhaps to be more readily tolerant and forgiving of hurts we have suffered, and perhaps to be more careful not to inflict hurts. Let us at the very least remember that it is Advent, and that we are called to repent, and watch for the coming of the Christ Child.