‘And what I say to you I say to you all: Keep awake!’

It reminds me of: Keep Calm and Carry on! The WW2 poster. In Covent Garden there is one of those Kitsch shops displaying all that sort of memorabilia. When it was written there was a real danger – bombs/invasion could happen at any moment - no – one knew when.

Early Christian belief

Mark (a new gospel for a new year) was probably written around 65AD  - it’s the earliest Gospel –and there was a real expectation that Christ would return any time. It seemed perfectly logical and possible. After all there were people still alive who could remember the resurrection and who could challenge the accuracy of what Mark wrote. The small community of Christians in Rome to whom he was writing had just seen their leaders executed. They needed encouragement. Their belief that Christ would return in glory and end all this injustice, that his values of love, forgiveness and compassion would prevail. It gave them courage and fortitude. We have this hope too – in the Eucharistic Prayer we look for it; in the Creed we spell it out: ‘He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.’ ‘Keep awake’ Jesus urges the people, because it could happen at any time! And it will be awe inspiring, terrifying even when it happens.

Cosy?

The world would have us believe that this is a cosy time of year, that Christmas is about twinkling lights and tinsel on trees, Winter Wonderland and Santa Claus coming to town! The world tries to make Advent cosy– Mr Men and Peppa Pig Advent Calendars (chocolate of course) - but the imagery is harder to sentimentalise. Clouds, darkness, cosmic catastrophe and earthquakes – it all sounds a bit OTT. But it is an attempt to speak of the mystery of a time when the thin but opaque curtain that hangs between heaven and earth will be ripped aside. We exist just a hair’s breadth away from the terror and splendour of God. Sometimes we catch a sense of it and have to steady ourselves because it is so powerful. And it can break into our lives when we least expect it.

Last week the husband of a friend I have known since primary school unexpectedly died. She is an atheist as he was. Yet she told me that in the midst of her grief something propelled her to the local cathedral, to a chapel at the far East end, where she lit a candle and sat, soaking up something that brought calm to her troubled heart. This is a place, she said, where I find something that makes me feel everything is in good hands. We might call it hope, hope that at some point Jesus will break through the tribulations and sorrows of life and his kingdom will hold sway over the whole creation.

Advent is not cosy.

‘Lo he comes with clouds descending’ we sing, bringing judgement -  one of the 4 great Advent themes, along with death, heaven and hell. We call them the 4 last things. Our Advent Carol Service tonight is centred on these 4 last things. Last not in the sense of a time sequence (the last train home) but as being fundamental, ultimate. Not cosy topics to dwell on.

And our response? The great thing is, we have hope.

Because the judge – God-is on our side. As Isaiah puts it ‘and yet, Lord, you are our Father’. A father who suffers on our account and who holds us in love. He leads us to judge ourselves, to admit where we have gone astray, be acquitted and have a fresh start. He helps us to grow into the person he created us to be, the person who will be able to bear the scrutiny of Jesus when confronted, as each of us one day will be, with Jesus’ power and glory.  We might think of it as a bright light, the scrutiny of a clear truth which penetrates to the heart of our truth. It will not be cosy, but we have opportunity now to grow strong enough to stand before it.

At the time, there was nothing cosy about the WW2 poster.  The shop window, typically, made it cosy. Next to it similar cards, surrounded by pics of the royal wedding back in April read: Keep calm and marry a prince! Keep calm you can always marry Pippa!

Advent is not cosy. So keep calm, carry on with your daily jobs, but also keep awake!  You never know if today will be your last!

Amen