Advent is the time in the Church calendar when we are asked to do some mental gymnastics. On the one hand, we are asked to imagine ourselves in the position of waiting for the Messiah, and on the other hand, to acknowledge that the Messiah has already come. With the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, we look forward to the coming of one who will establish Jerusalem as the Lord, our Justice, indeed one who will himself be the Lord, our Justice. Now, in the Bible, the word “justice” has a very special and particular meaning. It means “bring everything into harmony.” There should be harmony between us human beings and our Creator God. And the result of that would be harmony between ourselves and all other peoples, and indeed harmony between the human race in general and all of God’s creation. Now, this is the vision that the ancient prophets had, and the people of Israel longed for a great leader, a Messiah, who would come and bring about this Biblical harmony between God and us, between ourselves and between humanity and the rest of creation. The Lord, our Justice.

In this season of Advent, we are asked to embrace this same vision, this same longing, for, although as Christians we believe the Messiah has already come in the person of Jesus Christ, we recognize that the ideals of Biblical justice have not yet been achieved. There is discord, not harmony, between ourselves and God, and that resulted in discord between peoples, and that resulted in wars and famine and genocide. And, as a race, of course, we have pillaged our natural resources and destroyed many species of animal and plant life. So, this season, I think, is saying to us that the Lord, our Justice, needs our help to establish harmony on the earth, to re-establish a harmony between ourselves and God, between peoples, and between humanity and the rest of God’s creation. Each individual person, you and I, each one of us, individually, man and woman, must start with herself or himself to move forward in re-establishing that wonderful harmony, harmony between God and ourselves, between ourselves and others, and with all of creation.

The Gospel today also, in a sense, asks us to do some mental gymnastics, to project ourselves into the future to the end time, to a time that, in a sense reverses the whole process of creation, to a time when the world as we know it, will no longer exist. This is a very, very strange way to prepare for the Christmas joy. I think so. Jesus said, “People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming on the earth.” Are these words of Jesus meant to scare us? Yes, I think so.

Fear is not the most noble of motives for acting honestly and justly and rightly. But it is not the worst of motives either. And it can be very, very effective. I don’t put my hand into a fire, for fear of being burned. And I don’t, and this is honest, drive at ninety miles an hour on the freeway. I’d like to at times, but I don’t because I am afraid the Highway Patrol will catch me. And the fear of being grounded deters many foolish youthful adventure. What the gospel is suggesting is not fear of God, (No!) but rather, fear of the consequences of our own foolish and selfish choices. Jesus said, “Be on your guard, lest your spirits become bloated...” (What a word!) “Be on your guard lest your spirits become bloated with indulgence and drunkeness and worldly cares.” And why? Because, he says, “The great day will suddenly close in on you like a trap.” And these are the words of Jesus, not mine. A dose of healthy fear never harmed anyone, and can do a lot of good when, WHEN it is combined with trust in a loving and forgiving God, a God who sent his only son to be our Lord of Justice, to restore harmony in all of creation.

And so, I think, that in this Advent season, we are asked to commit ourselves to promoting the fulfillment of this vision of a harmonious world. And following the advice of Jesus himself, we pray constantly to escape the consequences of our own human weakness, our own human failures, our own human selfishness. And so, I pray that our Advent may be a sobering, yet joyful time, both anticipating and fulfilling the promise inherent in the coming of the Lord our Justice. Harmony in families, neighbors in harmony, a world in harmony.... Amen.