ADVENT: BEGINNING AT THE END

 

Have you e read the last chapter of a novel first so that you might know in advance how the story is going to end? Perhaps we all have done that at some time or the other. That's also what we do in church on the First Sunday in Advent. We read the last chapter first. We get in on how the whole story of the Bible is going to end. In the very first words of Jesus we hear the Lord speaking about Himself, saying "You will see the Son of Man coming 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." Jesus is talking about the end of all time as we know it, in which moment He will comeback, return to the earth for the ultimate final moment of earth's time.

 

Advent is about beginnings, notably the birth of Christ. By now we know that the One born in Bethlehem will die on a cross. But that will not be the end of Him. There is still the resurrection, and then the ascension will follow. And then, as He promised, His final and climactic return to earth for one last moment. Yes, we already know how the story will end, how  Jesus' life on earth will end.

 

However, now that we know about the Ending, there is a lot to follow from this time forward, occupying the time until then. This is what I mean: this is what we believe and confess happens, and our baptism plays a big role in all of this. At the time of our baptism, as the Scriptures say, when we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized into His death and His resurrection. So with Christ, so it shall be with us. We know the rest of the story, and it's about a lot more than just dying; its about rising to new life, now as well as at the time when He returns.

 

Amazing, isn't it? that we already know the script, the story, the story of how our lives are going to end, their last chapter of sorts. You see, we can now speak of our funeral, the funeral for all of us, being already behind us. In baptism we have died with Christ. That being so, now we can live with Him in joy and confidence for this time and for all time reaching all the way into eternity.

 

No need for us to bow our heads in despair and disappointment or even in momentary bouts of depression, worrying about dying. We know how our lives are going to end. Indeed in a sense they have already ended, and so by God's grace we now can already boldly step into His New Creation, writing new scripts every day. Hmmm. Life is not the same anymore. It's been given new shape by its ending which eventually yields to a completely new beginning.

 

Pastor David Albertin

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