First Sunday of Advent

by Excerpt from Gold Label Publications  |  11/30/2025  |  From the Clergy

On this First Sunday of Advent, so many centuries after the time of Christ, there is a pertinent question we might consider. What is the primary reason for our faith in Jesus Christ? Many Christians, perhaps a majority, would say that having faith is essential if one wishes to have heaven as a destination. Keeping the faith, it is widely thought, is how one avoids the eternal flames of fire, and is thus granted eternal life. And so, the focus of many people is “getting saved,” which is seen as a strictly individual matter. But God in Christ is redeeming the world, not merely inoculating individuals one by one. Faith is trusting in God’s love and living for the future fulfillment of God’s redemptive purposes for creation.

What is this event called “the coming of the Son of Man?” Is it a reference to Christ’s return at the end of time, culminating human history, which obviously hasn’t happened yet? Or is it a reference to his spiritual presence at each person’s individual death? Whatever it is, Jesus is telling us that we should live every day with eternity in view. He illustrates his point with a passage from the Old Testament. The people of Noah’s time ignored all the warnings and remained unconcerned until the flood came and destroyed them. In our own time, when we are daily overwhelmed by news of the most recent catastrophes and war-like acts of violence, horrors beyond imagining, where are the signs of hope? Where do we and Christ in such a time? Let us at least learn from history so as not to repeat its mistakes!

The end of human history is wrapped in mystery for good reason. If we knew for sure when the journey was done, we would live in the meantime without the urgency and devotion that our faith demands. We are called to live each day as if it were the last day before the end.