A Positively Poetic Priest

Now we have come to the end of the Revelation to John of Patmos. (And the end of my sermon series on Revelation. And there was much rejoicing!) We have been witnesses to eternity, we have celebrated with joy, we have been given the gift of salvation, we have been transformed by God, we have seen that God is in all, hope has been stirred within us, and at the end of all things, Jesus gives us the promise of Soon. "See, I am coming soon." "Surely I am coming soon." He says it twice in this passage. Perhaps because Christianity has become a bit jaded in the two thousand years since John's vision, We have lost most of that urgency. We smile ironically at "soon." Soon would have been a few years ago... Uh, Jesus, it's been two thousand years here on earth. That ain't soon. Now Jesus is simply late. And not even fashionably late by human standards. Although, if you do any kind of athletic eve...

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (First Sunday of Advent BCP 211) Advent is the season of preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ, into the world and into our hearts. In the Church we prepare and celebrate this coming of Jesus on three levels. The first is Jesus' birth, and the wider world is good about capitalizing on this. We remember Jesus came into the world as a baby, born and laid in a manger. The second is Jesus' coming again to usher in the coming of God's Kingdom. We anticipate this event in the future. The third is Jesus' coming into our hearts and op...