Advent I- Romans 13: 8-14

This Sunday marks the beginning of the Advent season, a time for reflection upon the theme of Christ coming into the world- past, present and future. Advent is also a time of spiritual and moral preparation. Believers are called to renew their commitment to live in ways that embody their faith. Such a renewal of commitment is stressed by St. Paul in the Epistle from Romans 13:8-14. 

After reviewing the general moral law, the Apostle makes two points in practical spirituality. 1) "...now it is high time to awake out of sleep" (Rom. 13:11). Christians must avoid the natural human tendency to sink into spiritual torpor. We must wake up and remain vigilant.  2) "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light" (Rom. 13:12). Knowing that earthly history is moving toward the culmination of divine plans, Christians must constantly cast off sinful tendencies and put on the good qualities that God the Father gives us through Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. We must seek light and life through Christ in each day given to us. If we apply these principles of spirituality, Advent can be a valuable time for Christian growth, not just a time of waiting for a holiday.

Harvest Thanksgiving/Thanksgiving Day

Through the ages, many peoples, cultures and religions have observed feasts and prayers of thanksgiving for harvests. The Jewish spring festivals of Passover and Weeks (Pentecost) were in part celebrations of spring harvests, and the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles was related to the autumn harvest (these festivals were also related to historical events).  In medieval and early modern Europe, including England, there were various local occasions when thanks were offered, and over time, local forms of prayer for autumn harvest festivals developed. 

In colonial North America, English explorers and colonists gave thanks in many places that later became the US and Canada. The London Company ordered settlers bound for Berkeley Hundred in Virginia to offer thanksgiving upon arrival and annually thereafter. Thus, on December 4, 1619, the first official English-speaking Thanksgiving service was held at Berkley Hundred. Almost two years later, the Separatists at Plymouth in Massachusetts had prayers and feasting. Of course, the case in Massachusetts in 1621 was dramatic, and it was later publicized by New Englanders. At the time of US Independence, this New England practice was promoted by the Continental Congress. A few years later, the 1789 American Book of Common Prayer included a Thanksgiving Day Office, and parts of this office are still reflected in the 1928 BCP.  The 1962 Canadian BCP also included forms for harvest thanksgiving based on English and Canadian practice.

 It is a normal part of Christian worship to give God thanks for all things. It is also appropriate that we should pause in autumn to give special thanks for the products of the land which sustain and enrich life. As a German hymn based on the Te Deum says, "Now thank we all our God..." 

The 1928 Collect for Thanksgiving Day reads: O most merciful Father, who hast blessed the labours of the husbandman in the returns of the fruits of the earth; We give thee humble and hearty thanks for this thy bounty; beseeching thee to continue thy loving-kindness to us, that our land may still yield her increase, to thy glory and our comfort; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sunday next before Advent/ Trinity XXV- John 6:14, Hebrews 8:6

The 1892 and 1928 American BCPs and some other Prayer Books assign the 1549/1662 propers for Trinity XXV to "the Sunday next before Advent." The Collect, the Epistle (actually from chapter 23 of the prophet Jeremiah), and the Gospel from St. John all contain themes appropriate to anticipate Advent. 

The Gospel (St. John 6:5-14 ) is the familiar story of feeding the 5000. In addition to several points about Christ's nature and work, this story reminds us of the expectations and hopes that Jesus fulfilled. When the people saw His miraculous act, they affirmed that He was "that prophet that should come into the world" (St. John 6: 14 ). He is the one who was to come. He is the prophet like Moses predicted in Deuteronomy 18:15,18.  Indeed, Jesus is much greater than Moses. Not only is He greater than Moses by His divine nature, but He also establishes a covenant greater than the one established through the work of Moses (Hebrews 8:6). 

Of course, orthodox Christian believers think that Jesus is much more than a prophet, but we know that He is also a prophet. In fact, prophet is one of the three functions (along with priest and king) that Christian theology has often used to characterize the work of Christ. Jesus is not just any prophet but the long-expected one. 

As we end a Christian year on this Sunday, we are reminded of completion. Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecies; He was and is the One to come. He completed the work of redemption that was in progress from Adam, continued through Noah to Abraham, and was present in the ministry of Moses and subsequent Hebrew prophets. As we look back at that biblical history, we also look forward. We anticipate a new church year and the continuing work of redemption. Jesus is the One who has already come, but He is also the One who will come again. Although He has accomplished the great acts of redemption, we still await the consummation of His Kingdom. We live between the times, and we continue to look at both great challenges and great opportunities for growth in faith and in service.

Trinity XXIV- Healing- Matthews 9 18-26

For the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, the written collect has roots in the seventh century. It stresses divine goodness and pardon in contrast to human frailty. 

The Gospel from St. Matthew 9:18-26 gives two interwoven examples of Christ's restoration of frail human beings- one young and one who has suffered for twelve years. The account begins with the synagogue official whose daughter is at the point of death. In response to the father's urgent appeal, Jesus sets out to see the girl. Along the way, the woman with the bleeding problem reaches out for what she hopes will be an anonymous cure. She does not escape unnoticed, and Jesus says that her faith has enabled her healing. Then at the synagogue ruler's house, the situation is serious. The daughter seems to have died, and the official mourners have already arrived. Jesus, however, puts a stop to the mourning and lifts the girl up from her deathbed. 

 In these two situations, we see different examples of human desperation: the urgent illness of the official's daughter and the chronic condition of the older woman. Jesus brings divine grace to both cases of human weakness. God in Christ is ready to reach out, but for healing to take place, there is a need for faith. The faith that both the girl's father and the afflicted woman had in Jesus the Christ opened the way for divine power to work. Whatever our frailties- of body, mind, or soul- may our faith in Christ open us to His restorative work.