Archbishop of Sydney

Perhaps it is because I am getting older (I do not like to admit that I am old), I am now regularly surprised that Advent has come along so quickly. But there is no escaping the fact that now we should be preparing for the feast of Christmas. Christmas decorations are out in many of the shops, although Christ is rarely sighted; the jacaranda blooms on the east of the cathedral are almost gone and summer will soon be upon us officially.

 

We have all heard many times that Christ Our Lord comes in at least three different ways. He was born of Mary in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago. He will come into our hearts and will remain there, if we decide to welcome him. And we believe in faith that Christ will come again as judge at the end of time, as today’s Gospel from Luke indicates, returning to the theme of a number of readings in ordinary time in November. After all the terrible signs the people will see “The Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Such is our belief, although it is not often at the forefront of our consciousness.

 

However today I want to say a few words about the second meaning of Advent. What consequences follow, what does it mean to say that we accept Jesus Our Saviour into our hearts? Where are the Lord’s ways and paths, mentioned in the psalm, taking us?

 

We are told that the Lord guides the humble in the right path and teaches his way to the poor. What does this mean to us ordinary folk in everyday terms?

 

Night follows day. The four seasons come around all too quickly. The Eastern religions speak of the everlasting wheel of return, the cyclical nature of reality, like the earth revolving around the sun. Today some scientists and philosophers deny that there is any point to all this repetition in nature. Human life is a gigantic meaningless fluke.

 

The coming of the Son of God into history in a stable at Bethlehem is a marker event. It signals that something new and definitive has happened; God is with us. The world has changed by his birth and will change further with his death and resurrection and the redemption this will achieve.

 

We now take it for granted that history is moving forward, not always for the better, but is moving forward, not travelling in meaningless circles.

 

Scientists now believe the world began with a big bang, a definitive beginning. Some of them were reluctant to leave behind the theory that the universe was eternal, with no beginning, because the big bang theory was compatible with the Judaeo – Christian idea of God’s creation.

 

Within that history of creation, God has also visited his people to confirm that human existence, with all its uncertainties, problems and suffering, has a deep meaning for everyone. Put quite simply, even for those in terrible circumstances it is worth continuing to struggle, because God has demonstrated his interest in each one of us by coming among us, and by suffering as we sometimes do. Indeed he suffered more than most humans are called to suffer.

 

Jesus is the virtuous branch grown for David, foretold in Jeremiah. Therefore those who accept that the Son of God has come will be saved and will be able to dwell in confidence. Christians should be people of hope.

 

People today frequently talk about the importance of freedom, of autonomy. People do not like to be told what to do or what to believe. Many like to do their own thing, find their own path.

 

But in many ways many of these same people feel more powerless than ever, unable to influence events in our complicated and heavily regulated technological society. Some even claim that our genes completely dominate and determine our personal history.

 

Christian people believe in freedom. We also believe that with prayer and grace we can exercise this freedom to know God, to do good and resist the evil influences that exist in every society.

 

We do not have to be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, even if many around us have been caught in this way. With perseverance our hearts can be confirmed in holiness and become blameless in the sight of God.

 

We are not appealing for help to a remote, impersonal Motor behind history and the Universe. We are appealing to a God of love, who sent his Son to live and suffer and die as we do.

 

As Jesus did the will of His Father, so too we can exercise our freedom in unexpected ways for the good. Christians believe that sometimes leopards can change their spots i.e. that sinners and unbelievers can be converted, change for the better and remain that way. That is what we include when we speak of a time where the lamb will lie down with the lion.

 

In other words, because we know Christ, we can make more and more progress in the kind of life we are meant to live, as St. Paul explained to the people of Thessalonica. That is the life of God wants of each of us. Jesus’ coming should make a difference to our daily lives. Advent and Christmas are times for us to realise this more fully, work out in our own terms the difference Christ makes to us.

 

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.