Sermon for Advent I, Yr. A: Already Taken
- Fr. Paul Allick
- Nov 30
- 4 min read
Advent I, Yr. A: Already Taken
Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
The Reverend Paul D. Allick, Church of the Advent, Nov. 30, 2025
I grew up being terrified of the Second Coming of Christ. I
was told by other Christians that unless I accepted Jesus as
my savior in a particular way and lived under certain
guidelines I would be left behind when Jesus returned to
gather up the good people.
Holy Scripture was used as a threat instead of a promise. I
wonder how many people stay away from Christianity
because they are tired of being threatened.
As we enter the Season of Advent, we are going to hear
readings and prayers which sound threatening. This is
because as we prepare to celebrate the first Advent, the birth
of Jesus, we are reminded also of his second Advent, the
Advent of Christ the King.
We could hear today’s Gospel as a threat. Jesus warns us,
“Therefore, keep awake – for you do not know when the
master of the house will come...do not let him find you
asleep when he appears suddenly!”
There is a theological system among some Christians known
as the “The Rapture.” It dates back only to the 19th century. It
is a theological opinion based in strung together Scripture.
I would argue that it does not have the depth of other more
ancient Church teachings on the subject.
The early Church Fathers and many subsequent teachers
approached these questions in more complex ways.
We believe that Jesus has come as one of us, he will come
again in glory, and he is still with us. God does not use a
calendar or a watch. Christ has come, Christ is risen, Christ
will come again, and it is all happening at once. God does
not live in time. God is eternal.
In the 12th Century, St. Bernard, explained it this way. The
coming of the Lord is threefold. He writes, “The first coming
was in flesh and weakness, the middle coming is in spirit and
power, and the final coming will be in glory and majesty.”
The middle way is now. Every day Christ is with us. We
experience the middle coming every time we pray, meditate
on the Scriptures, or gather for the Holy Eucharist. When we
do these things Jesus comes to dwell with us.
We need not worry about who is going to be taken and who
is going to be left behind. That is God’s job not ours.
We need not worry because in baptism we have already
been taken. Every time we whisper a prayer you are taken.
Every time we gather for worship we are taken.
Now, now is the time of salvation not in some distant
threatening future. Now we lay aside the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light. Now we live honorably as if
that final day is already here.
Today we heard the Prophet Isaiah cry out, “O that you
would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the
mountains would quake at your presence.”
The story of Jesus’ Baptism according to Mark tells us that
this has already happened. Just as Jesus is coming up out
of the water, “he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit
descending like a dove upon him.” God tore open the
heavens and came among us. (Mark 1:10)
According to Matthew at Jesus’ death on the cross, “the
curtain of the temple was torn in two...the earth shook, and
the rocks were split. The tombs were opened and many
bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.”
(Matthew 27:51-52)
St. Paul’s admonition to the Disciples in Rome stands for us
today, “You know what time it is, how it is now the moment
for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now
than when we first believed.”
If we judge Paul on a human timetable, then he sounds silly.
Paul lived two thousand years ago; there was not a Second
Coming. But if we judge Paul’s admonition on God’s
schedule, which exists outside of time because it is eternal,
we realize that we are already waking up and getting
prepared for the Second Coming of Christ.
What is two thousand years to God? Scripture tells us it is
like two days.
We do not stand in fear of God, we stand in absolute awe of
God. And so, we do not wait in fear. We wait in hope.
We wait with the hope spelled out in the Catechism:
“The Christian hope is to live with confidence in newness
and fullness of life, and to await the coming of Christ in glory,
and the completion of God’s purposes for the world.”
(BCP, p. 861)
The very last section of the Catechism is titled, “The
Christian Hope.” And the very last section of that section, the
very last teaching of the Catechism is this:
“Our assurance as Christians is that nothing, not even death,
shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Amen.” (BCP, p. 862)
Reference: Advent Homily: St. Bernard on the Three Comings of the Lord