1st Sunday Of Advent
Deacon Tom Vert
Preached: December 1, 2024
“Stand up! And lift your heads!”
This line from the gospel today is just after Jesus has entered Jerusalem for the last time.
He has cleared the temple of the money changers, he has answered the “trick” questions of the Pharisees and Sadducees, he has foretold the destruction of the great temple in Jerusalem, and he is only days away from the Last Supper and his passion and death at Calvary.
He is warning of things to come and says to the people: “But when these signs begin to happen,
stand up and lift your heads”. The word he uses for “stand up” is interesting, because it is an action word, and he has used it before!
The disciples (and all of us) would recognize it, because he used it when he told the crippled man who was lowered down from the ceiling after he healed him: “I say to you, stand up. Take your mat and go.”
We heard it when Jairus came to Christ looking to heal his daughter who the people believed was dead.
And we are told “Jesus took her by the hand and called out, “Stand up, child!” Her life returned, and she got up at once”.
So, when he tells the people to stand up, he is calling them to action! Stand up, do not be afraid of the signs and tribulations that you see, but instead, witness to Christ!
He tells them to ensure their hearts do not become complacent in their faith or get distracted by the anxieties of daily life. They are called to be vigilant and waiting for Christ each day in eager anticipation! This reading hints at this vigilance for the second coming of Christ, but I think also, and maybe more importantly for us, for his coming when each of us dies individually.
“The day may catch you off guard as a surprise” we hear…and isn’t that true for each and every one of us? We think we will live to the average of 85 years old in Canada or maybe longer if we have taken care of ourselves, but this is not true! Today or tomorrow might be the day that we will die and meet Christ, and we are called to be ready.
“Stand up”, he tells us, do not be afraid of the signs and tribulations that you see, but instead, witness to Christ…and we ask why? Because Jesus says, “your redemption is at hand.”
The great apostles Peter and Paul tell us what this redemption means. Paul uses the word redemption in Galatians to explain to us what Jesus accomplished for us through his death on the cross. Christ’s purpose in entering the world as a child at just the right time was to redeem those who were enslaved to sin.
St. Peter reinforces this saying “we have been redeemed from a futile, sinful life not with gold or silver but with the precious blood of the Lamb of God.” Christ coming to earth and his death on the cross is our cause for joy!
This is the great message that we hear in the second reading today to the Thessalonians. St. Paul is commending them for their clinging to the faith, for standing up, despite the daily persecutions, suffering and alienation of the Christians at that time.
Whereas the Corinthians were always infighting, the Thessalonians always held steadfast to the gospel message and conducted themselves as beacons of light in the world. They are commended for “standing up” and being holy, being Christ-like, thinking of others and abounding in love.
So, the challenge for us in today’s message is how are we to “stand up and lift our heads” in a world with daily stresses of wars, struggling finances, climate change and personal crisis?
How do we stand up at once, take up our mat, and walk the path of Christ?
I would suggest that we look at the psalm that we have sung today, psalm 25.
In psalm 25 we can see the key words to see how we are to stand up: We hear “make me walk in your truth”, so let us tell the truth and not lie or gossip about another person this week.
Then it says, “he guides the humble” and so let us be humble and serve others without them knowing and asking for no recognition.
And finally, it states we are to “keep his covenant”, so let us keep his two key commandments to love God and love our neighbour in the small actions each day.
So, for these next four weeks of Advent, we should challenge ourselves to become even better Catholic Christians of action, in humility and love of our Saviour, who came into the world 2000 years ago in a spirit of self-giving love, to bridge the gap of heaven and earth.
Let us rise each morning, “Stand up! And lift our heads!”
