Advent Sermons, 2000 The Most Rev. John T. Cahoon, Jr. Metropolitan, Anglican Catholic Church Archbishop Ordinary, Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic States Rector, St. Andrew and St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Catholic Church Alexandria, Virginia

St. Andrew's Day,   November 30, 2000 Advent I,   December 3, 2000 Advent II,   December 10, 2000 Advent III,   December 17, 2000

Advent IV ,  December 24, 2000

The word "Advent" means "coming." In the season of Advent we consider the various comings of Jesus Christ. We look at those comings through the lens of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. Three Sundays ago we considered Death. Two Sundays ago we considered Judgment. Last Sunday we considered Heaven. Today we consider Hell.

Hell may not be the most pleasant subject to contemplate on the eve of Christmas, but it is certainly pleasant to think about not going there. Hell is not a major preoccupation in the Bible, though it is mentioned with some frequency. We have no description of it there that is as detailed as the ones Dante -- or cartoons in the "New Yorker" -- provide.

But we dare not imagine that Hell is not real. Jesus describes God as "him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." We get the idea of hell as a place of final and permanent torment from Revelation. St. John writes, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone ... and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever ... and whosoever was not found in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Last week we suggested that two ways to experience heaven on earth are first to try to look at yourself as God looks at you, and, second, to know that Jesus is the one on whom to focus your life. It seems logical that to begin to experience hell on earth is, first, to refuse to look at yourself as God looks at you, and, second, not to focus yourself upon Jesus.

This morning's lessons give us an inkling of what that is all about. God looks at all of us with love and forgiveness. We cannot receive the forgiveness unless we see ourselves as he sees us -- as sinners who need repentance and reconciliation. In today's epistle St Paul tells us that the Lord is coming, but that we shouldn't worry about it. "The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing."

Jesus is coming again to judge. The only reason to fear the judgment is if you think you can possibly get a verdict of "Not guilty." You can't. You are guilty of sin, of disobeying God. The paradox is that knowing you are guilty frees you from being afraid.

You aren't going to escape hell because you have done a few more good things than bad ones. God does not grade on a curve. You are going to escape hell only when you accept the fact that you deserve to go to hell, but God lets you off the hook because Jesus died. We "rejoice in the Lord alway" because he died for us to keep us out of hell.

The preaching of John the Baptist made him very popular. That made the Jewish establishment in Jerusalem nervous, so they sent a deputation to John to find out who he was and what he was all about. Their biggest worry was that he was going to claim to be the Christ -- the long-awaited savior the Messiah of Israel.

Everybody knew that when the Messiah came he would be a soldier like King David. A soldier like King David would fight the Roman occupying army. The Jewish establishment had a cozy relationship with the Romans, and they didn't want any Messiahs to come along and disturb it.

So they were surely relieved when John told them who he was not -- not the Messiah and not even Elijah, who was supposed to appear just before "the great and terrible day of the Lord." But they probably felt the icy fingers when John told them who he was.

He said, "You think I am threatening. Just wait until you see the one who is coming after me. He is greater than I am. I am not worthy even to untie his shoes. I am not the Messiah, but I am the one Isaiah said would come along before the Messiah. I am the voice who cries in the wilderness to make a straight path for the Lord."

Again the focus is upon Jesus and one's response to him. At his Presentation Simeon said that Jesus was "set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against ... that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

Jesus himself says that the Holy Ghost will show the world what sin really is. Sin is not believing in Jesus and what he has done for us. Whether you go to heaven or hell in the end will be determined, finally, by what you think about Jesus.

Do you accept him as your Lord -- the one whom you must obey? Do you accept him as your savior -- the one who died to forgive your sins and take you to heaven, even though you deserve to go to hell?

The word "Advent" means "coming." In the season of Advent we consider the various comings of Jesus Christ. We look at those comings through the lens of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell, Three Sundays ago we considered Death. Two Sundays ago we considered Judgment. Last Sunday we considered Heaven. Today we have considered Hell.

The Collect: O Lord, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: Philippians 4: 4 - 7

The Gospel: St. John 1: 19 - 28

The word "Advent" means "coming." In the season of Advent we consider the various comings of Jesus Christ. We look at those comings through the lens of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. Two Sundays ago we considered Death. Last Sunday we considered Judgment. Today we shall consider Heaven.

We all probably know a good bit more about heaven than we may think we do. In the Lord's Prayer we learn that heaven is the place where God the Father lives, and it is the place where his will is always done-he gets exactly what he wants. From the creeds we know that heaven is also the place where Jesus is sitting down at his Father's right, waiting to come back to earth for the judgment we talked about last week.

We know that heaven is away from the earth, because when Jesus went back to heaven he went up. From other parts of the Scriptures we know that heaven is a place where God is being praised and sung to much of the time, that it is like a wedding banquet, and that it is a city, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of the sky at the end of the world.

But the most important thing we know is that heaven is the place we want to go in the end. It is pointless to be in church if you don't want to end up in heaven. Heaven is the place where we shall be in the presence of God for eternity. Heaven is the place where God will wipe away all tears from our eyes-where we shall not hunger or thirst, and it won't be too hot.

Last week, when we talked about judgment, I suggested to you that one reason we can believe in the judgment that will come at the end of the world is that we see judgment happening now. We can accept the idea that it will happen in a final sort of way at the last day, because we experience it now.

Heaven is the same. We can believe in a heaven at the end, because we have experiences of heaven now. Neither of today's lessons talks specifically about heaven, but both of them talk about the kinds of earthly experiences which give us a foretaste of heaven and help focus us upon it.

St. Paul was not particularly popular with the Christian congregation in Corinth. He was their bishop. Problems between them arose because people from the congregation loved to keep him posted on what was going on there that was wrong -- flagrant fornication, drunkenness in church, spiritual pride, and factionalism of the most obnoxious variety.

St. Paul did not hesitate to write to them to try to set them straight. It should not surprise you that they did not like it very much. In today's epistle tells them that he doesn't care what they think about him. His job is not to be popular with them, but to be faithful to God.

He says that he can't think of anything he has done wrong in his ministry toward them, but that it doesn't matter what he thinks, because the only person whose assessment of him matters is the Lord. He cautions the Corinthians not to be so sure that they know enough about everybody else to judge them, because when the Lord comes he is going to make everything clear. He is going to reveal the darkness that is in human beings and what is really going on in their hearts. When that happens, everyone will have the evaluation from God he really deserves.

St. Paul is not just advising you to put up with your clergyman whether you like him or not as long as he does what he should. He is saying that you will never be contented in this world until you realize that the only person you need or should want to please is God. God knows all about you. He knows things you don't even know about yourself.

If you can't know yourself fully, how can you think you know the whole truth about anyone else? Heaven on earth is looking at yourself as God looks at you. Heaven on earth is realizing that you need to repent and shape up. Heaven on earth is getting Christ's forgiveness in the church.

Today's gospel is about John the Baptist and his doubts about Jesus. John baptized in the wilderness, because God told him if he did he would show him who the Messiah was. Later on he called the king an adulterer accurately -- and he was in jail facing death. He wasn't sure Jesus was the one-that it had all been worth it -- so he sent his disciples to find out.

Instead of saying, "Of course I'm the one, don't you remember the dove that landed on me when I was baptized?" Jesus says, "If John wants to know if I am the one, tell him what is going on." All the things Jesus said were happening were the things the prophet Isaiah had said would happen when the Messiah finally came: hearings, and the preaching of good news.

So experiencing heaven on earth is tied up with recognizing that Jesus is the one. To be in heaven right now is to focus yourself upon Jesus-what he has done for you, what he wants from you, what he promises you. Having a realistic assessment of yourself, and knowing Jesus are two ways to heaven on earth. We believe it will happen later, because we can experience it now.

The word "Advent" means "coming." In Advent we consider the various comings of Jesus Christ. We look at those comings through the lens of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. Two Sundays ago we considered Death. Last Sunday we considered Judgment. Today we have considered Heaven.

The Collect: O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee; Grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 4: 1 - 5

The Gospel: St. Matthew 11: 2 - 10

Advent II (Also called "Bible Sunday"),  December 10, 2000

The word "Advent" means "coming." In Advent, we consider the various comings of Jesus Christ. We look at those comings through the lens of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. Last week we considered Death. Today we consider Judgment.

The Advent collect makes it clear. At the last day, Jesus will come in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead. He came quietly the first time. Next time he will come in such a way that no one will miss it. Next time he is going to judge the living and the dead. Next time we are going to find out who ends up in heaven and who ends up in hell.

The lessons for this morning are, in light of this overall theme, really rather sunny in tone. In the epistle St. Paul tells us that if we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Bible -- the Holy Scriptures -- then the Bible will comfort us with hope.

In the gospel Jesus talks about the horrible calamities that will take place in the sky and on the earth just before he comes again. But he adds, "Don't worry, be happy." When all these things start happening, don't go hide under the bed. Instead, look up -- lift up your heads. The end of the world means the coming of your redemption. When I come back, you are going to heaven. Why should you be scared at all?

The hopeful and positive spin that Jesus and St. Paul both place upon the coming end of the world certainly suggests that we are going to get through the judgment successfully. So what is the judgment going to be?

The judgment that Jesus will bring at the end of the world will be no different from the ones you are experiencing this morning. Perhaps you didn't know that you are facing judgment this morning. Let me tell you how it is happening.

You are judged, first of all, by the Summary of the Law. Jesus tells us that God's standard for our behavior is that we love him and love all our neighbors just as we love ourselves -- all the time, no exceptions. When you measure yourself by that standard, you experience God's judgment.

Then come the lessons -- the collect, the epistle and the gospel. Do you live up to that which the collect prays? Do you understand the epistle and the gospel enough to live by what they say? Measuring yourself by the proper lessons is a further experience of the judgment of God.

The most explicit judgment will come later on when I recite the conditions under which you can presume to come to the altar rail to receive Holy Communion. You have to repent of your sins, you have to be in love and charity with everybody else, and you have to intend to lead a new life.

The new life is the life you live in obedience to God's commandments rather than in slavery to your own self-centered whims.

That is what judgment is. The judgment at the end of the world is going to take place after an extremely dramatic light show and the raising of all the dead people out of their graves in new bodies, and it is going to be in front of the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ come back to earth in the flesh and on the clouds who is going to be looking you right in the eye.

The judgment in the end is going to take place under far more exciting circumstances than a quiet Sunday morning at a pretty little Virginia church with the comfort of padded pews and the lovely Prayer Book language -- but it is going to be fundamentally identical.

The question at the judgment is the same as the question the Prayer Book service asks, "Did you keep all God's laws perfectly?" The only honest answer is, "No. I did not." The judgment on everybody is the same. There is no way to escape the truth. St. Paul says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." All. Even you.

We can not evade the judgment. The verdict on everyone is, "Guilty as charged." We can't say, "But look at all the good I did." We won't be allowed to blame it all on our parents, or our ill-advised marriage, or on the fact that we thought God didn't really mean it when he said to go to church every Sunday and pray and read the Bible every day. Our favorite rationalizations and self-delusions and denials are just not going to work.

The issue will not be, "Am I guilty?" You are guilty, let me assure you. The issue at the judgment will be, "Do you admit it? Are you sorry about it? Are you willing to accept the fact that the only way you can escape the consequences of God's guilty verdict is to say, "Jesus died for me. Jesus already took the punishment I deserve"?

That is what you are getting in practice for every Sunday, whether you realize it or not. We say it in the confession when we acknowledge that our bad behavior has provoked most justly God's wrath and indignation against us. And then we ask God for mercy, and we claim it with confidence "for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake."

The judgment at the end will be like the judgment now. The way to find that out is to read the Bible and come to Bible class and pay attention to what is going on on Sunday mornings. You are here to get ready for the end. You are here to get used to facing the judgment of God.

The word "Advent' means "coming. In Advent we consider the various comings of Jesus Christ. We look at those comings through the lens of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. Last week we considered Death. Today we have considered Judgment.

The Collect. Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 15: 4 - 13

The Gospel: St. Luke 21: 25 - 33

Advent I,  December 3, 2000

The word "Advent" means "coming." In Advent we consider the various comings of Jesus Christ. We look at his comings through the lens of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. Today we consider Death.

This morning's gospel describes Jesus' coming into Jerusalem for the last time. He has visited Jerusalem many times before, but never with any particular fanfare. Today he comes quite publicly -- into the midst of a screaming crowd -- and he is riding on the back of a donkey.

Jesus uses the donkey quite deliberately, as a way of fulfilling a prophecy. Zechariah had said many centuries before that when the true king of Israel appeared, he would ride into his capital city on a donkey. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew exactly what reaction his donkey ride would provoke.

Jesus knew something else which no one in the crowd knew. That was that he was not coming into Jerusalem to be anointed king, and he was not coming to be acclaimed as a guerrilla leader who would fight against the Romans. Jesus was coming into Jerusalem to die.

One clear advantage Jesus had over us is that he knew when he was going to die. He talks all through St. John's gospel about his hour and how his hour has not yet come. On Palm Sunday he told his disciples that his hour had now come. He had come to Jerusalem to die.

Quite unlike Jesus, we echo King David's psalm, and we ask God, "Lord, let me know mine end and the number of my days, that I may be certified how long I have to live." That is to say, "Please God, tell me how much time I have left. Tell me when I am going to die." God replies to us as he replied to David -- with silence.

In today's epistle, St. Paul reminds us that we are constantly facing a spiritual deadline. He is telling us that the time to make the decision to give ourselves wholeheartedly to Christ is now, not some other time later on when we don't have so much else going on in our lives.

St. Paul is an alarm clock. He says that if we know what is really going on we will know that it is time to wake up. The opportunity to be saved is right here, right now -- not some other time in some other situation. We don't know when we are going to die, and by then it might be too late. We don't know when Jesus is going to come back, and by then it might be too late also.

Events that will come up later on in the church year assure us that we do not need to be afraid to die. Death is not oblivion, death is the gate to heaven and to the fullness of eternal life. Death holds no terror for those who are prepared for its coming.

Are you prepared to die? Do you realize that you could die this afternoon? St. Paul says that being ready to die is as simple as getting up and putting on fresh clothing. He tells us to "cast off the works of darkness" -- get rid of our sins by admitting them, and saying we are sorry for them, and getting God's forgiveness, and then trying to shape up.

And he tells us not to stay naked but, instead, to get dressed -- "put on the armor of light." Don't do anything you would be ashamed to have other people see. That is what "walk honestly, as in the day" means. Dressing up in light means trying to look like Jesus. If we dress up like Jesus -- if we pretend that we are what he is, then the Holy Ghost will help us become more and more like him. So "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ."

The word "Advent" means "coming". In Advent we consider the various comings of Jesus Christ. We look at those comings through the lens of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.

Today we have considered Death.

The Collect: Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy 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 quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

Revised January 5, 2001.