Wake Up! Attend!: 28 November, 2021

Advent is a time for hopeful watching and listening, for paying attention to the God who loves . . . Pay attention then to what you hear, words of life, words about “a just shoot” that God will raise up for us, words of hope about one coming on the clouds with power and glory. Pay attention to the light, that small flickering light of an advent wreath, which speaks of love that conquers fear. Pay attention to the God who right now draws near. –– Raymond Studzinski

Luke 21:25–36

A quick glance at Luke 21 may have you thinking, “What is good about it?” . . . Luke speaks of cosmic signs . . . of global signs on earth: international distress and confusion; people fainting from fear and foreboding . . . of oceanic signs: “the roaring of the sea and the waves” (v 25).

But don’t stop reading there: “Then they will see the ‘Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (vv 27–28). Redemption, not your destruction: redemption, not destruction. That is what makes the real difference between reading the signs and reading the Gospel. Those who read the Gospel know the real deal. We know what it is that is really coming; what is really around the corner; what is lying at the end of salvation history. For those who are alert, who are not caught in spiritual slumber, they will be able to see it when it arrives. It is nothing less than the in-breaking kingdom of God. –– G. Kevin Baker

1 Thessalonians 3:9–13

The second reading from the first letter to the Thessalonians finds Paul addressing the pastoral issue of the so-called delay of the Parousia that was worrying the first generation of Christians. They were concerned about the death of their loved ones prior to Jesus’ return, but the passage underlines the joyful character that is to mark this interim period of waiting on the fulfillment of his promise. –– John Rollefson

Jeremiah 33:14–16

Advent is a time for learning about what to really fear and another way to deal with fear; it’s about learning to face fear and live in the light. In fact, we know from the scriptures that to have the fear of God always before one’s eyes is salutary. Fear of God is a liberating fear, not a paralyzing one, because to fear God means to be mindful of God’s constant and abiding presence and care . . . The fear of God drives out one of the worst of human fears: the fear of abandonment, when we are left all alone with no resources. The fear of God assures us in the face of all other fears that we are not alone, that this great God holds us in the very center of the divine attention. Advent is a time for living with an increased sense of God’s presence, of the little light that is always there even in the darkest moments, overcoming paralyzing fear. –– Raymond Studzinski

Raymond Studzinski, OSB, a monk of St. Meinrad Archabbey, teaches in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America, and published Reading to Live: The Evolving Practice of Lectio Divina (Cistercian Publications, 2009).

John Rollefson, a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has served congregations in Los Angeles, Ann Arbor, Milwaukee, and San Francisco.

Melinda Quivik, an ordained ELCA pastor (who served churches in Montana, Michigan, and Minnesota) and former professor of worship and preaching, is the Editor-in-Chief of Liturgy, a writer, and a preaching mentor with Backstory Preaching at backstory-preaching.mn.co.

Homily Service 43, no. 1 (2009): 4-13.

David Turnbloom