The Rev. Joseph Peters-Mathews is the vicar of St. Hilda St. Patrick. The text for the day was 2 Peter 3.8-15a. The sermon was based on the below manuscript .
“Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins,
that we may greet with joy
the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer.”
In her spectacular book on Advent,
Fleming Rutledge writes,
“Of all the seasons of the church year,
Advent most closely mirrors the daily lives
of Christians and of the church,
asks the most important ethical questions,
presents the most accurate picture of the human condition,
and above all,
orients us to the future of the God
who will come again.” [1]
Our text from Second Peter,
fits that bill perfectly.
Peter is writing to the whole church,
to “those who have received a faith
as precious as ours
through the righteousness
of our God and Savior Jesus the Christ” (2 Pet. 1.1b).
Thirty years after Jesus’ ascension
and the church wants to know when Jesus is coming back.
It’s like Peter was writing for us,
for the whole church
to those who have received a faith
as precious as ours
through the righteousness
of our God and Savior Jesus the Christ.”
We hear these words in Advent,
the season that orients us to the future of the God
who will come again.
Two thousand years later,
and Jesus hasn’t returned.
Eight and a half months since our doors first closed,
and this virus hasn’t let up.
A hundred and fifty years since the end of the Civil War,
fifty-six years since the Civil Rights Act,
and racism is still a problem
Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color face daily —
from the heavy sigh
to driving while Black.
We join the early church in crying
How long, O Lord, how long?
We beg with the early church,
Come, Lord Jesus!
Now, though, maybe things seem different.
A vaccine is starting to be distributed.
The deaths of George Floyd,
Breonna Taylor,
and Ahmaud Arbery
may have been watersheds
and change may be on the way.
It could all fall through.
The deaths of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Sandra Bland,
and Charleena Lyles didn’t change anything.
Almost 2,900 Americans died from COVID on Thursday,
and we’ll hit 300,000 total dead in the US
before we know it —
especially at that rate.
Two thousand years later,
and Jesus hasn’t returned.
How long, O Lord, how long?
Come, Lord Jesus!
Whether waiting 30 years or 2,000 years,
Peter tries to set the church’s mind at ease:
“with the Lord one day is like a thousand years,
and a thousand years are like one day.
The Lord is not slow about his promise,
as some think of slowness,
but is patient with you,
not wanting any to perish,
but all to come to repentance.”
He says, “We wait for new heavens and a new earth,
where righteousness is at home.”
We wait for new heavens and a new earth,
where those who do what they can to make a difference
are the normal folk.
Peter, in this passage, is reassuring those who are reading,
that God knows what God is doing.
The world has been redeemed by Jesus the Christ,
and he will return when the time is right.
God is giving ample opportunity
for the changing of hearts
before judgment, praise, and punishment.
Those to whom Peter is writing
know deeply of Jesus,
written about the same time as Mark.
They know the lives they are called to live
as Jesus’ followers.
Peter admonishes them
to be waiting for and hastening
the coming of the day of God.
Waiting for
and hastening
by leading lives of holiness and godliness.
Doing what they can to make a difference,
through their faith in Jesus,
empowered by the Holy Spirit.
“Therefore, beloved,
while you are waiting for these things,
strive to be found by him at peace,
without spot or blemish;
and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.”
How long, O Lord, how long?
Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.
Come, Lord Jesus!
Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.
Hopefully the vaccines for COVID19 are effective
and are received in such a way
that things can get back to some version of before —
maybe a version with more righteousness,
and more waiting for and hastening
the coming of the day of God.
Hopefully the tide is turning
and racial injustices are being noticed
and will start being rectified.
What we long for, what we hope for,
may not happen,
certainly not in the timeline we want.
That’s what Advent tells us.
That’s the Christian life.
“The Lord is not slow about his promise,
as some think of slowness,
but is patient with you,
not wanting any to perish,
but all to come to repentance.”
As we’ve failed so many times before,
we can regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.
As we are waiting for these things,
striving to be found by Jesus at peace,
without spot or blemish,
we look to him as our hope and salvation
who has redeemed the world,
and will return when the time is right. Amen.
[1] Rutledge, Fleming. Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ (p. 1). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.