12 Step Eucharist
Advent 1 St. Mark’s December 1, 2021
Luke 21:25-31. Second Coming and Waiting Joanna Seibert
Advent signifies the beginning of our church’s new year. We begin our new year celebration out of sync with the rest of the world by hearing about Jesus’ second coming. Indeed, there is almost always a small 50-word news item about predicting Jesus’ eminent return, sometimes using signs from holy scripture. Others predict Jesus’ return by what is happening in the world, “the roaring of the sea and waves, people fainting from fear, distress among nations,/ signs in the sun, the moon, and stars.”/ Indeed, we believe this second coming will happen sometime in the future, maybe sooner than later.
But those in recovery perhaps know better than any others about the Second Coming. We have already experienced it. It happens to us every day if we allow it. We undoubtedly had some experience of God as a child. It may have been the God of love or a God who was a hall monitor, watching for our every mistake. Something kept tugging at us like a dog nipping and barking at our heels. We would listen to this call at times, but ignored it when we became too busy or when things were not going our way. We found other forms of love and comfort and holiness, our work, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, shopping, relationships, even family. The list goes on. Then all these experiences of self-love turned on us and became part of the problem, rather than the solution. We became hopeless.
By some miracle, in our desperate state, we heard the voice of God of love more clearly. Some might call it a moment of clarity. We learned we were loved despite all the harm we had caused. We discovered, no matter what we had done or thought that this God still loved us. God loved us as we are/ but loved us also enough to want us to change. We learned about staying connected to this God. We learned about forgiveness. We realized we were more than what we did or said. I keep remembering a very wealthy woman who had it all, who once sat beside me at a recovery meeting. She was called on, and she spoke. Then she immediately turned to me and asked, “Was that all right?” I still see the pain in her face. We all indeed share her story. We want to say the right thing. The God of love tells us to speak our truth, but then let it go. Honestly, this is the story of our whole life. Do the next right thing, and give the results to God. We strive to stay as connected to the God of love as possible, and turn our life, the results, all over to God.
In Advent, we are reminded to stay connected to the Christ Child who came into the world and the Christ Child already within us. This Christ Child keeps becoming more present in our lives if we only listen./
Advent is a time of quiet, of listening, of waiting, of gratitude. There is no way adequately to give thanks for the presence of the Christ Child in our lives. Our veiled attempts to give thanks/ become genuine by remembering and sharing our story with others, especially members of our family who may be at risk. Advent is a time to remember that the Christ who comes and lives in our hearts is best heard in the silence of our lives. Like the Christ Child, who was first born so many years ago, the Christ Child in our hearts is the antithesis of our culture, which has become noisier and noisier this time of the year./
So tonight, we come here one more time to this holy place, to experience silence, to give thanks for Christ’s presence in the world and within us. We remember the miraculous rebirth,/ the second coming that came, and continues to come into our lives.