Advent is such a strange season, and it stands in contrast to the Christmas season buzzing all around us. The day after Halloween, as we all flipped our calendars from October to November, Christmas music started playing from the speakers in pretty much every store. The songs featured the gentle rhythm of jingle bells and words wishing for a Christmas that is gentle, mild, comforting, and like the ones we remember from childhood. Fuzzy slippers went on sale, and matching pajama sets were moved into display windows or to the front of the store for shoppers to see first thing as they walked in from the parking lot. Christmas movies–so.many.movies–have gentle snow falling at just the right time, and hardened characters changing from joyless scrooges into generous, compassionate people who bring joy to others.

The expressions of Christmas all around us are those of joy, and peace, and gentleness, which makes the beginning of Advent seem so out of place. Every year, the Scripture readings for the first week of Advent are readings of warning and prophecy. They arise from dramatic and difficult situations, and preachers everywhere are left scratching their heads wondering how on earth these pronouncements from the prophets can speak words of life into a society that is running on “gentle and mild” with copious cups of hot cocoa and dozens of Hallmark movies.

Or…maybe this isn’t a problem for preachers everywhere. Maybe I’m showing my own inner scrooge. I hope not, but I’ll admit maybe it is a possibility.

 In our Scripture passage from Luke, Jesus speaks these prophetic words: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 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.” Fainting from fear? Foreboding? The powers of the heavens being shaken? Merry Christmas?

Yet, the Gospel writers and the prophets knew we needed to start here because this is what’s real. The struggles of our lives, the wilderness and desert places, the grief and loss we face are real and present, and the good news of Jesus doesn’t shallowly skip over all of that. Instead, it enters into it. The Gospel comes down, lives in the struggle, and urges us, “Stand up, raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

During this Advent season as we attend parties, buy gifts, and as we reflect on memories of comfort and feelings of home, our sermon series “Stay Awhile” will be focusing on the hospitality of God. We will focus on four movements of God’s hospitality–Invite, Plan, Prepare, and Welcome–in the hopes that these movements will help us get our hearts ready for the birth of the Christ child. 

Today we begin with Invite–the invitation. When we plan a gathering or an event, we invite people to join us. We invite them in advance so they can keep their calendars free and we have time to prepare. I would guess most of us have experience with invitations–both negative experiences, and some positive. I remember watching as classmates of mine in elementary school would sneakily hand out birthday invitations to their friends. I would hope (with a bit of a pit in my stomach) that they would hand an invitation to me. I was a little bit like Charlie Brown going to the mailbox wondering if today was the day he would finally get invited. Invitations let us know we belong. They let us know we are wanted, we are cared about, we are thought of. 

In the book Stay Awhile, author and minister Kara Eidson says this about the prophetic Scriptures we find for the first week of Advent: “At the time of the prophet Jeremiah, the Jewish people were not in need of a party, but they were in desperate need of hope. The prophet extends an invitation to hope and goes on to list reasons that the people ought to accept the invitation. Although the text from Jeremiah has a lighter and more hopeful ring than the text from Luke, Jeremiah’s proclamation of hope is set in one of Israel’s most dire moments.”

Earlier in the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah issued warning after warning to the people of Israel. He tried to call them back to God, to get them to see their need for repentance and a fresh start. But by the time chapter 33 was written, disaster was on the horizon. It was no longer time for doom and gloom, even though doom and gloom were certainly on the way. What the people needed to know was that this would not last forever. 

Kathryn Schifferdecker, professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary says this about Jeremiah’s message: “The armies of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, are advancing on Jerusalem…The worst has not yet happened, but it is inevitable. Any reasonable person can see that the city is doomed. Jeremiah’s many prophecies of judgment–prophecies that have landed him in prison–are coming true. Yet now, in the midst of catastrophe, the prophet finally speaks words of promise! In the previous chapter, [Jeremiah] has purchased a piece of land, a foolish thing to do in a country soon to be conquered by invading armies. Nevertheless, he has purchased the land as a pledge, as earnest of God’s redemption: ‘For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land’ (32:15). In the midst of impending doom, a sign of hope is enacted.”

We live in a world where a lot of things seem wrong. People we love get sick. Bad things happen to good people, and we can’t understand why. Conflicts rage around the world, and the news tells us that we have a lot of things to be afraid of. Into all of this, God is whispering a word of invitation calling us to embrace the hope that God is with us. 

This Advent season, whether you are feeling stressed out by your growing to-do list, feeling sad because someone you love is missing around the table, are dealing with another sort of challenge, or are just taking every day as it comes, God is inviting us to stand up, lift up our heads, and receive the good news that our redemption is drawing near. 

Jeremiah received God’s promise of hope by purchasing a vineyard when it seemed foolish to do so. What would it look like for you to receive God’s invitation to hope? What would it look like for all of us to receive God’s invitation to hope? 

Kara Eidson wrote about watching out the window when she was a child as she waited for people to come visit. When she was a child, this kind of waiting was passive. There wasn’t much she could do besides waiting excitedly. Now that she’s an adult, she watches out the window to see if she has any more time left to finish her preparations. She waits, but with a purpose. She waits actively. 

The shocking words of the prophets and of Jesus about the sign of the times are not intended to make us afraid, but are intended to spur us to action. They are meant to encourage us to wait for God’s redemption, but to do so actively. Just like we would wash the dishes and mop the floor before guests arrive, waiting for the kingdom of God looks like doing the work of living the kingdom while we wait. It looks like slowing down enough to see the person in front of us who has a need. It looks like making space in our lives and in our homes for community, for caring for each other, for loving others. 

This morning, we experience the invitation to hope, the invitation into the hospitality of God, as we gather around the Lord’s table. In this meal, we receive the nourishment we need for the journey. We are encouraged and strengthened as we feast together. And we are reminded to wait for the coming of the Savior actively, by inviting others to receive the same hope that we have been given in Jesus Christ. As we receive the hospitality and hope of God, may we be encouraged to extend that same hospitality and hope to others. As we have been invited, may we become people who invite others to the feast. Unlike in our homes, there is no shortage of room around God’s table, and there are no shortage of invitations. Friends, God is inviting you. Pull up a chair, and come to the feast. Amen.