This coming Sunday initiates the season of Advent, a time when the church anticipates the arrival of Christ in the world. For most of us, I imagine, Advent means awaiting the birth of the infant Jesus, born in Bethlehem long ago. Yet as this week’s lectionary readings make clear, Advent in fact situates the church between two acts of expectant waiting. We do indeed remember the original waiting, an anticipation of the arrival of the Christ-child in the manger. But there is also a second act of waiting taking place, as we look forward to the yet future coming of the Son of Man, heralding God’s uncontested reign upon earth.

Baby Jesus and the Son of Man

In my own experience, the church is much more comfortable with the first of these waitings than with the second. We like silent, holy nights. We look forward to a babe in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. But most of us are pretty uncomfortable with the idea of a second coming.

Yet this week’s Gospel lection (Luke 21:25-36), insists that we recognize Advent not only as a remembrance of the past arrival of the Christ child but also as an anticipation of the future arrival of the Son of Man, whom we will see “coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27). It reminds us that the second arrival of Jesus—not as a child but as a heavenly figure full of power and might—will upend the order of things, bringing distress to the earth and shaking even the powers of the heavens (Luke 21:25-26). That Advent will upend the world.

It’s no wonder we prefer to focus on the little baby Jesus. He seems so non-threatening. Yet an Advent that looks only backwards is an Advent of the establishment. It is an Advent that insists things are already the way they should be, that all is right with the world.

Advent Upends the World

But a future-focused Advent recognizes the deep injustices in the world that remain to be rectified. Indeed, according to the text, the arrival of the Son of Man will be a wrenching experience for those deeply invested in the status quo. It will make the earth tremble. It will shake the heavens. It will fill the Empire with fear and foreboding—for the times are about to change.

This texts insists that Advent, properly celebrated, ought not be a time of nostalgic recollection of the past, nor a confirmation of the world as it is. Rather, Advent should be a time to examine the injustices of the world, to recognize the places where the earth needs to tremble and the heavens need to shake. Advent should be a time to steel our resolve for the struggle ahead, to renew our strength in the quest for righteousness and justice and peace. For the powers of exploitation, domination, and death will not yield quietly to the righteousness and justice of God.

Alert and On Guard

When Jesus describes our Advent, he tells us to “be on guard” (21:34) and to “be alert at all times” (21:36). This is not passive waiting but urgent waiting, attuned to the work of God in the world. Jesus worries that we will become so weighed down with “carousing and drunkenness” (21:34) that we will forget to engage in the struggle for the arrival of justice and righteousness in the world. He is concerned that we will become so distracted by “the worries of this life” (21:34) that we will forget to imagine that another world is possible—one in which people will live together in peace.

This text reminds us that Advent is about justice. It warns us not to be so caught up in holiday shopping that we forget to be enraged by the tear-gassing of children on our borders. It cautions us against becoming so nostalgic for Christmases past that we overlook the injustices of Christmas present. It reminds us that the Advent of Christ is not an accomplished fact but yet still a future aspiration. What was initiated on that first Christmas will be consummated when the Son of Man returns.

God’s justice and righteousness are yet coming into the world. Stay alert!