THEOLOGICAL CLUE

The risen, ascended Lord, Jesus Christ, whose reign has begun, will return at the end of this age, to bring in the fullness of God's Kingdom and reign over all of the affairs of the earth. Be prepared! Wait! Watch! Wonder! Work! Walk!

The First Sunday in Advent is the theological/thematic key to the entire year's preaching from the lectionary; it sets the stage, as it were, by directing the attention of preacher and people upon the completion of God's business with the world in Jesus Christ, the Parousia. By announcing that Christ will come again in glory and judgment, the church year and the liturgy/lectionary remind people that the church is to live as if the Lord were to return today; Christians, who are nourished by the Word as they wonder about the Second Coming of …