THEOLOGICAL CLUE

The Second Sunday in Advent is clearly oriented toward preparation for the coming of the Lord. This preparation has two dimensions: to prepare "our hearts" - which God is constantly attempting to do through his Word and Spirit - for the Second Coming of the Lord; and, to "prepare our hearts" for his incarnation, as he comes to us through Word and Spirit at Christmas and every day of our lives. This much ought to be evident to us; that if our hearts are prepared for his eschatological coming, they will certainly be perfectly attuned to his incarnational advent right now. The expectation of the eschaton is, from one perspective, realized eschatology; from a second point of view it is future eschatology, while from a third position it is an exercise in what might be called i…