Tomorrow Christ Is Coming
Jane M. Gardner, presiding evangelist
But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. -Mark 13:32-33
I’m at the stage of life when I realize the wisdom of waiting without rushing headlong into action or verbiage. There is little resistance or anxiousness in this kind of waiting. It is more like living into…being tuned in to the sacredness around me. Where is God active? Where can I join God in creating a peaceable kin-dom?
I have found that by living into God’s creative process, my own agenda and priorities become less important. This has been an especially profound realization during Advent when the temptation is to overfill the hours of the day for my own purposes.
What are God’s purposes for Advent? Based on understandings of the wider Christian tradition, we celebrate JOY, HOPE, LOVE, and PEACE. I can recall Advent seasons in my past when the experience was the exact opposite.
I also have an increasing understanding that Advent involves the past, present, and future. Christ came, Christ comes, and Christ will come again. We remember, we experience, we wait. Advent is all of these. It is tangible and real, as expressed in the powerful hymn text of “Tomorrow Christ Is Coming.”
Tomorrow Christ is coming as yesterday he came;
a child is born this moment-we do not know its name.
The world is full of darkness, again there is no room;
the symbols of existence are stable, cross, and tomb.
Tomorrow will be Christmas, the feast of love divine,
but for the nameless millions the star will never shine.
Still is the census taken with people on the move;
new infants born in stables are crying out for love.
There will be no tomorrows for many a baby born.
Good Friday falls on Christmas when life is sown as corn.
But Jesus Christ is risen and comes again in bread
to still our deepest hunger and raise us from the dead.
Our God becomes incarnate in every human birth.
Created in God’s image, we must make peace on earth.
God will fulfill Love’s purpose and this shall be the sign:
we shall find Christ among us as woman, child, or man.
-Fred Kaan, xc2xa9 1968 Hope Publishing Company, used by permission, Community of Christ Sings 406
Advent Prayer Phrase
“Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord” (Psalm 31:24).
Advent Spiritual Practice
Breathe deeply and spend a few moments inviting silence to deepen around you. Pay attention to what is forming in you this day as you prayerfully consider the following questions: What awareness or gift begins to emerge in you through the practice of waiting? When do you notice being invited to resist rushing to the next thing and remain present with what may be slowly unfolding? What can you learn from being fully present in the waiting times?
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.