Most people know that Advent is the season of preparation for Christmas, and that it’s a good time to read prophecies from the Old Testament about the first coming of the Messiah. What is often overlooked by those who are new to Advent is that it’s not just about the first coming but also about the second coming. In fact, the second coming is the focus of the first Sunday of Advent.
As we enter into a season of joining ancient Israel in waiting for the Messiah at Christmas, we begin by remembering that we too are a people waiting. The next big event in God’s redemption plan is the second advent of the Messiah. For a few years now, I’ve been developing an increasingly strong conviction that we need to focus more on Christ’s glorious return to establish his unending kingdom on earth and make all things new. The Christian life must be constantly oriented towards the future, and the first Sunday of Advent is an invitation to renew our hope in our Savior’s return.
If your church is observing Advent this year, consider this:
- Sing “Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending.” In many churches, this Charles Wesley hymn is the classic First Sunday of Advent hymn. If you aren’t familiar with it, the words are easily sung to the familiar tune Regent Square (Angels from the Realms of Glory) or to Picardy (Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence).
- Sing or play other hymns, psalms, and songs about the second coming. This year, we’ll also be using “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory,” “Rejoice! Rejoice, Believers,” and “Soon and Very Soon.”
- Pray the BCP’s Collect for the First Sunday of Advent. There’s no replacement for extemporaneous prayers “from the heart,” but written prayers were prepared and are recorded in Scripture itself, and can be offered in a heartfelt way to God and for the edification of the church. The Collects (short prayers to collect the thoughts and intentions of God’s people) in the Book of Common Prayer are a treasure. The Collect for the First Sunday of Advent focuses on the second coming: “Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”
- Read Scriptures about and preach on Christ’s second coming. The Revised Common Lectionary recommends for the Gospel Reading one of the parallel passages of Matthew 24:36–44, Mark 13:24–37, or Luke 21:25–36, each focused on being ready for the coming of the Son of Man. These Gospel readings are paired with various texts from the Old Testament, Psalms, and Epistles (see “Collects and Readings for Advent”).
- Say the Apostles’ Creed or Nicene Creed and draw attention to the line about Christ’s second coming. “From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.” “He shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.”
- Say Catechism Question 35 responsively. In some churches, one or more catechism questions of the week are said every Sunday. Question 35 of The Whole Counsel of God asks, “Why will Christ come again to judge the living and the dead?” Answer: “Christ will return in glory to reward the righteous, punish the wicked, and establish his unending kingdom of peace and justice on the earth. God’s glory will dwell with us in a restored creation, free of sin, death, mourning, crying, and pain.”
- Share the Lord’s Supper with a focus on how it’s a foretaste of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The Lord’s Supper a remembrance of the past, finished work of Jesus, a means of present grace, and a pledge of future glory that deepens our hope in Christ’s soon return. We remember that Jesus will drink the fruit of the vine with us again in his Father’s kingdom (Mt. 26:29), and as we eat the bread and drink the wine, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). If you use a traditional Lord’s Supper liturgy which includes the Sanctus (“holy, holy, holy”), consider saying it with a preface that’s focused on the second coming: “O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty, Everlasting God, it is very fitting, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto you, because you sent your beloved Son to redeem us from sin and death, and to make us heirs in him of everlasting life; that when he shall come again in power and great glory to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing. Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify your glorious name, evermore praising you, and saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Glory be to you, O Lord most high. Amen.” A traditional liturgy also always mentions the second coming in the Mystery of Faith, which the congregation proclaims together (usually after the Prayer of Consecration): “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.”
- Use a benediction that’s focused on the second coming. For example, 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. Amen.”
To see how these elements can fit together into a liturgy that takes around 1 hour and 15 minutes (with a 20–25 minute sermon), see our Sample Liturgy for the First Sunday of Advent.
