And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples... (Mat.21:1)

Some may think that use of Matthew 21 for today's Gospel is curious; after all, why use a Palm Sunday reading to mark the beginning of Advent? To answer that, let's consider the purpose of Advent itself. First, the word "advent" literally means, "to come" (in Latin ad ventus). The purpose of the season is to prepare our hearts and minds for Christ's First Coming, for Immanuel (God with us), which we celebrate every year at Christmas.

Of course, we Christians must never forget what Advent (and Christmas) is all about – Christ! On that note, did you hear the news that the new movie "The Nativity" was not rejected as a feature or even sponsored at the Christmas Festival in Chicago? It seems the city was concerned that by showing a film featuring Jesus at the Christmas Festival, some non-Christians might be offended! Bless her heart, the Fox News anchor wisely observed, "But, isn't the occasion of Jesus' birth the reason for Christmas?" The opposing defender of political correctness had to retreat into her stock answer of "separation of church and state" and "We've got to fair to everybody" in order to answer the question. As you know, each year it seems that Christmas retreats just a little more into some kind of generic Winter Festival.

Every year I never cease to be amazed at the "flurry" that Advent brings. After all, the Friday after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year and officially kicks off the Christmas merchandising season. What amazes me more (and probably shouldn't by now) is that a lot of people start their Christmas season the day after Thanksgiving. Some folks put trees up and lights up in preparation for Christmas. So technically, they are erecting "Advent" trees and "Advent" lights." Many companies and organizations are thinking of "Holiday" parties, which would be better termed Advent parties.

I suppose I wouldn't feel the slight tinge of indignation that I do if these folks knew what they were doing and why they were doing it. That is, if after all these Advent preparations, they could truly celebrate Christmas in all its glorious 12 days, which begin on December 25 and end on January 6. On the 6th of January, we Christians celebrate another momentous day, the Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. If people celebrated Christmas in this way, wouldn't it be glorious?

Of course, it doesn't happen that way because Christ doesn't reign in the heart of modern man. No, no, the gods of our age are the new "modern Trinity" of Secularism, Materialism and Technology. These are the gods that many Americans worship today. You see, it can be seen like this: Secularism is kind of like God the Father in the new modern Trinity because the spirit of it is everywhere, omnipresent and pervasive. It is the perfect soil from which liberal humanism springs. Then you have Materialism, which is the natural by-product or offspring of the secular age. It's akin to the Son in this new modern trinity. Finally, you have Technology, which is akin to the Spirit of God in that technology makes it all possible, like the life giving, enabling Spirit of God.

But not so with us. We don't worship of these things, although like all people, we must "interface" with them on a regular basis. Our challenge as faithful, orthodox Christians is how to deal with the new modern Trinity without losing our souls to it.

The answer can be found the First Sunday in Advent and the person depicted riding on the ass, the foal of an ass. In order not to lose our orientation and not to sacrifice our souls to the modern Trinity, we must stay focused on the One who comes to us in Advent. This is as Matthew quotes the prophet Zechariah, "Behold thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, colt the foal of an ass."

Talk about understatement in the extreme! Here we have the Eternal Son, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son eternally begotten of the Father, the One who make heaven and earth, coming to us riding on a donkey's colt. This is not only the most extreme act of humility; it is also the most extreme of Divine irony. Why is this ironic? Simply because this same Jesus, who came in this way to hear the transitory "hosannas" of the fickle crowd, only to be crucified a week later, will come again in unspeakable power and glory.

The first Sunday in Advent not only points to the first coming of Christ to at Christmas, but it also prefigures his triumphal Second Coming at the end of time. Unlike the first triumphal entry, which was temporary and ephemeral, eternal worship, glory and honor will mark Christ's Second Coming. The ancient prophets like Daniel and Zechariah tell us that the mountains and hills shall fall down and worship, i.e. melt at the glorious presence of the Lord. While this is probably figurative language to presaging cataclysmic events, one thing is certain and true: Christ will return to judge, to set right His Creation. Judgment is, after all, a setting right of things gone astray, as Christ will do.

Unlike other Christian groups, particularly those of the Fundamentalist or Dispensational persuasion, we Anglicans do not hold to either a "pre-Millennial" point of view or a "post-Millennial" point of view. Pre-Millennialists, you'll recall, have the idea that the elect of God ("true" Christians) will be raptured off the Earth just prior to a period of Great Tribulation. After this tribulation period, Christ will return to reign on earth for a thousand years, hence the term "Millennium." Post-Millennialists, on the other hand, hold to a belief that the saints of God will establish a godly Kingdom on earth for a thousand years, after which Christ will return to judge. It all depends how you interpret a few verses in the Book of Revelation.

Anglicans, however, hold to a position called "A-Mil." We believe that in God's Perfect Will, when the Father determines, the world will end and Christ will return to judge the "quick and the dead." On Judgement Day, Jesus will sort the "sheep from the goats", that is, He will embrace the Elect to everlasting bliss and reject those wicked and ungodly men who rejected Him during their time on earth. Then, He will present a redeemed Creation to His Father as a spotless bride and will reign with Him eternally, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen and amen.

The glory of all this to we Gentiles is that begins today, on the First Sunday in Advent, according to Matthew's Gospel. Thus, we mark off the days until the glorious Nativity of Immanuel, God with Us. Dr. Curtis Crenshaw, whom you know as the Dean of Cranmer Theological House and the Rector of St. Francis, once told us of an encounter he had with a Muslim Immam. The Muslim, said, "Oh, you Christians think that Man became God", to which Dr. Crenshaw replied, "That's incorrect, not at all. We Christians believe that God took on manhood." That is, God took manhood unto Himself in addition to his divinity in the person of Jesus Christ. Neither his Divinity nor his humanity was diminished. The two natures did not become confused, intermingled or transfused. Jesus must be rightly understood in proper "top down" theology, that is, starting with God and coming down to man and not as some modern theologians want to do, start with Jesus the Man and try to move up to Jesus the Son of God. Starting with God, we avoid the confusion that Muslims have about Christianity and see Jesus as both perfect God and perfect Man.

Immanuel, understood is this sense, makes more sense to us as we as we worship God with us, not just God above us, or God around us. Jesus Christ is truly God with us.

If one were to take a Medieval view of this passage, one would make this passage highly symbolic or even allegoric. There was a time in the Middle Ages when almost all passages of Scripture were seen as allegory. Gerald Bray, in his excellent book Biblical Interpretation, tells us: "Allegory may be summed up, both positively and negatively, as follows. On the positive side, it emphasized that Scripture must be approached spiritually, and be applied practically to the life of the believer……On the negative side, allegory removed the text of Scripture from history, which went against the main thrust of the Christian religion. It encouraged an irresponsible use of the biblical text by permitting interpretations which were fanciful, even if spiritually they were more helpful than harmful" Going on, he notes, "In modern times, an essentially allegorical hermeneutic has made it possible for the Roman church to proclaim dogmas such as the immaculate conception of Mary, her bodily assumption into heaven, and the infallibility of the pope, with little scriptural basis other than an allegorical interpretation of texts which have no literal bearing on any of these things."

Having said that, I do believe that there is a valid allegorical sense to this passage. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the advent of our Lord told to us here should be an advent to us individually, personally. We need to experience the advent of Jesus Christ daily, unfolding in our hearts and spirits as we seek His face in prayer, in liturgy and in sacrament. Advent and Christmas should be a reminder of the continual "epiphany" of Jesus in our hearts and souls. Through the beauty and grace of the Christian Year, we get to remember and participate in the stages of our Lord's earthly life, as He speaks to us through His Word and His Church. Always remember that the Church is part of the Gospel, for through it we receive the Sacraments and rites of the Church that minister to us throughout our earthly pilgrimage.

It's possible that some of you have not yet experienced the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart; the so-called "anointing of the Spirit" that allows your spirit to proclaim "Jesus is Lord." I'm not speaking about some wild-eyed, emotional "religious" experience, although true repentance does bring about cleansing of the spirit emotionally as well as spiritually. What I am talking about is a deep-seated, solid, serene, all-in-good-order, Anglican faith in response to God's call. I'm referring to that unshakeable, calm belief that Jesus Christ is who he said He is in the Word written and in the Sacraments. I'm speaking of that beautiful lifelong process called "sanctification." Most of us do not become saints overnight, but rather, through God's Grace and the Church's ministry it takes most of us a while, even a lifetime, to achieve Christian maturity. The important thing is to keep striving, praying and working in the Spirit towards that goal.

I do believe in the ultimate perfectibility of man through Christ, but not in the humanist concept of the ultimate perfectibility of man through secular education. We will never attain that state in this life, due to our inherent "broken-ness", but in the life to come we will be perfect in Christ through out intimate and glorious association with Him in Heaven.

This, beloved, is the promise of Christ. These next four Sundays, by acting in their traditional role as Lent "writ small", will prepare us the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are to examine our hearts and minds in preparation for Him through penance, through self-examination, through prayer and through worship.

This is an important time. This is a glorious time. This could be the year that you cut through the "haze" of materialism and self-absorption to gaze on the One who seeks to make His advent in your heart. Then, you can celebrate Christmas the way it was meant to be celebrated, full of joy and thankfulness for God's incredible Gift to us, Jesus Christ. "Behold, your King cometh, meek, and sitting on an ass, a colt, the foal of an ass."

Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou are exalted as head above all. (I Chr 29:11)