Advent speaks a message of great urgency. The Lord is coming, and he’s coming quickly. A similar sense of urgency once arose in England in the late 18th century. As Deism and other worldly philosophies were on the rise among the educated class, the poor were being neglected. Sunday Schools started to spring up in many villages, so that the poor could learn to read and write and be catechized in the Faith. But, many of the educated class despised the Sunday Schools. They were falsely labeled as dens of revolutionaries. If the poor were educated, so the argument went, they would rise up in violence against the wealthy and demand their rights. One day in the village of Surrey, a minister came on a Sunday to lead the poor people of the village in a Sunday School, and he was immediately met with stiff opposition.

As he began to preach in an outdoor pulpit, a number of angry citizens stormed into the congregation, shouting and making threats, and others arose to restore calm and order. The minister continued preaching over the noise, until the instigator of the disruption produced a blunderbuss, one of those muzzle-loaded hand guns. He aimed it directly at the preacher’s chest and threatened to shoot him if he didn’t clear out of town. The minister waged his bets. Determining that the gun was probably not loaded, he shouted, “Let him fire. I’m serving my Savior and I am in his hands.” After a moment’s pause, suddenly the gun blasted, spewing out fire and a great cloud of smoke. You could hear the sound of women screaming and men shouting as they rushed forward to see if the minister was dead or alive.

Once the smoke cleared everyone could see that the minister had wagered correctly. The gun was not loaded. But, the great panic had forced the meeting to come to an end. The next Sunday, the minister was back again at the outdoor pulpit, and once again the villagers had something up their sleeves. As the congregation gathered to hear the Sunday School lessons, a few men across the street at the butcher shop, who had attached a hose to a large pump, began spraying the whole assembly with a shower of blood and animal parts, forcing everyone to flee and return to their homes. Again the minister and his people did not give up, and in fact they were struck with an even greater sense of urgency, knowing that the village was in such a dire need of instruction in faith, hope, and love for one another. Due to their persistence, a Sunday School foundation was eventually formed in the town, and it was so popular with the poor that a new parish sprang up around it.

The message of Advent is the message of St. John the Baptist, of the prophets, of Christ, all speaking with the same urgent voice. Just listen by faith, and you can hear it even now: a voice crying in the wilderness of this world, saying, “prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. For the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!”

The light of Christ is coming, but it comes into a dark world. The Sunday School preacher in Surrey, and St. John the Baptist had this in common, that they were the voice of God to the people, and yet some of the people were ready to shoot the messenger. You might wonder when you hear so much about Elijah on these last two Sundays in Advent. Why did the Jewish people believe that Elijah would return before the Messiah came? The reason is because of Malachi’s prophesy. In Malachi God speaks the very last words of the Old Testament through the mediation of the prophet.

He said, “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

This is an urgent message. Imagine your whole nation is at war. Enemy invaders are at the boarder, and everyone is looking for help, calling out to the remaining troops and allied forces to come to our aid. And just as the invasion is taking place, some words of hope resound across the wire: “take heart, the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings, and before he comes, you will receive reinforcements, even the great general of God’s army, Elijah himself will come, and he shall turn the hearts of the disloyal, even the traitors, shall be converted, and the enemy will be routed in that great and glorious day.” And then the radio grows silent, nothing but static is heard from headquarters. The invasion ensues, and the holy city, the capital city is taken, Jerusalem falls.

God’s words to Malachi were the last words that he spoke. First the Assyrian invasion came, then the Babylonians, then the Persians, and the Greeks, and finally the Romans overtook the holy land. And all the while there was no word from any prophet, only radio silence and static. Even the Jewish literature written in the time between the Old and New Testaments testifies to the fact, over and over again, that there was no prophet in those days. For 400 years there was no word, no message, only the prophesy of Malachi that still rang in the ears of God’s people: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.”

Then, all of the sudden, a word begins to spread throughout Judea, that a prophet has appeared. And not only that, but this prophet displays all of the characteristics of Elijah. He dresses like the prophet: wearing camel’s hair, and a leather belt. He dwells in the wilderness like Elijah, and he is baptizing people, anointing by water, in the Jordan River, the same river where Elijah crossed over on dry ground. And on top of all this, John is preaching the message that Malachi said Elijah would preach, a message of conversion, of ‘repentance’ which means ‘to turn.’ “Turn from sin, be baptized for the washing away of sins” and by this means “he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” This is the message of Elijah, who preached against the wicked king Ahab and his wife Jezebel. And John will preach against the evil of king Herod and his wife.

But, instead of confirming the prophesy of Malachi when interrogated by the Pharisees, John the Baptist appealed to Isaiah. He is a “voice crying in the wilderness, saying prepare ye the way of the Lord.” This is a much greater message than that of Elijah. Christ said that John the Baptist was indeed Elijah, and yet, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Something Great was coming, greater than anything Elijah ever foretold. This Thing was so Great in fact that even the messenger who told of this great coming, this Advent of a Great Thing, was greater than the greatest of the prophets. The angel Gabriel foretold of this Great Thing in his announcement to the Blessed Virgin Mary, said to her, “behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say it, Rejoice. As God has spoken through the prophet Zephanaiah: “Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all [your] heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”

The king is coming, and for those who believe, for those who heed the urgent message, now is the time to rejoice in hope. Christ is coming, and all of creation is bursting at the seems to welcome him back, and like the seems of a bag that open up in fullness to release its contents bit by bit, the Kingdom of Heaven is already bursting open the seems of our world. The joy of another world has already poured forth into our hearts and our minds. The warmth of another, eternal Sun, has already dawned upon us. The time is coming, and yea, the time is now, when the hearts of the children will be turned unto the fathers, and the hearts of the fathers unto the children. Now is the time to prepare for Christ. Now is his voice heard. Now is the time to look up.

Now it’s time to strike up the band, and shout with a merry noise, for Christ is standing at the door of your life. He is the bridegroom of the Holy Church of God. Now he is ready to great his bride, and all you must do is open the door to him, call out to him beyond the door, “swing wide the portals of your heart” as the hymn says, “make it a temple set apart,” rush out of yourself to greet him, as the virgins do in the parable of our Lord, trim the wicks of your own hearts selfish lusts and desires, so that the fire of God’s eternal love might never cease to burn within you. Be urgent in expectation of a reunion that all the dark forces of this world have swore to you would never happen, could never be true, and ridiculed you for preparing a wedding garment in the midst of the cemetery and in the morgue of this evil generation. They that ridiculed you for your faith will soon stand weeping and morning in the darkness, when the wicks on their lamps run short, and the bridegroom appears with his everlasting light, singing his song of victory over you, and saying, “Yes, it was always true. Behold, I am your Maker, your Redeemer, your Friend. Arise and come away with Me, for I have kept a constant watch over you. Even when you were running from me, I sent my messengers to turn back your heart, I breathed my Spirit into you to strengthen you. And, when you began to run the race toward me, I kept your foot from stumbling, I stooped down to wash your feet, I kept your feet in place as you ran in the darkness. And when the darkness overwhelmed you in thoughts of despair, I brought you good news from the finish line. Remember how I said to you in your distress, ‘Beloved, Keep going. The end is near. My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in your weakness’? I have won the race. Can’t you hear the shouts of victory from the finish line? It is so very near to you now. Rejoice beloved, and again I will say it, rejoice.”

As you prepare for Christmas this week, be on your guard. Stay awake, remember to rejoice,not in any earthly wealth or reward, but rejoice in the Lord, and rejoice always. In the holy Eucharist, rejoice. In the body and the blood given to cleanse you from all stain, rejoice. In the dark night of this life, rejoice. In pain, rejoice. In times of joy, rejoice in the Lord. The devil is on the prowl, but at the altar of God you can hear God’s song of rejoicing over you. And that song has the power to raise the dead and put all the forces of darkness to flight. Rejoice, arise, shine. “Surely I come quickly,” says the Lord. “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Amen and amen.