Behold, the Bridegroom cometh: go ye out
With lighted lamps and garlands round about
To meet Him in a rapture with a shout.
It may be at the midnight, black as pitch,
Earth shall cast up her poor, cast up her rich.
It may be at the crowing of the cock
Earth shall upheave her depth, uproot her rock.
For lo, the Bridegroom fetcheth home the Bride:
His Hands are Hands she knows, she knows His Side.
Like pure Rebekah at the appointed place,
Veiled, she unveils her face to meet His Face.
Like great Queen Esther in her triumphing,
She triumphs in the Presence of her King.
His Eyes are as a Dove's, and she's Dove-eyed;
He knows His lovely mirror, sister, Bride.
He speaks with Dove-voice of exceeding love,
And she with love-voice of an answering Dove.
Behold, the Bridegroom cometh: go we out
With lamps ablaze and garlands round about
To meet Him in a rapture with a shout.
Here we are on at the threshold of that great season of Advent. But what is Advent to you? I suspect for many it is be described as the busy time in the run up to Christmas, and of course one cannot argue with that, but it is surely much, much more than that.
For sure, Advent is about time. But not so much about the waiting for Christmas, but a time for looking forward to the day when Christ will return.
In the poem, ‘Advent Sunday’, Christina Rossetti challenges us to think about readiness. How ready are we for the second coming? For the coming of the kingdom of God in all its fullness? How ready I wonder are we not so much as individuals, but as a community of faith?
We should all be alert to the promise that the kingdom will appear unexpectedly says Rossetti. “It may be at midnight black as pitch”, “it may be at the crowing of the cock”. We will not know, there will be no prior warning. How ready are we? How ready are we for that time when Christ the bridegroom comes to fetch the church his bride?
It is a big question. A question of such enormity that we perhaps shy away from even thinking about it. But as Christians, this is the promised new day, it is the promise of Advent!
Rossetti uses Rebekah, the bride of Isaac to represent the church. Rebekah, the lovely, generous, and kind young woman at the well. She then goes onto compare Christ’s bride, the church to Queen Esther in her triumphing; the great exiled queen, who with cleverness and cunning saved her people from annihilation.
Central to the poem is the union between Christ and his church in everlasting love. Two doves made for each other for all eternity.
“Behold, the Bridegroom cometh: go we out with lamps ablaze and garlands round about to meet Him in a rapture with a shout.” We must be ready!
This invitation to be ready to meet him is extended to all people. The real focus of Advent is an invitation to be ready for him who longs to gather people, without exception into his love. It is a generous invitation to all to walk in the light and peace of the Lord. A gathering of the whole world into one movement of people, the church, the ‘Bride of Christ’.
So we must be ready!
But are we ready? Can we ever be ready? Do we have the patience to wait?
Well, I think the secret to it all is perseverance. The Christian life is a marathon not a sprint, and it’s a marathon that has plenty of obstacles enroute and to be successful in it, it takes plenty of training!
In the Gospels Jesus teaches, most often in parables, about staying awake and being prepared. Of course, this is not a suggestion that we all need to deprive ourselves of sleep and wait for the big event to happen, rather it is an invitation to be alert for the signs of God’s Kingdom amongst us now and as we look to the future with hope.
So how do we prepare ourselves?
Well, this season of Advent is an invitation to do just that. A time for self-examination, a time for us to think about the way we each live and the way we live in community. Like a marathon runner in training, are we fostering good habits for a healthy run, so that if it were to be stopped in freeze frame, we would be found in good shape?
This life though is not a training session, it’s the race itself. So some of the questions I ask myself are:
- Am I living a life dedicated to trying to do the right thing?
- Are the small decisions I make day by day generous and offer mercy?
- Do I deal well with arguments and disputes?
- Do I act with kindness and understanding?
When it comes to it, the question will be, are we running the race together with the stronger and fitter runners helping and encouraging the others, and above all, are we running the race for Jesus and ever vigilant for him.
So, on the threshold of another Advent, may we, the church, his bride be ready, just as Rebekah faithful, loving and open to the Lord. May we be just as Queen Esther a saving community, ready to stand up for the marginalised and oppressed.
We live in challenging times; life is hard but there is such hope in this season of Advent: “Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go we out with lamps ablaze and garlands round about
To meet Him in a rapture with a shout”.
May we all have a blessed Advent and be a blessing to others.
Every blessing,
Fr Paul .
