The Preacher's Lectionary Notebook - Ordinary Days, Extraordinary Promise
The First Sunday of Advent (Year A)
This might feel like a strange passage to begin Advent. Advent is full of candlelight, soft hymns, and the slow build toward Christmas joy. But Jesus’ words here interrupt the quiet with a kind of holy jolt. “About that day and hour no one knows…” He reminds listeners that God’s future will not follow our calendar or our careful planning.
It will come with surprise, like a sudden knock at the door. And this is exactly why the Church places this text right at the start of Advent; before we settle into the coziness of the season, we are asked to wake up.
This passage pulls Advent away from nostalgia and into watchfulness. Jesus sketches a picture of ordinary life—people eating, drinking, working, doing all the normal things humans do—when suddenly everything changes. The point isn’t fear; it’s awareness. It’s the invitation to stay awake to God’s movements in a world that often lulls people into spiritual sleep. Advent has always been about this kind of wakefulness. While we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth, the season also trains us to look ahead, to keep watch for the moment when Christ returns and God renews everything. Matthew 24 pulls us out of autopilot and reminds us that faith is lived in the present with eyes set on the horizon.
Jesus also pushes against the human instinct to control the timeline. We want to know when things will happen. We want to mark dates on a calendar and build countdowns and make sure we’re ready. But Advent readiness doesn’t look like stocking up on supplies or mapping out predictions. It looks like the simple daily practice of living as if God’s kingdom is already breaking in—because it is. The faithful servant keeps watch not by staring out the window all day but by continuing to live rightly, honoring the master even when he seems delayed. Advent asks for that same posture—a way of living rooted in hope, integrity, and trust, even when life feels ordinary or slow.
There’s something pastoral in Jesus’ tone, even amid the seriousness. He tells these stories to help listeners understand that God’s future isn’t meant to terrify but to anchor life now. Advent leans into this. It’s a season that names both longing and promise. It reminds us that while we don’t know the hour, we do know the character of the One who is coming. So Advent becomes a time of leaning forward, of cultivating attentiveness, of practicing small acts of faithfulness that shape hearts toward God’s kingdom.
Matthew helps Advent recover its edge. Before the lights and carols and the warmth of the season settle in, Jesus emphasizes that God’s arrival is not merely a nostalgic tale from the past but rather a vibrant hope that actively approaches us in the present. Advent starts with this call to awareness, ensuring that when Christmas comes, our hearts are not only filled with sentiment but are also attuned and ready—honed by anticipation—to recognize God’s presence in every unforeseen moment.
FURTHER EXPLORATIONS
Explore how Jesus’ emphasis on “not knowing the day or hour” invites a posture of everyday attentiveness rather than anxious prediction.
Reflect on the contrast between ordinary life continuing as usual and the suddenness of God’s decisive intervention.
Consider how readiness in this passage is less about fear and more about faithfully living the kind of life you won’t need to scramble to fix at the last minute.