(Please read the passage cited above first.)
My sisters and brothers,
Today we celebrate the second Sunday of Advent.
I have some questions. When? When will the end of the pandemic come? When will the Lord come? When will the economy become healthy again? When for me and when for you? When here and when there? When is God’s time?
For God, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like one day. For God there is no time, yet for God there is all time. God rules over time, yet God has no time. God’s timelessness holds all the times of everything. God’s timelessness has no time and is outside of time, yet it holds together all timeliness. God is eternal, has no time and is timeless. God’s lateness is always early and always on time.
The ancient philosophers defined time as a measuring of change according to before and after. God, however, always is, eternal, and is without change because God is always God. In God’s eyes, all things are always present, now, as God sees it (not as we see it). God is with the whole of creation from start to finish.
God will come like a thief, yet God is always coming and is always present. God is never separated from us, yet God is always arriving.
God’s coming is like God’s time. God is always with us even though we do not always notice God.
There is never a time when God is not with us, because God is always with us. God has no time yet God created all time.
The mystery of God is the mystery about ourselves. The mystery of God’s timelessness is the mystery of our timeliness.
God has no time, yet God gives us his time. We have all our time, but we give none of our time to God. Each day God gives us a thousand years and we refuse to give God one day. God is always present to us, but we do not want to be with God.
It is Advent time. God, who always is with us, gives us this time of his Advent-coming so that we can have time to notice God.
When, when, and when? Today, when God who is always with us, is coming to us. Today is when.