The Invitation And Challenge Of Awakening
Rev. Erik Swanson
November 30, 2025
You can watch the entire sermon here.
When I think back to my first call in the little church in Connecticut, I can still feel the shock of being thrust into responsibility before I felt ready. I’d only been there three months when the senior pastor went on maternity leave the day after Thanksgiving. I was inexperienced, still figuring out what it meant to be a pastor, and suddenly everything came at me at once — bulletins to prepare, phone calls to answer, a pastoral crisis to tend. On the first Sunday of Advent, we had arranged for a guest preacher so I wouldn’t have to carry the full load, but she never arrived. With no cell phones back then, I couldn’t track her down. As the service began, I kept looking around, stalling, hoping she would appear. Finally, I admitted to the congregation that though we were supposed to have a guest preacher, I would offer something from the scripture I loved. The look on their faces said it all.
Discovering The Deeper Meaning Of Advent
I realized in that moment that I had been thrown into the deep end. I had to grow quickly into a new understanding of myself as a pastor. It was gut-wrenching at times, but it also became, in hindsight, the perfect introduction to the deeper meaning of Advent — transition, labor, and new birth.
Something New Breaking Through
Last week I came across a quote: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” Surprisingly, it resonated deeply with my sense of Advent. Advent is a season of expectation, of watching for signs of something new breaking through. The world of Spirit and hope strains to be born even as the old systems around us — systems rooted in domination, violence, exploitation — thrash against their own decay. As I look at our country, I see so many structures failing: capitalism, health care, housing, racial understanding, the legal system, even religion. Oddly enough, I’m grateful that these failures are being exposed so clearly. Advent calls us to wake up, to see what truly is, just as Jesus’ time exposed the brokenness of its own systems.
Advent Means Awakening
That’s why the apocalyptic readings that begin Advent are so important. They aren’t predictions of the literal end of the world; they are revelations — unveilings — of what could be. Something must end so something new can emerge. Advent trains me to look for that new thing, to trust the dark, to listen differently, to open the eyes of my heart. Even the much-maligned term “woke” originally pointed to this kind of awakening: seeing deeper truths beneath the comforting narratives of the culture.
But awakening isn’t easy. As I learned that first Advent in Connecticut, the “monsters” appear — the resistance of old ways struggling for survival. We see it in politics and in our personal lives. The old habits, fears, and assumptions fight back whenever new life is trying to take shape.
What Is Advent Revealing To Us?
Advent isn’t for the faint of heart. It invites more than cozy carols and candlelight; it demands intention, honesty, and courage. So I ask myself: What new thing is trying to be revealed in me? What monsters resist it? May this Advent be both uncomfortable and wonder-filled, a true awakening to the Christ being born within. Amen.