Wake Up to the Dream—Advent’s Invitation
Isaiah 2:1-5 and Matthew 24:36-44
Advent is here—a new year begins. But what are we really waiting for?
If we’re honest, Advent might be the most misunderstood season of the church year. Some see it as a kind of spiritual holding pattern—a somber “mini-Lent” or just a countdown to Christmas. It’s tempting to think of Advent as something we simply get through, marking time with candles and calendars, until the real celebration arrives.
But that’s not what Advent is about. Advent is the invitation to expectant waiting—not passive or anxious waiting, but waking up to what’s already stirring beneath the surface of our lives. It’s a call to pay attention.
A Dream Bigger Than “Us” and “Them”
The ancient prophet Isaiah had a vision that disrupts all our tribal dreams of special privilege or exclusion. Isaiah’s Dream is not about a chosen few reclaiming lost glory or dominating the world. Instead, it’s a picture of the world as it can be—where all people are drawn toward the sacred, not by fear or force, but by the magnetic pull of justice, wisdom, and peace.
The sacred mountain is not a fortress. It’s an open invitation. It’s not about who qualifies, but about who’s willing to walk in the light, to join in making the Dream real.
And Isaiah’s vision isn’t just for “someday.” The Dream is always pressing in, always waiting for people who are ready to take the next step. Weapons become tools for growth; the good of one becomes the good of all. Justice and peace aren’t for “our own” but for everyone.
God in the Ordinary
The gospel reminds us that the Divine doesn’t crash into our world with spectacle or apocalypse. The coming of the Son of Man is not a cosmic escape plan. It happens in the thick of ordinary life—in the midst of people working, eating, and sharing.
The real scandal? God’s Dream is woven so deeply into daily life that we often miss it. It’s not about who’s “in” or “out.” It’s about who’s awake enough to see the sacred in the everyday—and who’s still sleepwalking through life.
The Real Work of Advent
So how do we prepare for Advent? Not by frantic checklists or empty rituals. Think of expectant parents: they don’t know the hour, but they get ready anyway—making space, preparing, living as if the new arrival is already on the way.
This kind of waiting isn’t resignation. It’s active. It’s about transforming angry words and sharp divisions into open tables and new possibilities. It means seeing not just what’s wrong, but what can be made right—if we’re willing to participate.
Making the Dream Real
Advent isn’t about the past or a far-off cosmic drama. It’s for anyone who is hungry for more—anyone who senses the world can be different, that love really is the point, that the sacred is closer than we think. God’s Dream isn’t a fantasy. It’s as real as your next act of justice, your next step toward reconciliation, your next word of hope.
So here’s the invitation: stay awake. Notice where the Dream of God is breaking into your life. Let your acts of compassion and kindness make the Dream real for others. Every time you open yourself to transformation, you gain new eyes—and help bring the Dream to life.
Jesus’s call is this: Wake up. Pay attention. Not because the world is ending, but because the world is being remade—right now, through the choices we make. Advent isn’t about “someday.” It’s about today. The Dream is here, if we have the courage to step in.
Reflection
Where have you glimpsed the Dream of God in your ordinary life this week?
How might you help bring a little more light, justice, or kindness into the world today?
What might you need to let go of in order to “wake up” to what’s possible?
Let’s walk into Advent—not as sleepwalkers or spectators, but as people willing to incarnate the Dream—right here, right now, for the sake of the world.
Come, let us walk in the light of God.