On Sunday, we begin the season of Advent – a time of waiting, of longing, and of expectation.
It is a season that reminds us that belief is not simply about what can be seen or proven, but about living with the mystery of God’s presence among us.
The Mystery of Faith
Advent begins with faith.
And unless you are a hardened theologian who can argue out the Bible to the finest detail, you are probably a bit like me.
A person who lives with a simple faith in today, and hope in an eternal future of untold wonder.
But faith is something that has been the root cause of much division and strife since the Garden of Eden.
And in our modern age, with Artificial Intelligence offering answers at the touch of a button,
it might seem entirely reasonable to expect faith to now be explained in a more cut‑and‑dried way.
But faith has always carried with it a sense of mystery. It cannot be reduced to formulas or neat explanations.
The mystery of faith is not something to be solved, but something to be lived;
a light we receive and carry, even when we do not fully understand it.
But something I do know for sure is that there is nothing new in God’s world,
and I recently stumbled across a 400-year-old theory that intrigued me, and I will share it with you.
Pascal’s Wager
Centuries ago, Blaise Pascal, a mathematician and philosopher, wrestled with the tension between reason and belief.
He finally proposed what has come to be known as Pascal’s Wager.
He argued that when faced with the choice of believing or not believing in God, the rational decision would be to believe.
For if God exists, he argued; the reward is never-ending — eternal life, and eternal love.
However, he added; if God does not exist, the loss is minimal — perhaps just some passing pleasures of this world.
In other words, he said, faith is the most reasonable position to take.
Faith in the Here and Now, Today
Pascal went further, though.
Because he knew that faith is not just about eternity.
He knew faith shapes life in the here and now – today.
That we are not depriving ourselves by living in faith,
not losing out on something better in this life, by believing in Christ.
Because living in hope and faith is transformational.
Pascal understood that faith enhances life, even before death, and he wrote a great deal about his thoughts on this.
So much so that Pope Francis paid tribute to him in June 2023 with a special Apostolic Letter, celebrating what would have been Pascal’s 400th birthday and his legacy as a brilliant thinker and devout Christian.
Pascal would have understood what theologians today call the;
The ‘Already and Not Yet’;
Meaning the tension of what God has already carried out in the world through Jesus, and what is not yet complete.
Through Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, we understand the Kingdom of God has already broken through into our world — and so we can experience forgiveness, peace, and joy today.
Yet the fullness of that Kingdom is still not yet here completely; because we still wait for Christ to return and make all things new.
Advent reminds us each year of this, and is why it is a season of both celebration and expectation.
This time we live in, the Already and Not Yet, is a time in motion.
It is often referred to as the ‘overlapping of the ages’ because as one age is fading away, a new age is drawing ever closer.
Illustration — A Young Man
Recently, I was invited to pray for a young man who had been studying at the local university and was preparing to move on.
Before I prayed, I asked him to tell me a little about himself.
One of the things he humbly shared with me was that he was a multi-generational Christian — his Indian family had developed faith and hope in Jesus through seven generations.
I was struck by that. Because as I looked at him, as I listened to his words, I could sense the goodness in him, the gentleness of spirit, the refinement of soul that had been shaped by faith passed down through those generations.
His life, I thought, was a living testimony to the “Already” — the kingdom of God already at work in him, already bearing fruit in his character.
His story also points us to the ‘Not Yet’ — the hope we carry forward in faith, generation after generation, as we await the day when Christ will return in glory and bring all His promises to completion.
Liturgical Connection
In this service, we will shortly hear the words proclaimed:
“Great is the mystery of faith.”
To which we will reply: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.”
And that response is the heartbeat of Advent.
- Christ has died — the past, his birth, death, and resurrection, is already accomplished.
- Christ is risen — the present, Christ is alive and among us now, in spirit.
- Christ will come again — the future, the not yet, that we live in hope of in a renewed world order.
With these few words, we proclaim this sacred truth and the faith we have in Jesus.
We express our wonder at what he has already accomplished, and what sustains us.
We confirm our belief that he will return in glory to this earth and his Kingdom will reign for ever and ever.
You might remember this as you recite these words?
Challenge for Today
The challenge for Christians today is to alert others to these ancient truths and the rapidly advancing fulfillment of them.
Either by words, example, or any other way that feels right to us individually.
Help others to see, in a world that is hurting, all can benefit from living by Christ’s simple truths today, as did the young university student I spoke of.
And as Blaise Pascal reasoned 400 years ago, a rational mind would be wise and accept the great mystery of faith;
with the promise of eternal life, and eternal love; which is freely offered through our lord and saviour – Jesus.
