Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36
Nov. 29, 2009 Advent 1
When we were young my brothers and I would watch Illinois basketball games on TV. When a game was over we would go outside even late at night to replay the game ourselves by pretending to be the ones we had just watched on TV. Of course, we did the same with baseball during the summers. We played in several major league cities in those days - Sportsman's Park, Busch Stadium, Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium and we never had to leave home.
This weekend you may have watched some of the high school football playoffs on TV too. My alma mater, the Unity Rockets were in the Class 3 title game yesterday. And closer to home both Williamsville and Rochester did very well in the playoffs this year and have a lot for which to be proud. The baseball season ended with the Yankees winning the World Series a few weeks ago. The Super Bowl will be coming up in February, followed by March Madness in basketball. After that spring training starts the cycle over again.
Whatever your favorite sport might be though a season doesn't just start with practice a few months before the first game. Truthfully a season starts years before when the players are young boys and girls. That's when they become inspired by what they see growing up. That's when practice really begins for the seasons to come when they are older.
Being a follower of Jesus is like this too. Today we begin the season of Advent by focusing on the day when he comes again as the Son of Man. Jesus tells us that when the Son of Man appears: 'There will signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and distress and confusion among nations. The seas will roar and people will faint with fear and foreboding. The heavens will be shaken.'
These words are recorded in the gospel of Luke which was composed some 50 years after Jesus died on the cross. By this time those who were reading it knew that many traumatic events had already happened. They were probably hoping they would not have to wait much longer for Jesus to come back. But given what was happening they may have wondered if they could hold on to their faith until he did.
Christians had been persecuted from the beginning. They knew that many Christians had been executed by Emperor Nero after the burning of Rome and that the Temple in Jerusalem had been burned by the Romans to put down the rebellion of Jewish zealots in 70 A.D. A few years later Mount Vesuvius erupted killing an estimated 10,000-25,000 people who were caught completely unaware and trapped by the falling ash and lava flows. They knew these and other signs of upheaval and stress all around them.
The words of Jesus surely hit home then when he said: "Be on guard and don't be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life so that day catches you unexpectedly like a trap.' The day of the Lord will come suddenly. Be alert and pray that you will receive strength to escape all these things and stand before the Lord.
Luke and his generation expected the Son of Man to appear soon. "This generation will not pass away until all things have taken place," Jesus says. But then he quickly adds: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."(Lk 21:32-33)
Now over 2000 years have passed and we are still waiting for Jesus 'to appear on that cloud with power and glory.' It's not easy for us to hold on to our faith either when we see the scary signs of our time. One thinks of things like the H1N1 virus, the tornado late last summer, climate change, Afghanistan-Pakistan, Iran- Israel, Fort Hood, GDP, tsunamis, impeached governor, family breakdowns, grieving hearts, lost souls, spiritual and physical hunger, poverty, injustice of many kinds and much more. Over the earth there is distress and confusion, fear and foreboding of what is coming upon us. And the powers of heaven are shaken.
Because of these signs many believe that the Second Coming of Christ is indeed very near today and we are coming to the end and the Final Judgment. Yet the scriptures also tell us that Jesus did come back long ago and comes back even now, not on the clouds to be sure, not in the final way yet, but that he has come back and will always keep coming back until the final end.
In Matthew's gospel Jesus commissions his disciples to make disciples of all nations, to baptize and teach them everything he commanded. "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."(Mt 28:19-20) Matthew 18:20 he says: "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among you." For Matthew Jesus comes back through the ministry of the church which carries on the work of the Lord in anticipation of his return some day.
In John 16 Jesus promises to send the Spirit to his followers. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you." Here Jesus comes back as the Holy Spirit guiding and sustaining his people along their early path.
In Matthew 25 Jesus says that when the Son of Man appears he will welcome into the kingdom those who have been faithful: "for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me…Truly, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." Here Jesus is present in all the physical needs of his people here on earth to whom the church is in ministry just as Jesus was to improve the quality of life in this world.
No, it isn't easy to believe or hope in the future given all the signs of distress and upheaval that we witness today. But the greater message here is that Jesus has not been absent for 2000 years, but has been living among us all along.
Each week we pray in the Lord's prayer: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus is alive and still prays with us for God's kingdom and God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.' Jesus didn't leave those long ago in a state of doom and gloom and he doesn't leave us in doom and gloom either. Instead he called them and by extension he calls us to pick the load now, to pick up our cross in the midst of a troubled world and carry it for the rule of God's love, mercy, justice and peace until the end comes.
The depressing signs of any time are a call to action then, not of fear. We are called to follow Jesus by striving to solve real human problems and needs here on earth. Lift up the poor, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, find better treatments , cures and healthcare for disease. Set the victims of oppression free. Make peace. Practice mercy. Care for one another. Love your enemies. Proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
"Abound in love for one another… May he strengthen your hearts in holiness so that you may be blameless before God at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints." (1 Thess 3:12-13)
It is the most natural thing in the world for the young to be inspired by those they watch growing up that they immediately start practicing and playing so some day they too can be like them and reach the playoffs. How much better it is to follow Jesus for the sake of the greatest glory of all.
"We are God's children now; but what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for then we will see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)
When the signs of the times are foreboding
don't be overcome with fear, but remember your hope. 'Stand up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near…Then you shall know that the kingdom of God is near.'(Lk 21:28, 31)