Advent 1: Isaiah 64:1-9; Mark 13:24-37

November 27, 2011

    It was a mostly wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Temperatures topped 60 degrees on Friday with full sun. Christmas lights were going up. Family reunions. Grandkids and grandparents together. A lot of visiting and good food. We had scalloped oysters, along with turkey, pumpkin and cherry pies at our house . Some mowed yards. Many shopped. We played scrabble. And much more. You name it.

But holidays almost always have a tinge of sadness mixed in with joy.

• There is sadness because many miss the loved ones with whom they shared the joy of Thanksgiving, but who have passed away. Several in this church have lost either a mom, a dad or spouse this year.
• Others are battling disease and undergoing treatments.
• You may know of a family in crisis.
• The war in Afghanistan is ongoing and single parents of fallen loved ones are facing the challenge of raising the kids alone.
• The economy is still sluggish. Many can't find work. Others fear they may lose the job they have.
• The government isn't working well right now to help fix things.
• And neither is the Illinois football team.
• Then on top of this is Penn State reminding us of how low human nature can sink.
• A woman in California pepper sprayed customers at Walmart on Black Friday to get in front for a special deal on an Xbox video game machine. On we could go.

    We have a lot to be thankful for, but all this reminds us that we still live in a fallen world, an imperfect world with imperfect people where a lot of things go wrong and corrections are needed. There is plenty of pain to go around for everyone. And even if one is full of happiness right now and everything is super, still there are real fears hidden inside all of us about what could happen tomorrow to threaten our security and peace and spoil everything.

    There are many questions that beg for answers especially during holidays.

• Why do the innocent continue to suffer?
• After all this time since Jesus lived and died and rose again, how can so many become so depraved?
• Even those who have all the markings of being a Christian how is it that they can go against some of basic teachings of the one they worship as Savior and Lord? We can understand if someone has never known Jesus. But so often today it's the avowed "Christians" who are exposed.
• How many TV preachers, sports icons, political leaders could we name who betrayed the trust placed in them?

    And so amidst the celebration of our blessings, we know that everything is not good. And so for this reason we continue to hope for something better. We hope for a better life without tears and suffering. We hope for a better world that will be safer and fuller. We hope that everyone will become better persons who can live together in peace and respect one another as neighbors. But why should we hope for something better after all this time?

    Prophet Isaiah III lived at a time in many ways like our own. Israel had become separated from the God who had called and shaped them to be his servant. Isaiah understood that his nation had been a sinful people and for this reason God withdrew his protection. God stood aside as it were and allowed the Babylonian armies to destroy Jerusalem and their beloved Temple. Then their main leaders were taken away to Babylon to live in exile for 70 years.

    Isaiah grieves over all that has happened. He sees the pain of his people who have lost their economic security, their ability to govern themselves and suffered the failure of their leaders. Our situation today may not be as extreme as in Isaiah's time, but our world is tending in the same direction.

    Despite how they have fallen though Isaiah begs God to tear open the heavens (the skies) and come down again to show his great power and restore his people. 'Make the nations tremble and the mountains quake again like when you came down in Egypt, set us free from Phaorah, led us through the sea and through the wilderness for 40 years. We were a sinful people then too, but you didn't abandon us. You led us across the Jordan River to inhabit a land flowing with milk and honey.

    And so Lord do not be angry forever over the iniquity of your people now, but uphold those who do right and work for those who remember your ways. Do again what you did in the past. "We are the clay and you God are the potter, the work of your hand." Consider that all of us are your people.'

     The mixture of both joy and sorrow on a holiday weekend fits well with the theme of Advent. Advent is not just a celebration of Christmas for 4 weeks. It is a season all its own where the focus is on watching and waiting for God to come down and make right the things in this world that still need fixing. Even after Christmas the watching and waiting will go on. For we are not the first generation and we will not be the last to struggle with bewilderment over why things are the way they are.

    God's people have always found comfort and hope by remembering that God's love is steadfast. What God has done before reveals what God will do. And so in times of disappointment and pain God's people have fixed their hopes on this faith. That God will come again to forgive, deliver, redeem and restore his people. We are still waiting for the final day to come. And no one knows when it will be "neither the angels nor the Son, but only God knows." But in between our present sadness and future hope, we bide the time and wait patiently in faith.

    In the parable Jesus calls us "to keep awake" and to be about the work we have been given by the master of the house. During Advent we are called to wait by working precisely for what we are longing – hope, peace, joy and love.

Paul writes:

1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. 2 … be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and … 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. (Ph 4:1-9)

    Life is a great mystery and there are many things we do not understand and will never understand until the Lord comes again. We are sinners too and often suffer the consequences of own behavior and attitudes. We have a lot of growing up to do, always. Yet, the good news as Advent begins is that we are still God's family. 'We are the clay and God is potter, the work of his hands.' As Jesus has already come once with forgiveness, now we wait with hopeful expectation for God to come again and fulfill the blessings of his kingdom.

    As Jesus said long ago, so he says now: "keep awake - for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. What I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

    And as we wait let us 'keep on doing the things that we have learned and received and heard and seen in Jesus, and the God of peace will be with us to the end.'