November 30, 2003
|
|
|
|
This
is the first Sunday in Advent and it begins a time of preparation and
anticipation. We are getting ready for something to happen. We begin today to
move toward the celebration of the coming into the world of the one we know as
the light of the world. In this Advent, there is the promise of one who is
coming to fulfill the vows God has made to bring into our lives God’s own
anointed one. This first Sunday of Advent starts us on a journey that starts in
darkness and gets brighter as we approach Christmas day. Think of the journey
toward Christmas as watching the sunrise. We begin in utter darkness, but as we
keep looking out at horizon or up at the sky, light breaks and we can see
clearly again. At Advent, we look back and we look ahead at the same time.
As
one writer describes it, Advent looks to the past and “to the future in an
attitude of expectancy over what God has yet to do in the life of humankind.
Advent’s face toward the past is usually the one we seek. How very wonderful
that a gracious God broke in upon the life of humankind through the birth of
Jesus, God’s very own Son! But Advent’s face to the future is one that also
deserves our attention. The coming of the Babe to Bethlehem, for all of its
miraculous grace, is but hint and suggestion of the Second Advent when this same
Jesus, now Risen Lord and Savior, will return to claim the world that is his” (Texts
for Preaching – Year C. Louisville: Westminster/ John Knox Press, 1994,
p.1). We
hear a promise in the readings from Jeremiah and Luke this morning. Jeremiah
tells us that the promise of the One who is coming will be inclusive. Through
the one who is coming the promise to Israel and Judah will be made clear. An
heir to the throne of David will influence the land and the people – all the
people not only in Israel, but wherever the story is told. Look at David. To
people needing a vision, he was a leader. For those in need of protection he was
a fighter. People needed to hear a word from God, David was their prophet. When
they needed someone to approach God on their behalf, to say what was in their
hearts – they received the prayers of David and we have the gift of the
Psalms. David was their priest. And from the time he was chosen and anointed by
Samuel through his enthronement until the day he did, David was their king. On
his first Sunday of Advent, one is coming, Jeremiah declares who will do all
David did and more. We who name Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God
believe that Jesus has led us from death to life. He has embodied as no other
has the word of God. He is God’s prophet. He is the one who helps us find the
words and the courage, and the energy to speak boldly with God – “I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4.13). Jesus is the
high priest, the one who leads the heavenly liturgy and worship and who gives
shape and style and substance to our worship. And
as we move from one Advent to the other, as the light dawns from now until the
return of Christ, we will see him as last week’s lesson from Revelation
suggested, he is the “ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1.5).
Revelation 11.15 declares: “Then
the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven,
saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of
the Christ, and he will reign forever and ever’” to which Handel
added a loud and constant, “Halleluia!” The
one God promised the world is coming and as we eagerly wait for his arrival, we
can enact among ourselves those things he will bring with him. He will bring
justice. The
promised one will be inclusive and just to everyone. We may argue about the
justice of our legal systems, but in God’s system, each of us stands equally.
In divine justice, there are no barriers and no advantages that some have and
others do not. We will all stand as sons and daughters before an impartial and
merciful God. Not
only will bring justice, he will also model the righteousness of God. That is
when the promised one comes, we will see the lovingkindness, not just the harsh
judgment of God. The old mindset was that the presence of God was to be dreaded
and that our best posture in the presence of God was as one who knows nothing,
and is nothing. The prophets had preached that the promised one’s arrival
would bring pain and suffering. For instance Zephaniah 1:15 says that the day of
the Lord: “will
be a day of wrath, But
Jeremiah understands the day of the Lord differently. This Advent, do not be
afraid, your salvation is here, your are safely in relationship with God now.
God is doing a new thing. “In
the prophets’ hands that which was understood in the past to be a time of
great suffering is now transformed into an occasion of redemption and joy.
‘The days are surely coming…’ are the words that begin our passage, and
one cannot possibly miss the point: that which was intended for judgment is now
purposed by God to be a moment of salvation” (Texts
for Preaching, p.2-3). Everyone
can share the joy. The promise of one is not for the strongest, the smartest,
the weakest, or the one not so smart. It is not intended for the most proud or
the most humble, neither is it for the richest or the poorest. It is for us of
all and it calls for endurance from us all because we wait for the promise of
God to be fulfilled as we are living our lives. And
these times are interesting. Don’t we live in times that push and stretch our
endurance, our patience and at times the faith we count on to sustain us. As
Jesus taught about the time of his later Advent, he used dire, kind of creepy
terms – disruptions in nature, people fainting, nations in turmoil. The
language is filled with images of destruction and as Luke gives them to us,
Jesus’ words appear to be bleak, but they really are not. It
would not surprise me if the reading from Luke left you thinking more about Lent
and Holy Week than Advent and Christmas. Why read it today? It is being read
today to remind us that the church lives between two Advents. The first Advent
brings us the long awaited Messiah who will come to the world in the form of an
infant, and the second Advent promised by Jesus himself who tells us that one
day he will come again. Luke’s words like Jeremiah’s, they are about God
transforming fear to faith. As our faith grows, hope grows.
Hope
comes as we understand why Jesus speaks about the second Advent with such
passion. “His words have their beginning in Jesus’ prediction that the
temple will be destroyed (vv.5-6) and the disciples’ question, ‘Teacher,
when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take
place?’(v.7). Jesus responds by telling of wars and rumors of wars,
earthquakes, and plagues (vv.9-11), the arrest of Christians and resultant
opportunities for witnessing (vv.12-19), and the destruction of Jerusalem
(vv.20-24). Then come the cosmic signs of vv.25-26, which is where our Gospel
lesson begins. These
days are filled with anxiety and stress. We have seen the destruction and the
distress in nature. Earthquakes shake people and buildings with no warning. We
are in the tornado season. Winds shift and a small fire joins other fires, both
natural and human made, and becomes a conflagration that destroys scores of
lives, thousands of homes, and hundreds of thousands of acres of land. We
worry whether our families will travel safely in this busy season and we will
come and go safely. Is the southern end of I-270 safe? In an uneasy economy is
my job secure? Will my funds sustain me, will I be able to get the quality of
health care I will require? When will the war end and what will be its
aftereffects? There
is much to make us anxious, there is much to test our faith. But this is not the
time to let go of faith and hope. In fact, this is precisely the time to hold on
to hope and faith. As we hold on, we will see that into such a time of distress,
the Promised One, God’s anointed, the Messiah in Hebrew, the Christ in Greek,
the Savior will come. We
who follow Jesus Christ can tell the story of how we kept the faith, or
recovered the faith when the easy thing to do would have been to walk away from
it. We didn’t and we can help others to find the good news that means so much
to us. It
is not fear Jesus wants from us, it is endurance and faithfulness, even in times
of distress. It is the ability to see him and trust that our redemption is as
near as Jesus is to us. “This is a very different scene from that proclaimed
from apocalyptic pulpits today. There is no car suddenly left driverless at the
Rapture. Jesus does not lift us above turmoil and suffering, but drops us into
the middle of it. ‘The redemption that is promised is not a private lifeboat
to save a few privileged folk while everything else is destroyed’ (Sharon
Ringe. Westminster Bible Companion. Luke. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox
Press, 253). God’s purpose is not to
insulate us from discomfort, but to prepare us for witnessing (www.lectionary.org/luke/00-12-03
p.2). In
the same way, signs of distress mean the reign of God is near. This generation
of believers will see the reign of God because the promise will be fulfilled in
Jesus Christ. Be ready. Stay alert. Stay away from what Luke calls dissipation
and worry. Dissipation can feel like the after effects of being up too late and
of drinking too much. It is what happens when energy is used or lost with little
to show for it. Coupled with worry, it makes it difficult for us to have any
hope at all. “Worry
consumes energy, usually without accomplishing anything. We are as tired after a
day of worry as we would have been after a day of work, but work gives us the
satisfaction of accomplishment. Worry can paralyze us. Fear prevents us from
taking action, because every action has a risk or disadvantage. Worry causes
health problems, making the situation worse. Worry can kill our faith” (www.lectionary.org,
p.4-5). Wait
with alert minds and compassionate hearts for the promise to be fulfilled. The
promise will be fulfilled, we know it will come, because it has come already.
The one whose birth we are eager to celebrate has come and the world has not
been the same sense his arrival. People still act in his name, are transformed
by his words, are encouraged in difficult times by his presence. As in the first
days of the church – no government repression can silence the church. It just
moves below the radar waiting in faith, praising and praying until that day when
in the full light of a glorious day, the church can be the signal of hope it is
called to be. Now
is not the time to despair or to be overwhelmed by fear. It is not the time to
fall down or to drop our shoulders. It is the time to stand up to square our
shoulders, raise our heads and declare that whether we look back to the first
Advent or forward to the Second, our redemption is here. How do we know?
We know because while we have seen the destruction, we have also seen the
signs of redemption. Blooming leaves, people tending to their gardens, children
emerging and playing outside after a long cold winter are all signs that summer
is coming, and winter has past, and a time of renewal is on the way. Renewal
is on the way. The promise is that one is coming who is able to transform
us and make us better. Look back and know that he has come.
Look up and know that God’s promise will be kept and when it is, we
will thank and praise God forever. While we wait, may this be our prayer: “Direct
our attention, O God, above the turmoil of our times, beyond the distress of
human greed. We look for signs that your realm is near, that your Word rules the
world. Free us from the weight of heavy cares to bear your joyous truth into our
relationships. Join us together in a spirit of thanksgiving and earnest
prayer” (Gathered by Love. Lavon Bayler.
Cleveland: United Church Press, 1994, p.5). Thanks be to God. Amen. Dr.
LaTaunya M. Bynum |
|
Broad
Street Christian Church
|
