I
stand here this morning with a daunting task: to say something meaningful about
the weirdest things Jesus ever said and to do it in half the time I normally
have because we’re celebrating Communion this morning. But perhaps Communion is the best sermon we
could have today because the topic for this first Sunday of Advent is hope,
particularly our hope of Jesus’ return from Glory to set up his Kingdom and put
the world to right. The earliest
understanding of what the Lord Supper is is that it is a rehearsal of and participation
by the Holy Spirit in the feast we will share with Jesus when he comes again. Today we remind ourselves to look forward to
that and live now accordingly.
But
anyway, back to the weird stuff. Jesus
painted a pretty scary picture here of the way things will be when as he says
the “times of the Nations (Gentiles) will be fulfilled”. The sun, the moon, and the stars are going to
show forth signs. The nations will be in
distress and it will get all the more confusing because the sea will roar and
there will be waves, big waves. People
are going to faint in fear and there will be an overwhelming sense of doom
because the world order as we know is going to end because the powers of the
heavens are getting shaken. And,…that’s
when Jesus comes back. And so Jesus
says, “Stand up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing
near.” These things are like fig trees sprouting
leaves being a sure indicator that summer is no doubt coming. So also, when these weird, scary things begin
to happen and the end of world order as we know it is upon us, so we can know
that the kingdom of God is near.
Please
notice just how vague Jesus is being.
What he is saying, the signs and so forth, are simply unimaginable
events but yet it will be scary times.
It won’t be the end of the creation.
The word he uses for “world” in verse 26 isn’t “cosmos” which would mean
the creation. It’s a different word that
means the world order, a word that was often used to mean the Roman
Empire. I don’t think Jesus was being so
specific as to mean the end of the Roman Empire, which piddled out in the
400’s. Rather, I think he means a world
order structured on empires, a way of doing human civilization that tenaciously
persists to the oppression of many peoples.
I think Jesus is saying that the Age of Empire will come to an end and
will be replaced with the Kingdom of God.
When we see that happening, we, the followers of Jesus, are to stand up
and raise our heads in hope because everything God has promised us will come to
pass – new life, eternal life, life filled with the glory and presence of God;
New Creation, Resurrection, no more sickness, sorrow, or death; no more evil;
just peace, justice, and wholeness.
Well,
I probably just freaked you all out so I’ll rein it in a bit. Again Jesus was quite vague I describing
something that is unimaginable. Just as
no one expected him to enter the world as a baby, live life as we do, suffer
the death of a treasoner, and then be resurrected; so what his second coming
will be like is likely outside our box of expectations and imaginations. But the lesson remains, when all Hell seems to
be breaking loose on Earth, he is coming.
I
think that’s something we can grasp onto in our own lives in the here and now. When that diagnosis comes and our lives turn
upside down, Jesus comes to be with us.
When marriages end, when families fall apart, when friendships fail,
when death takes someone from us, Jesus comes to be with us. When work ends, when our kids are in trouble,
Jesus comes to be with us. When all Hell
breaks loose in our lives Jesus comes to be with us.
Therefore
we must be those who when calamity strikes, we stand up and raise up our heads
for we know there is reason to hope in Jesus.
Jesus does not leave us to fend for ourselves, to stand strong with a
stiff upper lip, or to put our lives back together. He comes to us and causes our relationship
with him to deepen in faith, in the certainty of his love for us. When Hell breaks loose on us, Jesus comes to
be with us. Y’all know how it goes:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trumpet shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
Let us gather to his table looking forward to that day. Amen.
