FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT, 11/30/2008

Sermon on Mark 13:24-37, by Walter W. Harms

[Jesus said:] "But in those days, following that distress, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!' "

HE IS COMING BACK. BE ON THE WATCH.

Happy New Year! Yes, I know 2009 is still about six weeks away. But then everything is coming sooner than later. The other day I was in the Home Depot, and already they were playing Christmas carols and the store was loaded with poinsettias which surely will be wilted by Dec. 25. But what the hey! So Happy New Year to all of you.

But actually as St. Paul says, "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that which is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." So we aren't conforming to this world when I wish you a Happy New Year. The Christian new church year begins right now, today!

Of course, this is not in sync with the world, but this Sunday, the first Sunday in Advent has been observed as the beginning of the Christian church year since around the year 1200 CE. This season called Advent, which is from the Latin for "coming" refers to the Festival of the Incarnation, the coming to take on of human flesh and blood by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You have got to get ready for that festival! Advent, these 4 weeks before that first great festival of the church is the time for preparation.

This time of preparation is not just to get ready and be prepared to celebrate rightly this whole festival of the Birth of our Savior through the Blessed Virgin Mary, but this is time to prepare for his coming back. For we believe as he once came, so he promised to come back for all of us, the ones elected/chosen by him to be with him forever. He has promised again and again that he would come back.

In the reading today from the narrative of our Lord written by Mark, Jesus says that all men will see him, the son of Man, coming in clouds with great power and glory. There won't be any second guessing about what is happening. Our God and Savior will return and what then? His angels will gather his chosen, elected one from across the whole universe. He is coming back and we, the elect of God are told not to be caught napping on the job. We are to, the ancient prayer of the church states: "Work while it is day before the night comes when no man can work." We are to be on the job, doing what has been assigned to us by the master of the house, the Lord of the universe.

Now this reading from Mark is a little scary. There will be distress. Then after that distress the sun will be darkened, the moon not give light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Frightening!

We are in distress right now. The financial crunch has become a reality. Jobs are being lost at a pace not seen in years. Businesses and banks are going out of business. Many of you have lost substantially in the stock market. Retirement funds are threatened. Plans for education of children are not only on hold, they have evaporated.

Floods, fires, earthquakes, droughts, famine, wars, poverty, genocide, and pollution are all a part of our daily news together with crimes that most of us cannot imagine. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers are returning from wars with mental wounds that may never heal. Diseases such as cancer, diabetes, congestive heart failure and so much more surround us daily.

How long, O God, can we put up with this? And you say things are going to get worse? When will you come and end this for your people whom you love, whom you have chosen to be yours? How soon will you rescue us and bring us the final salvation of all that sin, the devil, this world has brought upon itself?

The answer on this First Sunday in Advent is critical for all of us. NO ONE KNOWS! Jesus says that he doesn't even know the time and the season for all of this to ta ke place. The angels don't know! Only the heavenly Father, the Father to whom we pray in the prayer his Son taught us knows. And we pray: Thy will be done! And the will of the heavenly Father is always good and kind, even in the times of consternation about what is happening to us in this world.

Jesus tells us this clearly: no one knows. Why does he say that? Because from the time after our Lord ascended to heaven, persons have stated that they knew when all of this was going to take place and have gathered people around them, only to be discredited. This has happened again and again.

There is a group active is our communities which stated that the end of the world would come before the believers born before 1912 were dead. They have had to revise their dates again, as they have done many times before. We can be so anxious to know that we fall into the trap which leads us away from our Lord and Savior and his Father, our heavenly Father.

But he does give us signs of his coming again. When you see a tree start to bud, you know spring is near and summer not far behind. When you see all of the distress that our Lord talks about taking place, you know that the end is coming soon.

How soon? He says "this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. When Jesus speaks of "generation," he is referring to the unbelieving, adulterous and sinful people. Jesus is saying that we will never be rid of these people until that day when Jesus brings in the new heaven and earth .

There will always be people who will not believe in God. There will be people who find Jesus irrelevant to this time and age. There will be people who do not believe that the Birth of Jesus is truly a festival to be celebrated, but will revel in nutcrackers, reindeer, Santa Clauses, lights and all that gives glitz and pizzazz to this life, but who find that Jesus is not the center of this or any other festival.

We are not immune to the lure of all of this. We use our credit cards to buy the new, thinking this time, now I will find an end to the cravings within. Now I will be able to shut out the terrors of this world and its horrors. With this lifestyle I will achieve the level where all will be well.

We can be deceived by thi s world into now thinking about his coming back and not being prepared. We can "do our own thing" and be on the assigned task he gives us. We can turn in upon ourselves, thinking only of ourselves and be among the sinful, adulterous, unbelieving people, perhaps while thinking we are among the elect.

Jesus came the first time to people who thought they had the market on God. They had God, knew how to worship perfectly, despised those who didn't stick with the way it had always been done, and were called hypocrites and worse by our Lord.

How could this take place? Because they gave up watching and rested on their laurels, they had Abraham, Moses, the temple, the Law and the prophets. What more would they need?

They felt they were loyal to God's Word, and missed the WORD when he showed up. They took him because he was destroying their time honored rituals with this compassion which only God could have on people, they took him and thought they could destroy this upstart, but as Jesus says: "heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

Therefore, as he is coming back, be on the watch and on the job. What has our Lord Jesus given you to do? Are you doing it? He has placed us in family. Are you giving your family the love which he has given you, the forgiveness he has given you, the care he has given you?

He has placed us in this community and the church. Do the people who surround us, in hearing us, in reading our e-mails and our responses to blogs recognize that we believe we are pilgrims on earth waiting for our Lord to come and take us, and as many of them as he brings, to the faith in him as our Lord and Savior? Is there in your home, in your work place, in your school, in your community a word of yours that tells the world Jesus is the reason for the season, and that his love for you shows in your love for them?

Don't go to sleep now! Don't get distracted by what the world considers important. Wake up, it's a New Year! He is coming back! Amen.

retired pastor Walter W. Harms
Austin, TX U. S. A.
E-Mail: waltpast@aol.com

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