FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT, 11/30/2008

Sermon on Mark 13:24-37, by Lucy Lind Hogan

These are not good times. They are not good times for the world markets and economic systems. These are times of political unrest and upheaval. It is a time when we long for control and the knowledge of what will be happening so that we can attempt, in some small way, to manage our lives. Unfortunately, we are not always able to find the knowledge we need in order to achieve that control.

Each afternoon, I hold my breath as I turn to the television or internet in order to discover what has happened to the markets. Where did we end up today? Has the market soared or plummeted? I then listen to the commentators trying to read the signs. Is it good or bad to be up or down? Is this a necessary correction? Have we reached the bottom, or is this another sign of exuberance in the market that will not last? How much longer will we be riding this rollercoaster?

People are loosing their homes as the banks foreclose on their mortgages. People are loosing their jobs. Our elderly are unable to move into nursing homes or retirement communities because they are unable to sell their homes.

Then, unfortunately, the news from the markets is interrupted by the news of out-of-control wildfires in California. Thousands of homes are being destroyed by fires so hot they are melting the very hoses being used to attempt to extinguish the flames.

Political upheaval, natural disasters, personal suffering - it is in this context that we begin a new church year, Advent. And it is in these challenging times that we turn to Mark's gospel and recall Jesus' prophesy about the end time. There would be a time, he declared, that everything that they knew would be thrown down. The very temple itself would be destroyed.

Glimpses of the End

With Advent we move into a time of preparation and reflection. But preparation for what; reflection on what?

Certainly, we are preparing to celebrate the Feast of the Incarnation, the birth of Jesus, the word made flesh who came to dwell amongst us full of truth and light. We enter a time of reflection on what God did so many years ago. God came to dwell among us, to be one of us. God laughed and cried, loved and suffered, and gave his life so that we might have life and have it abundantly.

But that is only one aspect of our preparation. Jesus is reminding us that we need to prepare for the end time when the Son of Man will return, the time of judgment; the time to "gather in the elect."

It is difficult to get our heads around the eschaton, the end of time on a grand scale. Yet, we all experience those end times on a much smaller scale, through the death of friends and those we love.

Our family recently suffered with and supported a family who struggled with the illness and death of their father. He had entered the hospital to have heart surgery in the hopes that it would bring renewed health and energy. Unfortunately, his heart was too damaged. But he did not die immediately after the surgery as some of the surgeons suspected that he would. His will to live was strong and he fought to regain his strength for several months. But during those months he went in and out of a coma. His family would gather wondering, is this it, is this the end - only to have him rally. They would then ask even more questions, is he on the road to recovery, has he finally turned the corner; we will soon have him home?

Each day they would try to read the signs. Each day they would hope that the doctors and nurses would bring them good news. "What will happen?" they would ask. "How much longer?" And then, one day, it was over. Fortunately, his wife and daughter were able to be with him at the end; his quiet, peaceful death.

In these moments we have reminders and intimations of the end that awaits us all.

"No One Knows"

While there is much to be said for the lectionary - the three year schedule of assigned scriptures for our worship services, an unfortunate consequence is that we do not always hear a whole story. We often hear the answer or punch line, but not the question or set up to the joke. The gospel passage assigned for the First Sunday in Advent is a case in point. We hear Jesus' answer, "about that day or hour no one knows," but we have missed the question.

Jesus and his followers had just come out of the temple complex in Jerusalem when one of the disciples praised the grandeur of the buildings. It is helpful to remember that Jesus had just focused their attention on the widow who gave out of her poverty and he chastised the rich who gave a minimal amount out of their great savings.

I do not find it hard to believe that there was a note of irritation in Jesus' voice as he declared to his friend that there will come a time when these great and grand buildings, that he admires so much, will be left in ruin. "All will be thrown down" (Mark 13:2)

I also suspect that some of the followers could not believe that would never happen. How could something so solid, that had taken centuries to complete, ever be torn down? That was certainly my reaction on the morning of September 11, 2001 when a student told me that the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York had both fallen. "What?" I declared incredulously. "That can't be. How can two 110 story building come crashing down?" It was not until I saw the horrible images for myself that I was finally able to believe it had happened.

Did some of those listening to Jesus' prophesy walk away laughing? "Is he crazy? I don't believe it. Nothing is going to happen to our temple." But Peter, James, John, and Andrew began to wonder. They had followed Jesus for quite a while now. They had eaten with him, listened to his teaching and watched him perform great signs and healing. Could this be, they wondered? Was a time of disaster and political upheaval coming? Like my friends, who were experiencing the end time on a small scale, the disciples asked the same questions, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?" (Mark 13:4) What must we do to prepare? Can we be privy to inside information so that we can get our houses in order and flee to safety?

These are the questions that Jesus is answering. Yes, he says, days of suffering and turmoil are coming. The days are coming when there will be an end to the world as we know it and when the Son of Man will return in judgment. But, he declares, you cannot know, I do not know. Even the angels do not know. Only God knows, and for that we will have to wait and watch.

"Keep Awake"

This answer might possibly leave us in a position of panic and insecurity. We know that the end is coming. We just don't know when. Therefore, we don't know how to get ready.

That was certainly the position in which many of the early Christians found themselves. They expected Jesus to return at any moment and rescue them from the pain and persecutions that they were experiencing at the hands of the Roman authorities. Yet this knowledge resulted in some interesting behavior. They decided to stop working. Why should they work and save for a future that wasn't going to be? Paul had to remind them to get back to work. If they didn't work they wouldn't eat. The end was coming. Jesus would return. But we don't know when that will be he reminded them.

As we begin our Advent preparations, Jesus teaches us several important lessons.

First - God is in charge.

We might like to think that we have control over our lives and our world. But the good news of the gospel is that our loving and graceful God is active and moving in our lives and in our world.

In describing those end times, Jesus paints the picture of a time when the sun's light will be extinguished, the moon will turn dark, and even the stars will fall from their positions in the heavenly firmament. How can that happen? It will only happen by the very hand of the God who placed them there. It was God who said, "Let there be light," and it will be only God, our God, who will be able to say, "No more!"

Our God is active and moving throughout all of creation. We are to remember the comforting words of Jesus, "Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

But God is not only in charge of only the end times. God is in control day in day out, week in, week out, year in year out. I wish that Jesus would not have used the parable of a homeowner who left his home to go on a journey in order to remind us that we have to keep awake because we do not when our master will return. That might give us the impression that we are the children of an absent parent. That is certainly not the case. Our lives, our world is filled with God's presence.

The problem is not that God is missing. Rather, we have lost the ability to recognize that presence.

Second - the signs of God's presence are all around us.

Reminding his followers that they were already adept at reading the natural signs, Jesus reminded them that they needed to become adept at becoming better God-watchers.

Using the lovely image of a fig tree in spring, Jesus demonstrates that his friends were able to tell that spring was coming. When they saw on an apparently dead, bare branch the tiniest hint of a green, they knew that the tree would soon be clothed in green and fruit would appear on those branches. This is a wonderul sign of life and new beginning, and through it, Jesus helps us to see that we are surrounded by those same signs of life and new beginning, even when we are in the middle of a frozen winter or time of great upheaval and disaster.

God is in charge, and God is always with us. Through the reading of scripture, joining with our sisters and brothers in worship and service, we sharpen our skills as God-watchers or, as theologian Mary Catherine Hilkert describes, we learn to name grace, God's grace, in the world.

I think that this is one of the most difficult challenges for us in the modern or post-modern world. Yes, we do know that when the daffodils bloom and the dogwood blossoms appear on the trees spring is here. But, we have come to have so many other explanations for what happens to us. We attribute success or failure, health or illness, to science, genes, psychology, or human power rather than the power of God working in our world. Can we relearn this ancient skill? That is an Advent challenge.

Finally - we are to keep awake and alert.

God is in charge, and the signs of God's activities are all around us. We, therefore, are challenged to keep awake and watching. We don't want to miss a minute of this wonderful news. We need to be awake and alert so that we can help those who are suffering in these times of turmoil and upheaval, and point them to the presence of God in their lives.

It is important for us to understand that awake and alert should not be translated into anxious and restless.

We recently moved into a new home - out of our home of twenty-seven years. Each night, in the middle of the night, I awake fretful and panicking. Where will I put this or that? What will I do with all of the books that we have collected over the years? Will we be able to rent our old home?

I don't think that the Jesus who reminded us not to be anxious would mean that we are supposed to live lives of insecurity and fearfulness. No, we are to live in the security that God is watching over us and we are not worry about those final end times. In stead, we are to live firmly in the present, God's present.

I have come to realize that my anxiety attacks are grounded in my desire to control everything and make everything perfect. I want my new home to look as though I have lived there for years. I want all of the boxes unpacked and I want to find a place for everything and put everything in its place.

My Advent discipline this year is to come to recognize that I cannot control everything or make everything perfect. As I light the candles in my Advent wreath (if I can find the box) I will take joy in the boxes that surround us and see in them signs of a new life we are beginning.

The Good News

The good news of Advent is that we are preparing to celebrate the incarnation, "the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory" (John 1:14). The good news of Advent is that we are preparing, this and every day, for the return of that Word. Christ will return to gather us from the all over the world, all over the heavens, as a mother hen gathers her chicks.

In these times of turmoil and upheaval, when we do not know what will happen tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, may we rest secure in the knowledge that we do know what will happen at the very end of time. We know that our lives are in the hands of our loving God and that although "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away" (Mark 13:31). And that Word is Jesus himself.

Dr. Lucy Lind Hogan
Washington, DC USA
E-Mail: lindhogan@gmail.com

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