First Sunday of Advent, 12/03/2017

Sermon on Mark 13:24-37, by David Mielke

GRACE TO YOU AND PEACE FROM GOD OUR FATHER AND OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

As Mary sat in worship on the first Sunday in Advent her mind began to wander. She thought of the shopping she needed to do. She thought of all the church programs and neighborhood parties and school activities she would be expected to attend. She had better get those dates on her calendar as soon as possible she thought.

And if they really are going to have a goose for Christmas dinner, then now is the time to order it.

Mary thought about her party dress at the dry cleaners and the decorations in her attic. She thought about her children needing haircuts. She thought about cleaning her dirty carpets before her mom came. She needed good seats for the university's production of "A Christmas Carol," so she had better call first thing Monday morning. As Mary thought and worried about all these things a woman approached the lectern to read the New Testament lesson for the morning, She read something about dates and time and how the Day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. Mary knew. Christmas has a way of sneaking up on us – somewhat like a thief in the night.

Mary's experience is all too common. Maybe you too are thinking about all the things that need tobe done before Christmas. These weeks are for many the busiest days of the year. There is so much preparation that by Christmas Day one can be completely exhausted.

In the midst of our focusing on preparing for Christmas we enter the somber Season of Advent. Advent seems almost out of sync with the festive pre-Christmas activities going on all around us. Yet Advent is a season of preparation. It is a time to look both to the future and back to the past. We look forward to Christ's coming again as we remember and celebrate his birth long ago. Before Jesus ascended into heaven he promised the apostles that one day he would return. The apostles asked the same question that has been asked in every generation since, "When will these things be?" If only we knew exactly when Christ will return we could pencil him into our busy schedules. If only we knew when, we could clean up our lives so we would be ready.

The problem is that we do not know. While we can count the number of days until Christmas we cannot count the number of days until Christ will return. In fact Jesus warns us about people who try.

THE WORD FROM JESUS IS TO KEEP ALERT. We do not know when he will establish his kingdom in this world. No one does. "About that day or hour," said Jesus, "no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Notice that even Jesus himself did not know the day or time but only God the Father. Jesus did not want his followers to waste time speculating. They had work to do. He doesn't want us to speculate, either.

During the summer of 2016 Sue and I visited the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii in Italy. In 79A.D. Mount Versuvius erupted and destroyed the city. Pompeii was buried under nine feet of ash and pumice. During the 1700s archeologists discovered the remains of many bodies preserved in the hardened ash. It happened so quickly that people were caught going about their usual life tasks. What is most interesting, however, is that a watchman guard was found at the gate of the city. His hands were still clutching his weapon. He had been commanded by his captain to continue his watch and even in the face of death he remained at his post.

This is a timely picture for us. We need to be alert, vigilant, watchful, waiting for Christ's coming kingdom.

PERHAPS THE DELAY IN CHRIST’S RETURN IS TO GIVE US MORE TIME TO PREPARE.

We look around and see all the tragedy in our world and ask, "Why doesn't Jesus come and put an end to all this?" That question is not unique to our time. Folks in every age have asked that same question. The early Christians who gathered in Mark's church to listen to the words of Jesus had just experienced some horrible, unthinkable events. Jerusalem and the Temple had been destroyed. There were people claiming to be the messiah. Jesus had warned his followers that there would be these pretenders to his throne. In addition, there were those who had calculated that the time was right for Jesus' return. It was a very confusing situation for the early believers. They needed to once again hear the words of Jesus. Of that day Jesus told his followers, "The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken." In other words, when that day comes they do not have to worry that they will miss it; everyone will recognize it. The question for us is, will we be ready when we see "`The Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory?"

In Advent it crosses my mind that the Lord may be looking down at the chaos of this world and longing to come, but waiting, sparing us judgment for a while longer. Perhaps He is giving us more time to get our lives in order.

But the today’s Gospel lesson is that we do not have to wait until His return to enter His Kingdom. Jesus' words about his return weren't meant to frighten people. Instead his words were meant as words of comfort. We know how the story ends; we can relax. We are to learn the lesson of the fig tree. By looking at the fig tree we are able to tell when it will produce fruit. When its "branch becomes tender," Jesus said, "and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you will know that he is near, at the very gates." Actually he is at our personal gates this very hour.

A missionary and his new wife were in a very primitive part of South America following seminary. He didn’t want to subject his wife to too primitive a way of life so they took with them an electric generator and fuel to run it. The natives had never seen a generator before and saw it only as a machine that made loud noises and threw out a lot of smoke. Some even thought it was inhabited by demons.

In mid‑December they wired their house with sockets and lights and even a set of twinkle lights. The natives gathered around their house since they had never seen such a thing. Many local people would travel, sometimes great distances, to see his light and the tree in his living room with the twinkle lights. A light was hung in the middle of the beautiful old church. The people would gather to sing at the end of the day but not with artificial light at night. The couple tried to explain about electricity, telling the natives how power went through the wire and made the bulb light up – but only because it was connected to the generator.

On Christmas Eve as the people began gathering for worship he turned the light bulb on and heard the usual "oohs" and "aahs" from the people. As he stood at the door following the service one of the men who had the hardest time understanding electricity shook his head saying, "Now I see what Christmas is all about," he said. "We are light bulbs and Christmas sends the power to make us light up."

That's a pretty good assessment of the situation. Even though Christ promised us he would return to establish his kingdom, we do not have to wait until some far off time to connect ourselves to him. He is available to us here and now. Be alert. Delay does not mean he is not coming. He is merely giving us time to get our lives together. We can get our lives together best of all by entering his kingdom today.

MAY THE PEACE OF GOD WHICH PASSES ALL HUMAN UNDERSTANDING KEEP YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS.

AMEN!

Pastor David Mielke

E-Mail: pastordavidmielke@gmail.com

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