Anticipation

Matthew 24:36-44

Today is the first Sunday of the Advent season for Christendom. The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” Jesus is coming – his arrival is just around the corner – and that is what we focus on during the Advent season.

The Advent season is four Sundays long, so we have the four Advent candles – we light each candle as we progress through the Advent season until we reach Christmas when we celebrate Jesus’ first arrival as a baby in Bethlehem. We light candles on the Advent wreath, sing Advent hymns, wait, and prepare.

The first purple candle in the Advent wreath is known as the ‘prophet’s candle’ and represents the hope of the arrival of the Baby Jesus as told by the Prophet Isaiah. The second purple candle represents faith – faith that Jesus will be born. The third candle is rose-colored, expressing joy: this Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday, which symbolizes the nearness of Christ’s coming. The fourth purple candle represents peace and reminds us of the importance of peace as the Prince of Peace is coming.

Advent is a four-week season designed to deflate the bumper sticker that says, “tomorrow has been canceled due to lack of interest.” Advent seeks to take us back to simpler times when we were not so frantic.

We celebrate how Jesus comes to us in three ways: the first coming at His birth more than 2020 years ago and re-enact the birth in pageants and carols.

We celebrate his coming amongst us now through the Word and Eucharist. We observe how Jesus comes among us in one another, in the least of our brothers and sisters.

We celebrate Jesus’ Second coming when he will come again, bringing in a time of peace and joy that we heard in the reading from Isaiah today.

The end is coming, and of that, we can be sure.

But when?

Martin Luther is supposed to have said that if he knew the end of the world was coming tomorrow, he would plant an apple tree this afternoon. Luther did not speculate on when the end times were. He focused instead on the purpose of the world, what God intends for the present time. What may happen in the future does not excuse us from doing what God requires of us here and now.

If we know the end is near, the temptation is to hole up in a bomb shelter or armed fortress in the mountains and wait. We would create a fortress mentality of ‘us against them.’ Instead, we are to live with that uncertainty. Uncertainty of what will happen but with a certainty that Jesus is always with us.

When we stop trying to figure out when the Second Coming is, we have the energy to listen to what God calls us to do today. Advent preparation is about removing the noise from our lives so that we can hear and see the coming of Jesus among us today. In Matthew 25, those condemned say to Jesus,

“If we had only known that it was you in the poor and the hungry, of course, we would have fed you!”  (Matthew 25:37-39)

Jesus comes to us today in the least of our sisters and brothers. We will not be prepared if we ignore and demean the least of these today in our eagerness to welcome Jesus.

We are to live in constant readiness. If this were your last day on earth, how would you spend it? Paul tells us not to neglect to be together. We prepare each time we come together for the promises and the hopes that will carry us through difficult times.

Are you preparing for this day?

Or are you procrastinating?

A procrastinator is someone who’s not ready. Someone who says,

“Eventually, I’ll get my act together. But not right now. I have too much going on.”

Is our world ready for Jesus’ Second Coming?

A fable is told about three apprentice devils talking with Satan about their plans to destroy humanity. The first apprentice suggested they would succeed if they told people that there was no God. Satan rejected that suggestion because he realized that most people know there is a God and would not be convinced otherwise. The second apprentice suggested they could succeed by telling people there is no hell. But Satan rejected that idea because too many people knew there was a hell. Then the third apprentice devil spoke up: “Let’s destroy all humanity by telling them there is no hurry!” The fable concludes that Satan loved that suggestion because he knew that people would procrastinate getting ready and be destroyed.

Many Christians today don’t believe that Jesus will come during their lifetime. But in these verses, Jesus tells us to live as though he will come tomorrow. A Christian must always be preparing, always watchful, and ready for the moment He comes. That doesn’t mean that we stop doing the things we do. Those religious cults telling people to quit their jobs and sit up on a mountain and wait for the end of the world are misleading people. That’s not what Jesus means when he says

“to prepare, to be ready.”

What about you? We struggle with this, too, don’t we? “I will grow in my spiritual life,” we say, “but I will grow later. I will pray but figure out how to do that later. I will live like a child of God later in my life. I have plenty of time. It’s OK for me now to not grow, pray, or live like my unbelieving friends”.

There is a false theology that uses these verses

Then two will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken, and one will be left. (Matthew 24:40-41)

False prophets use these phrases to justify the exclusion of some people at the Second Coming.

Many people embrace the ‘left behind’ prophecy, believing that the Bible supports this. There have been over 200 prophecies of the rapture at the end of the world. Prophet Harold Camping last predicted the end of the world in 1994; then changed it to May 21, 2011, and then changed it to October 21, 2011. In March 2012, he finally admitted he had been wrong. A devotee of Camping continued the prophecy, saying October 7, 2015, would be the end of the world. Many people lost their houses, jobs, and money following this man’s predictions.

There are many reasons this ‘end time’ theology is false and destructive:

1.  Rapture teaching is new. Rapture teaching originated in the 1800s with John Nelson Darby, a Plymouth Brethren preacher. He, in turn, influenced Cyrus Scofield, who edited an infamous, early study Bible named after himself. It spread across the Atlantic through folks like Dwight L. Moody and institutions like Dallas Theological Seminary. Later popularizations included Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth and the best-selling novels-ever-written-for-adults-at-a-third-grade-reading-level, known as the Left Behind series. Until the 19th century, there was no mass of Christians anywhere who taught that Jesus would return to a select group and give those chosen jetpacks to heaven while the ‘left behinds’ and the world went to hell.

2.  The rapture is exclusively Protestant and almost exclusively American. Catholics and Orthodox don’t remotely take these prophecies seriously, and certainly not the rapture. Add to that what NT Wright and others have pointed out –only Americans care about rapture teaching.

3.  The rapture requires a two-stage return of Jesus. The return of Jesus and “day of the Lord” traditions in the Bible are always singular events. Passages like,

“Watch ye, therefore, for you know not when the master approaches” (Mark 13:35)

This never suggests a multi-stage return. The Nicene Creed, the most authoritative of the ancient summaries of Christian doctrine, says simply of Jesus,

“He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.”

He does not return, take a few with him, and return later. He comes in glory to judge all and establish his Kingdom.

4. The rapture is not remotely biblical. Not even remotely. The main passages used to defend a teaching of the rapture, Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4, can only do so if taken out of context and misinterpreted. In Matthew 24, the language about

“one being left behind”

is a reference to Noah and the flood – that one should want to be “left behind” as Noah and his family were. In 1 Thessalonians 4, the word translated as “caught up” (harpazo in Greek) appears elsewhere in the New Testament. It speaks to the dead in Christ rising first, a fact most versions of the rapture overlook entirely.

5.  The logic of the rapture is Gnostic, not Christian. Fleeing an imperfect and decaying physical world for the purity and joy of a spiritual realm sounds much like Gnosticism. Gnostics believed that secret knowledge was revealed to them (“gnosis” means “knowledge). Everything physical was evil and corrupt, while the spirit was pure and noble. Many heretical forms of ancient Christianity were gnostic and gnostic-influenced. The church rejects these pseudo-Christianities.

Fredrick Dale Bruner points out that in Jesus’ example of the end, the “rapture” does not take special people to unique places. In Matthew 24:40-41, people are at their ordinary work in the fields and on the threshing floor. This fact honors our secular vocations and Christians being faithful to them. So, seriously taking the Lord’s coming does not mean taking this world or our work any less seriously.

A kind of world-hating sentiment can come with all the end-time frenzy. Many years ago, Jerry Falwell, Sr., reflected on this kind of end-times fatalism when a TV commentator asked him if he was concerned about the environment. He said, in effect, that he was not worried about the environment because Jesus was coming back, so we had better use it before losing it. There is something strange about eagerly looking for God to destroy creation because we’re going to heaven anyway.

God sent his Son to this world because He loves the creation. The goal of Christ’s saving death and resurrection is not to destroy God’s creation but to renew it. When the Lord returned, Luther was asked what he would like to do. “Planting peach trees” was his biblically correct response.

May the Advent season be a joyful, hopeful time for us—when we recommit ourselves to being watchful Christians. We rejoice now that Jesus came on Christmas, but we also look forward to rejoicing when Jesus comes unexpectantly on Judgment Day. We pray:

O Lord, give me the heart of Noah, a heart that is watchful and ready for the day you come.

To be ready, we must live every day with this overwhelming expectation of Christ’s coming.

Being ready is not constantly scanning the sky, jumping out of your skin with every loud noise, or trying to penetrate the mysteries of the book of Revelation. It’s living in faithfulness and love every day; it’s nurturing ourselves and our children in the faith; it’s loving and helping our neighbor in need. It’s using our skills and talents not for ourselves and our enrichment but for God and his Kingdom; it’s sharing the gospel.

Let us pray:

Creator of us all, we want to be prepared and waiting when you come. Please quicken our heart with your Spirit so that we can be alert and ready. Use us to help prepare others with the same eagerness and excitement we have. May we, the Church of this generation, be ready; may we be found faithful and righteous when Jesus comes. Amen.

             Delivered at Saint John’s Episcopal Church, Columbus, OH; November 27, 2022

The Election . . . and Then THIS!

Luke 21:5-19

“Joy to the world! No more election news coverage and political ads!” (Well, almost)

Maybe that isn’t the good news you were expecting to hear this morning, but isn’t it a relief to have a break from all the tv ads, telephone calls, texts, and emails? I don’t know about you, but the election process has left me feeling worn down and beaten. If nothing else, it has shown us that there is more division in this country than we might have realized and that we need to get better at listening to one another instead of talking at each other. I think we saw the results of something growing in our country for at least 15-20 years, maybe even longer.

Watching the reaction of people on Wednesday morning, I saw people who felt like the outcome of this election was ‘the end,’ or at least the beginning of the end, and people who were confident that all their greatest hopes and dreams were suddenly and magically realized.

This week, I’ve struggled with how we, as a community of faith, can come together and heal. Some of us are very excited; the candidate of their choice won, and are happy – we want to celebrate. Others are disappointed that their candidate lost; they want to mourn, are afraid, and aren’t feeling very celebratory.

Then, we come to this reading from Luke:

“Wars and revolutions, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, earthquakes, famines, and pestilence … betrayal, hatred…” (Luke 21:10-11).

This is such a doggy downer! I want to throw my hands in the air. But when I stop worrying about how to navigate the post-election emotions with you, I realize that this passage in Luke comes just when we need it.

Luke 21:5-19 is a passage we’d all rather not hear. We want Jesus to say something else; a different set of predictions and promises. We want Jesus to say,

“Don’t worry about trials and persecutions, for I shall deliver you from them before they happen.”

We want Jesus to say,

“The world will be so impressed by the church, its accomplishments, and proclamations that they won’t dare harm you.”

We want the ecclesiastical equivalent of “Homeland Security” that will protect our borders from evildoers and offer us protection in the future. Instead, Jesus tells us we will suffer from the world’s hatred of us because of Him. But He will remain with us when it does.

As a deacon, I am challenged to try to help us all navigate through these experiences, and to recognize that God is active in everything that is going on today. God is present in the midst of fear and disappointment, as well as exuberance and joy. How can we all find hope together?

For those who preach, it isn’t hard to imagine a more challenging message. Deep down, we worry that if we preach this bluntly and boldly, some folks will leave our congregations to join up with those clappy-happy folks up the street who promise the theology of prosperity. Christians like “possibility thinking,” and by “possibility,” they most assuredly do not mean the possibility of getting persecuted to death!

This passage is an example of apocalyptic literature at its best: descriptions of wars, natural disasters, persecution, imprisonment, and even death.

But it’s not about the end of the world.

The word “apocalyptic” doesn’t refer to “end times” as we often think it does. It means revelation, specifically, God revealing himself to us directly and personally.

This scripture is not a passage about the end of the world. But we would like to know the ending. We want a timetable. And the disciples were like us; they wanted answers. So it isn’t surprising that when Jesus starts talking about the way things will be “at the end of the Age,” his disciples, and we, want to know

“When? How will we know? What will be the sign that these things are about to take place?”

So, on this Sunday after Tuesday, where do we go from here? I don’t think there are any easy answers. But as Christians, we have one calling above all others, to follow Jesus, so that’s where we begin. Look at how Jesus conducted himself throughout his ministry. He was building relationships with people. He was lifting the marginalized, eating with the tax collector, healing the sick, and forgiving the sinner. He was teaching great crowds of people, feeding the hungry, and sitting at dinner with the outcast. He was building relationships with people, and those people were building relationships with God. So what remains when it seems that our security has been stripped away? –

community,

relationships –

with God

and one another.

And it is these relationships that we, too, must strive for today and every day. Using the magnificent Temple of Solomon as an example, Jesus foretold its destruction – an indication that things would radically change – just as they did after His crucifixion.

We are told we will suffer as a follower of Jesus.

Your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends will even betray you. They will kill some of you. Everyone will hate you because of my name (Luke 21:16-18)

there is no ‘land of milk and honey’ here.

The times were so terrible that even within families, the unity of the family broke down. It seems especially cruel, but parents will be betraying children, or children betraying parents, brothers, and sisters. This was a time of terrible turmoil in the community; it was a time when they needed to be uplifted, encouraged, and reminded that, yes, Jesus had been with them.

Jesus said to them and us,

“Do not be afraid.”

Jesus tells us not to be afraid 365 times in his teachings. He wanted us to believe this, and in Him.

Jesus is with us, we can have confidence and, in fact, remind ourselves

“I will be with you all days, even until the end of the world.”

In this time of division and divisiveness, our relationship with God must be our highest priority, and we must love others and build relationships with our fellow humans. When we put our highest allegiance to our idols of policy, party, or President, relationships break down.

God will always protect us; but there will be terrible suffering. Each of us has a choice to either stand firm and follow Jesus or turn away. But there is a consolation:

not a hair of your head will be lost. By your endurance, you gain eternal life. (Luke 21:19)

God is with us and will bring us through to a new life. That’s the promise.

Through our endurance, we will gain our lives. We need to renew our sense of being witnesses, being in the presence of, and achieving the peace and fullness of life that is the promise of Jesus.

So, we are faced with what may seem to be an impossible decision:

• Follow Jesus and suffer, maybe even lose our lives
• Go about our daily routine and possibly never get to the Kingdom

But Jesus says in the gospel,

“No one knows,”

when the end times come. We’re not to act as though it is imminent. We must go on living, following the teachings of Jesus, and feel assured that God will protect us.

Let us pray:

Dear God, remind us that in the challenges and struggles of the day, there are always opportunities to speak good words and do good things and thereby witness to our faith. Help me to ground my life in what endures: faith, hope, and love. Heal us with the warmth of your Love. Grant me compassion for all those struggling to live through catastrophic times, and remind us that you will be with us to help us to do just that. Amen

      Delivered at Saint John’s Episcopal Church, Columbus, OH; 13 November 2022