A Sermon preached on Sunday 1 December (Advent I) at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden
Jeremiah 33:14-16, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, Luke 21:25-36
Happy New Year! For the church, today, the first Sunday of Advent, is the beginning of a new year. Advent is of course a season of expectation and preparation, of active waiting. Most of us prefer to focus on the expectation and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity, Christ's first coming as a baby in Bethlehem. Christians traditionally interpret the prophecy from the Book of Jeremiah that "a righteous Branch (will) spring up for David who shall execute justice and righteousness in the land" to be about Jesus’ birth and ministry! Much of what we do here in Advent, the candles we light as a visual countdown, the successive decoration and transformation of the church, the readings that build up to Christmas, are about preparing for that celebration. And of course, the secular aspects of Advent, the Christmas markets, buying presents, sending and receiving cards are also focused on the celebration of a somewhat sanitised version of the events surrounding Jesus’ birth.
But, as the NT readings today remind us, Advent is also about preparing for Christ's return, the second “coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints," that Paul announces in his letter to the Thessalonians (3:13), or the "'Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory" that Jesus refers to in the passage from Luke's gospel (21:27) that, like a similar text in Mark, is often called the "Little Apocalypse." Do we even want to prepare for that? Is it really something we look forward to? I wondered if making and selling T-shirts with the slogan: "Jesus is coming. Look busy" might not be a good fundraiser in this Advent season? But on second thoughts, no. T-shirts probably wouldn’t sell well in winter, and it is also bad theology!
It makes it sound as if Christ’s second coming is something to worry about and as if his response to us depends on our actions and achievements and not on his nature. Yet our Eucharistic Prayer talks of us “looking for his coming again with power and great glory.” And what Christian would not look expectantly and hopefully for the day when justice and righteousness are established, and God's kingdom of peace and love fully established?
So why might we not want to prepare for the Second Coming? I can think of lots of reasons: fear is one of them, fear of what Christ the judge might say to me. Or fear of loss. Even if this world is anything but perfect, for many of us life is not bad at all and for a tiny few, life is very good indeed! Behind Jesus’ apocalyptic terminology, all the language about signs in the sun, the moon and the stars, the roaring of the sea and the waves, and the shaking of the powers of the heavens is a message of massive change and transformation. Those who are powerful, rich, mighty, and privileged always fear change.
And of course there is disbelief. Although Jesus refers to his return more than once in all of the Gospels, as does Paul in many of his letters, and even if we affirm it in some form every week at the Eucharist, the Parousia, to use the technical term for the second coming, is probably not the most popular or accepted doctrine in mainline Christian denominations. Language such as Jesus uses in today’s Gospel, that “this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place,” (Luke 21:32) was often misinterpreted to expect an imminent and immediate return and deliverance. Which led to great disappointment when that did not happen. And the history of the church is littered with those who thought, and taught, that they had found the key to the timing of the end-time and were proved wrong.
But that does not make the concept as such wrong, harmful or pointless. To be "end-time minded," to look forward to his return, is not to be constantly looking for signs and proof that Christ is about to return, but simply living in the sure knowledge that he will. When faced with a disturbing or frightening present, and a difficult and uncertain future, today’s three readings tell us that our faith should be formed by hope. Threatened by conquest, destruction, and exile, Jeremiah holds up a vision of a new, righteous and just sovereign from David’s lineage as promised by God. The theme of the passage from Luke’s Gospel is also hope, hope for the transformation and redemption of all creation. The parable of the fig tree is a sign of hope. When that beloved tree with its sweet fruit begins to show shoots and leaves, it is the sign of summer. Winter's cold and dark will soon be left behind. We should not focus on the bad, but instead look out for, and nurture the signs of life and love we can find amidst the roaring! Joyful vigilance is our calling, not foreboding.
The late Frederick Buechner, a well-known American theologian and preacher, wrote of Advent: “I think we are waiting. That is what is at the heart of it. Even when we don’t know that we are waiting, I think we are waiting. Even when we can’t find words for what we are waiting for, I think we are waiting.”[1]
Jesus contrasts two approaches for this time of waiting. On the one hand we have a waiting marked by worry and anxiety, with drink or other worldly temptations as a distraction. On the other we have prayerful and hopeful vigilance. Jesus tells us to be "end-time minded," without withdrawing from our current ministry under the assumption that the time is already here. In fact, our current ministry, being as Christ to the sick, the lonely, the poor, the outcast and the stranger, is a key part of being “end-time minded”. It is about bringing some of his love and our joy into the present.
Waiting also calls for patience, lots of it! Anglican theologian Tom Wright refers to the “steady tread of prayer and hope and scripture and sacrament and witness, day by day and week be week. This is what counts; this is why patience is a fruit of the Spirit.”[2]
While we wait, we pray, as Paul writes, that “the Lord will make us increase and abound in love for one another and for all.” (1 Thessalonians 3:10) And we wait without fear, sure in Jesus' promise that his words will not pass away, and that his words are words of love, hope, forgiveness, and grace.
Amen.
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