JC Disciples
Start at the Ending
Reading: Is. 2:1-5. Ro. 13:11-14, Mt. 24:37-44
I remember when the movie Jurassic Park came into the theaters a few years ago. As David and I were making plans to see it, I begged him to tell me which characters would live and which ones would die. He had read the novel on which the movie was based, so I reasoned he should be able to answer such a question. When he declined to answer on the grounds that he didn't want to ruin the suspense for me, I explained that I wanted to know who would live and who would die so that I wouldn't become emotionally involved with the characters who wouldn't survive.
I suspect my feelings in this incident are fairly typical. While we might not mind pleasant surprises, we certainly do not want any unpleasant ones. We want to know where we are going and we want the assurance that we will arrive. The thought that something unforeseen might be lurking in the shadows ahead makes us uncomfortable. If we live too long with a mystery, the tension becomes unbearable. Like children eager for their Christmas gifts, we want a peek of what is to come. We need to know that everything will turn out all right in the end.
From such a perspective, it is quite understandable that we begin the liturgical year with readings about the end of the sacred story rather than the beginning of it. Tonight, for our "First Friday in Advent," we are, in a sense, reading the last chapter first. The lessons all point to a time that is yet to be: a time when God will actively and visibly reign over all creation, a time when all of creation will acknowledge God's reign. This is how the story will end. It is the final chapter of the drama of human existence.
This is a reassuring ending. Isaiah foretold a time of complete peace when all people will seek God and follow God's ways. Even those who do not yet know God will seek God and learn the ways of God. There will be no more warfare or violence. All creation will live in peace and harmony. It is a vision all of us would like to see fulfilled. This vision promises us a far better world than the one in which we live.
Today, much as they always have, wars range around the globe. Even now our own troops are being deployed to enforce a tenuous peace in a country devastated by warfare. Although all of the peoples of that land abhor the violence and suffering, they seem almost incapable of stopping their fighting.
In recent years we have witnessed unfathomable acts of terrorism in foreign countries. Just this spring we as a nation were shocked by the bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City. Not only had terrorists struck within our own land, the terrorists were apparently our fellow citizens.
Society seems to be falling to pieces. No neighborhood can be considered truly safe. Violence surrounds us. Criminals appear to be running rampant. The driving forces behind this downward spiral are so numerous - drugs, gangs, family disintegration, poverty, to name only a few -- we fear the decline cannot be stopped. Repairing the disaster seems completely beyond our abilities.
Looking at the world around us, it's easy to develop a sense that things are rapidly coming apart and the whole system can't last much longer. The problems seem insurmountable and we are losing hope that anything will ever be resolved. As one song writer observed:
I've been reading the local paper. I've been watching the nightly news. It seems this old world's just ripping at the seams. With a past that's dark and gloomy And the future looking black, It's got me thinking, "Lord, Lord, when are you coming back?"
Such is the world we are living in. It is not as it should be or could be. We know that. We long for it to be made right. Those of us who know the hope of Christ find ourselves longing for the day when he will return to reign over all the earth and make things right. We long for the day when Isaiah's vision will be fulfilled. We will live in peace under the loving rule of our God.
But we are caught in the now and not yet of God's kingdom. Jesus is already reigning. Just last Friday we proclaimed Christ as King. We acknowledged his reign in our lives. Together each week, and hopefully throughout the week, we hear God's word and try to pattern our lives according to God's ways. In this sense, God already reigns.
But while God reigns in our lives, we do not yet see the reign of God in our world. Life would be so much better if all the world were actively seeking God and following God's ways. We would have peace. We would be safe. We would no longer struggle against sin. There would be no more sorrows, disasters, or evil.
Tonight we hear this promise for the future. One day, Christ Jesus will return again -- suddenly and unexpectedly -- to reign over all creation. Then the vision of Isaiah will be fulfilled. There will be peace. All people will follow God's ways. Everything will be all right in the end. Jesus has promised us this, but he didn't tell us when it would be.
It is our lot to live with this tension of the now and not yet of God's kingdom. And this is frustrating for us. We as a culture thrive on precision and organization. Our schedules are so detailed even a few minutes are precious. "Someday" is not enough of an answer to satisfy us. We'd like to know exactly when "someday" will come so that we can plan accordingly. Unscheduled events mean interrupted plans and that upsets us. Yet Jesus promised his return would come unexpectedly and suddenly.
We can read the last chapter, but we don't know where we are right now in the story. Knowing that everything works out all right is of some comfort. But for many it is not enough. How far in the book are we? How many more pages are left? When will this take place? How can we act accordingly if we don't know?
Some opt for intense speculation. They scrutinize every passage related to the return of Christ. Then they scrutinize every event in the world. So intense is their seeking that they readily find matches between the signs they read in scripture and the events in the world. A daring few even go so far as to produce dates when they believe Christ will return.
Others simply withdraw. When things become bad enough, they reason, Christ will return. So they wait for that day. As long as their private worlds are comfortable, the rest doesn't matter. They are content to let Jesus take care of things when he comes back.
Then there are those who ignore the whole subject. The earth has been around for a long time and they feel safe in assuming things will continue on for a long time to come. Since they don't expect to see Christ's return in their lifetimes, they never give it a thought.
When asked what he would do if he knew the world would end tomorrow, Martin Luther replied, "I would plant a tree." What kind of an answer is that? Why plant a tree when the world is ending tomorrow? It sounds so futile, a total waste of time and energy. Isn't there something more important he could find to do? Wouldn't a man of God like Luther want to be out converting as many people as possible in the few hours left?
But with his answer, Luther demonstrates a better understanding of the words of Jesus and of Paul than many of us have today. Our knowledge of Christ's promised return ought not spur us to play waiting or guessing games with times and dates. Our job is not to look for signs; our job is to be about the work of the kingdom. Luther's answer, "I'd plant a tree", is in effect "I would continue on with my business just as I do today." And as those who name the name of Christ and know his reign in our hearts, our business is the work of God's kingdom.
Jesus promised his return would be sudden and unexpected. He stated that everyone -- believers included -- would be going about their usual business when he returned. Nothing in the text suggests that Jesus would expect to find us idly waiting for his return.
But Jesus does direct us to live expectantly. I suspect we will never know the time for his return. If we spend our lives looking for signs and waiting on events, we will miss glimpses God's reign in our lives right now. If we withdraw into the comfort of our private world, we miss opportunities to work for God's kingdom here and now. If we assume Christ won't be returning in our lifetimes, we are ignoring his instruction to live expectantly.
It is not for us to know the time of Christ's return. However, one thing is clear: each day brings us closer to that promised event. This is what Paul wrote to the Romans. His call to the Romans is just as valid to us. Now is the time to live as the people of God. Today is the day to be about the work of the kingdom.
It is Advent. Tonight we begin once again to tell the ancient and familiar story of God's love for fallen creation and the immense lengths to which God is willing to go to rescue us. We begin, not with the promises to the ancient Israelites of the Messiah who was to come, but with the promises for us. Our Lord Jesus will return again to reign over all creation. We wait expectantly for that day to come. But will it ever arrive?
I see a nation battered and broken by conflicts. Its people are oppressed by an entrenched and unchangeable government. Their economy has been crippled by excessive taxes. The legal code of their forefathers has been stripped away and a new legal code derived from the politics of the times has been imposed. Religious leaders are presenting requirements and obstacles as a means of following God's ways. But instead of feeling closer to God, the people feel God is remote, distant, and unknowable.
Does this sounds familiar? Some might recognize the nation I just described as our own. And indeed there are some similarities between the situation I described and our modern nation known as America. But I wasn't describing our nation. I was describing the country into which Jesus was born.
It was into a world in many ways like our own that Jesus came. God kept that promise of a Messiah which God had made so long ago in the Garden of Eden. It was there, when sin first entered the world, that God first promised a savior who would defeat the devil and rescue all people from sin. Thousands of years later, God kept that promise when Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph in a stable in Bethlehem.
When Jesus was born, there were some who were waiting faithfully for the promise. But there were also those who were twisting and reworking the prophecies to meet their own ends. And I am sure there were also sceptics who had convinced themselves that the Messiah would never come -- at least not in their lifetimes. Jesus came not only to a world much like our modern one, but also to a people very much like ourselves.
Let us journey back this Advent season. Let us go to Bethlehem and touch once again in awestruck wonder the miracle of the Word made flesh, God incarnate among us. The same God who kept that promise has made the promise of the coming kingdom. As God kept his promise then, so we know God will keep the promise for which we are waiting now.
We are an Advent people. As did Israel of old, we wait in expectation for a promise to be fulfilled. Let us find hope in the miracle of Christmas. May this hope enable us to be about the work of God's kingdom here and now. We pray "Stir up your power, O Lord, and come. Amen."