"But in those days, after that suffering,
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.
Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
"But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."
Well, we’ve survived another “Black Friday.” I don’t know if any of you were among those who waited eagerly for doors to open at midnight or earlier on Thursday, or just avoided the whole rush of consumerism that now annually follows Thanksgiving. And so the starter’s pistol has gone off and we’ve begun the mad rush to the 25th of December. We’re all familiar with what has become the cultural celebration of this season--the parties, the celebrations, the search for gifts, the cards, the decorating, all of it. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not separating myself out from this culture and looking down my nose at all the preparations. Even though I sat out “Black Friday,” I’m as much a participant in our cultural orgy of decorations and holiday festivities.
Before we wrap ourselves up in red and green ribbon though, let’s stop and look around us at the blues and purples that adorn our worship space. Those blues and purples of Advent which indicate that it’s that time of year that begins the church year and leads us up to Bethlehem. Blues and purples to indicate penitence and repentance. Blues and purples to lead us into a time of retrospection and anticipation.
Here at the start of Advent the lectionary scriptures don’t have us facing Bethlehem or Christmas lights or any of the cultural trappings of the season. No, we are facing the end of the world. Well, and a Merry Christmas to you.
As Matthew Skinner, professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota wrote, “It's time for Christians to declare that God's previous incursion into human affairs through Jesus Christ is not the end of the story but the foundation for a future hope of God bringing ultimate promises to fruition.” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-l-skinner/mark-13-danger-of-advent_b_1106409.html) We are all about anticipation right now, but not anticipating the Christmas event necessarily and certainly not about anticipating what we’ll find underneath the tree. But we are anticipating a time when God’s realm is made real here on earth. That’s a mighty big thing to be watching for.
Which could be why our Gospel reading this morning ends with the warning to “keep awake.” Jesus has just compared the inbreaking of God’s realm to a home owner returning from a journey. The doorkeeper needs to be awake and alert to let the master back into the house.
Did you notice that at the very start of our reading from Mark this morning that Jesus used the phrase, “after that suffering?” What suffering is he talking about? The suffering he is referring to is the desolation that he had just described in the verses preceding, including the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus is separating out his predictions of the end of time from this desolation.
To the early hearers of Mark’s gospel, the fumes of the destruction of Jerusalem in the siege that destroyed the city and the Temple in the year 70 would still be in their nostrils. They would be wondering, those who were Christian, why Jesus didn’t return to take control and save the city. They would be wondering why God didn’t intervene.
But Jesus had already told them, that, in spite of what the Left Behind series of books say, God isn’t returning in the midst of war and desolation. God comes triumphant to be sure, but not in the midst of war. Jesus has just told us this in the passage from Mark.
To those early Christians, the destruction of Jerusalem was an important and potent event. And Jesus is moving away from that power; an earthly power to be sure, but not God’s power.
In the verses leading up to Jesus’ words today, he warns of false messiahs and false prophets. Certainly today we have signs that we could say portend the end of the world: Iran’s nuclear activity, Osama bin Laden’s death, the collapse of the world’s economy, the Occupy movement. All these things and more could certainly be seen as signs and portends about the end of time and the incoming of God’s realm.
But again, we’re looking at it through human eyes; not through God’s eyes. These are events and activities of human power, not God’s power. They are worrisome or inspiring or hope-producing to be sure, but they don’t necessarily predict the end of time, a time when God’s realm truly comes in in all its fullness.
We, however, as Christians in the 21st century are not about passively waiting around for all this to happen. We have Advent to remind us to remain alert and awake, waiting for God’s inbreaking. And it’s a reminder that we are to carry throughout the whole year. Advent is indeed a busy time for us, but it’s not the busyness of putting up trees and stringing lights and finding new holiday clothes. Advent, if we commemorate it properly, is about watching and waiting actively. We watch and wait for when God’s realm finally breaks through and true justice and true peace reign.
What is active waiting? I remember as a kid going with my younger brother to a matinee of a play or movie or some event aimed at us kids. Mom was picking us up at the end of the event. As we waited outside, the crowd of kids grew smaller and smaller until there were only a handful of us left waiting. I remember very clearly peering down the street, watching, waiting for that blue Plymouth to come into view. And I recall the relief which came over me as it arrived.
Our waiting and watching is similar...we’re peering down the street in anxious anticipation of God’s blue Plymouth to turn the corner and arrive to announce that God’s realm is here, finally here, in all its fullness, with lights flashing and horns blaring.
I’m grateful that Advent occurs in our hemisphere during the time when the light lessens until we reach the darkest day of the year. As is the tradition, we light candles against the darkness; tiny, feeble, piteous lights against the huge darkness. But those tiny lights, lit as they are in defiance of the night, signal our hope; a hope that lasts through the darkest darkness that can come at us and signals that we are indeed watching and waiting.
This Advent, get in the practice of waiting and watching. The time is coming. We need to be prepared and awake.
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