Year C,
Advent 1 Luke
21:25-36
Every year when Advent comes along, I have 2 contrasting
thoughts: “Dear God, not these readings again.” AND “Oh good, these readings
give me a great chance to complain about the Advent calendar industry.”
Seriously, have you all seen what has been happening with Advent calendars? You
can get them with any kind of alcohol, any sephora item, legos, jewelry…even
cheese. Why— might you ask– would
these readings give the pastor a chance to talk about Advent cheese calendars?
Because these readings
are so contrary to almost every way we prepare for
Christmas in our world.
In our
culture, we prepare for Christmas by buying things, cooking extravagant food, attending
festive events, decorating our homes, buying more decorations because our
neighbors look more festive than we do…doing everything we can to artificially
brighten our world that gets darker and darker with every passing day. At times, it feels to me like the Advent
Calendars, the holiday preparations, are basically trying to distract us from
whatever might bring us down. Meanwhile
in church, we move to more penitential language (that means talking about our
sins and seeking forgiveness) and warning people of the possible end of the
world. That is how we prepare for Advent.
Let me
just say, I love Christmas lights. I am
all for providing light in the midst of darkness. But I worry that in our rush to cover up the
darkness, we lose what the darkness teaches us.
We forget that even a small flame can pierce the darkest night.
Just two
weeks ago, we had a reading from Mark that was very similar to our reading from
Luke today. It was Mark’s little
apocalypse. Today is Luke’s little
apocalypse. What I said in my sermon 2
weeks ago is that Jesus wasn’t suggesting that these events were the end of the
world, he said that these events were leading to the end of the world. Since we seem to have these apocalyptic
events frequently, then maybe we can reframe our way of thinking and accept that
we are living through that difficult time right now. So all these warning signs
(the fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, super storms) are happening right now. It’s
just life and life is difficult.
Life is
full of events like the ones that Jesus described. Is there distress among the nations?
Absolutely. Are weird things going on
with our oceans? Yup. Are people
terrified and sometimes incapacitated with fear? Yes again. Have we seen the
Son of Man coming in a cloud? Anyone? No.
So that means we are in this liminal space, the time between when Jesus
lived, died, and was resurrected…and the time when Jesus returns. Humanity has been in that space for over 2000
years.
So what
are we to do in this liminal space? Buy
more lights? Leave them up all year round? Stick our heads in the sand and wait
for it all to end? No. Jesus gives us
the answer. After describing all these
terrifying things, Jesus said, “Now when these things begin to take place,
stand up and raise your heads because redemption is drawing near.” Stand up and
raise your heads. It’s ok to be afraid and a little worried. It’s ok to be sad and to grieve. It is ok to feel all those feelings. But in the end, we still rise because
redemption is near.
Right
after this exhortation, Luke switches gears a little and told a parable about
spring. He said as soon as you see those first buds, those new leaves, you know
that summer is close. “So also when you see these things taking place, you know
that the kingdom of God is near.” We can
look at these events in our world a few ways.
We can see them as a sign that the world is getting worse and we have
lost control. Or we can see them as a
reminder that the kingdom of God is near.
Because
here is the thing—the kingdom of God is more than just what it is to come. In a sense, it has been here. That is what Jesus brought when he was born
on this earth. He gave us access to that
kingdom. But we have gotten so weighed down, so distracted by the worries of
this life, we forget that redemption is not just near. It is here.
When Jesus was born to this earth, he brought the kingdom of God with
him.
You
might think, well he’s not here anymore and this world doesn’t look like the
Kingdom of God. And I get that, I really do. We want the Kingdom of God to be
all powerful, to right all the wrongs in this world. If this was the Kingdom of
God, there would be no poverty, no prejudice, no hunger, no injustice, no war. That is the ultimate expression of the
Kingdom. Now, we have glimpses of the
kingdom, moments when earth and heaven touch.
Think of those moments you just got goose bumps for no reason, when you
heard a piece of music that just took your breath away, when you saw hope where
you thought hope was dead, when you found laughter in the midst of pain, when
you found the courage to fight, when all you wanted to do was cry. Those are glimpses
of the Kingdom of God and it’s our job as Christians to make those glimpses
last a little longer and appear to more people.
We want more people to see the Kingdom of God, because it is
magnificent.
Our
opening prayer (which we call a collect in the Episcopal Church) reads: “Almighty
God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of
light…” As much as I love Christmas
lights, the only light that will really cast away the works of darkness is the
light of Christ. I love that image of
Christians being clothed with the armor of light. Because not only does this armor protect us
from desolation and despair, it also enables us to bring light into the world
for others who might be scared, worried, despondent. In sharing that light, we can bring more and
more glimpses of the Kingdom of God to our world right now. That way not only
can we find the strength and courage to stand and embrace redemption, we can
help others do the same. Because the
true Kingdom of God is not a few people standing while others struggle to rise,
it’s all of us standing together because redemption is already here. I have
seen it. You have seen it. Redemption is
here. “So we light one candle for
hope. Because the world is broken and
the wait is long, but hope just won’t let go.[1]”