Isaiah 2:1-5 – The prophet foretells the coming of the reign of God
Matthew 24:36-44 – Jesus warns of the end of time and the need to be awake
I began preparing for my message with a Google search about the end of the world. I found a link recently called “A brief history of the Apocalypse” that listed many possible dates for the world to end. I was surprised to find the page hadn’t been updated since 2005. I wondered whether the world had ended and nobody had noticed, or if the web site designers had simply given up.
So I did a fresh search and can tell you this morning that the world is next expected to end of December 21, 2012 – nearly two years away. I’ll include the link when I post this sermon on our church web site so you can explore it further. www.endoftheworld2012.net/
For centuries, Advent has been a time of expectation among Christians: watching, waiting and hoping; some looking for signs and clues that Christ is about to return; others simply sensing that Advent is a time of preparing for something deeply spiritual.
The Gospels end with assurances that the realm of God had not entered during Jesus’ lifetime and so the promised return, “The Second Coming,” remained in the unknown future. The small Christian community waited expectantly for Judgment Day as the months and years dragged on following Jesus’ ascension.
Matthew, which was written some 50-60 years after Jesus death, reflects that sense that the disciples were watching on tip-toe, poised for the great and awe-filled day when the rapture would come and true believers would be carried away to heaven, while the slackers would be left behind, amidst weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
So today’s reading addresses the first-generation church, asking the obvious question: “How do we act? What do we do while we’re waiting for whatever God intends?”
And the answer? Don’t be idle. Don’t sit on the mountaintop with your bags packed. Be engaged is acts of kindness, mercy, justice, generosity, just as Jesus was. As the bumper sticker says: “Jesus is coming soon… look busy!”
Whether Jesus comes again or when isn’t mine to manage. All I can handle is how I live with a sense of anticipation, and the feelings of expectancy, that God is still at work and is writing the great human drama that unfolds today and every day.
We wait for the coming of the “Realm of God.” But let’s be clear that scripture doesn’t say this is only about heaven. God is working here and now. The Prayer of our Savior teaches us to say: “thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth – as it is in heaven.” Let it be here as it already is there.
So, the Advent focus of the true disciple is on living this life as Jesus would have us live it. This is all we can do. Heaven will take care of itself.
As disciples Jesus calls us to be busy and engaged in the world here and now.
The prophet Isaiah wrote that when the kingdom comes, people of the covenant will be beating their swords of war into plows for tilling the earth and reaping the harvest.
The prophet speaks God’s vision of the time when spears – weapons of destruction – will be fashioned into pruning hooks for tending the orchard. Subtly but clearly God speaks through the prophet about an age when the cycle of war and hatred and destruction will give way to a realm of harmony and plenty for all God’s people.
That’s the vision toward which God points all people of faith!
Now for 2,000 years we’ve lived in the middle, holding in tension two truths.
• One is the truth that God keeps promises. The vision of the realm of God, reconciled and peace-filled is a divine promise, not a fabricated backdrop on a stage of fantasy.
• The other truth, much more painful, is that we seem no closer to this peaceable realm than we have ever been.
So, what prevents God from sweeping in and imposing the realm that prophets have promised? What’s God waiting for? God is waiting for us. Even when we aren’t optimistic about the signs and statistics, we must remain hopeful about God’s deeper purpose. We simply can’t give up!
The prophet doesn’t say God will beat swords into plows and spears into pruning hooks. The prophet, speaking God’s word, says we will do the work. The danger is that we’ll decide there’s too much darkness, too much sadness, too much death; that we’ll stop living with hope.
December 1st is World AIDS Day. When it began in 1988, polite people barely whispered the word and suggested the worldwide epidemic of AIDS and HIV was simply a matter of the wages of sinful behavior. Since then nations and world leaders have recognized that this pandemic is respecter of moral codes. Nearly 33 million people are infected with the virus… but the number is dropping.
But in recent weeks there have been two more hopeful signs: one is that the Pope cracked open the door to dropping his Church’s objection to condoms to reduce the spread of the disease, and secondly, scientists reported this past week that a common, readily-available drug can reduce the risk of infection by nearly half.
www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/2010-11-23-hivdrug_N.htm?csp=ylf
While many have wrung their hands or simply turned away from the suffering, a few courageous souls have stepped out and held the candle. One was Mother Theresa showed us how to face such massive suffering and life with a passionate belief that the realm of God can be realized when people of faith – all faiths – join hands in loving and serving.
As the story goes, one day Mother Theresa approached a New York attorney named Edward Bennett Williams, seeking support for a hospice for AIDS patients. Williams had publicly said that AIDS was “not his favorite disease,” but he and his law partner agreed they’d meet with the distinguished visitor and listen politely, then firmly say “no.”
She arrived and was shown into their conference room where she told them what she wanted. They listened politely and said “no.” She said “Let us pray.” The two attorneys rolled their eyes at each other and nervously folded their hands. After saying “Amen” she repeated her request. They said “no” a second time and she said again “Let us pray.” So it went until Edward Bennett Williams wrote the check.
As we’re waiting, God’s also waiting for us. Today as we enter a new year in the church’s life we will remember the Baby Jesus grew up and was the adult Christ… Through him God met the hopes and fears of all the years.
The Church has been waiting for centuries, imagining the end of history when God will enter powerfully into our world again and establish the realm of hope, peace, love and joy. We’re still waiting. And so is God. Christ hasn’t yet returned.
None of us knows when it will happen and how it will be. But we can’t give up and can’t give in. In these days of waiting we are to show justice and kindness in all our ways. Luke says we must guard against the temptation to live as though God doesn’t care, doesn’t notice.
In our waiting, be as Christ-like as you can. There’s work for all of us to do, love and grace to share. There are people crying out for comfort – people who sit beside you in worship, at your dining room table, at the Mall and at the Preble Street Resource Center.
• Today, millions are homeless, including estimates of 2.5 million children who have no place to sleep.
• Today, some 6,000 women will seek medical treatment because they’ve been physically abused.
• Today more people will lose their jobs, their pensions, their insurance and their dignity as the economy shifts and jobs are outsourced.
That’s a reality in our region, our state, our communities, our families, our pews. We who follow Jesus are called to ministry and service. There’s plenty to keep us busy while we wait; more than just shopping and wrapping and dreaming.
Christmas will come. God’s realm will come.
Hope will overwhelm all of Creation, and peace will reign.