The Rev. John A. Baldwin
November 27, 2011
ADVENT 1 Year B
November 27, 2011
ADVENT 1 Year B
This morning, the first Sunday of Advent, marks the beginning of the Christian year. Our New Year begins not with toasts of champagne, watching a huge ball descend in Times Square, or the singing of Auld Lang Syne, but with Advent wreaths and purple hangings; scripture readings with themes of longing, anticipation and expectation; and above all, a mounting excitement as we move forward toward the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Advent may not have the glitter and pizzazz of New Year's Eve, but it lasts for four weeks, not just a single night. It moves us spiritually deep down inside, rather than the surface fluff we experience on December 31st. Unlike the media's penchant for getting nostalgic and looking back over the significant events of the past year on January 1st, Advent is forward-looking - not simply to the event coming up in four week's time, Christmas Day, but far beyond that to the fulfillment of human history, the Second Coming of Christ, the reign of the Kingdom of God.
It may have startled you a bit this morning, if you were listening closely to the scripture readings, to hear such vivid and powerful images of chaos and turmoil. Isaiah implores God to tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains might quake and the nations tremble at his presence. In our Gospel reading from Mark 13, Jesus seems uncharacteristically dark, somber, even scary in his portrayal of the coming of the Son of Man. “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.”
Both Isaiah and Jesus are pointing towards the birth of something new. For Isaiah, God's intervention in history; for Jesus the coming of the reign of God.
Birth events are filled chaos and turmoil. Far out in the cosmos, the birth of stars in whirling storms of particles is beyond our capacity to fathom. The birth of an island in the eruption of a volcano scatters everything in its path. Closer to home, despite the very best medical practices we are capable of, there is always an element of uncertainty and breath-holding as a child comes into the world. So too, the passing of a human soul from this world into the next is filled with uncertainty and turmoil. Things that are new bring uncertainty to the human heart, which is perhaps why so often there is such great push-back and resistance to new ideas, and threats to the status quo.
It is appropriate, I believe, as we move into a new Christian year, and begin again the journey of faith that will lead us to the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, and beyond it to his life and ministry, culminating in his passion, death and resurrection, that the year begins with a warning: “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.” Listen up folks...pay attention, things are about to happen.
Although the Christian faith asserts that the Creator of the universe is filled with love, forgiveness and grace, God is also awesome, powerful beyond our wildest imagination, and beyond our capacity to fully comprehend. While there is reassurance aplenty in the teachings and message of Jesus, there is also an element of uncertainty. “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.”
This heads-up and warning by Jesus has led through the centuries to myriads of religious leaders, mostly on the fringes of mainstream Christianity, to issue imminent predictions of his Second Coming. These go way back in time, but are also very much with us even today. We experienced this ourselves, for example, earlier in the year, when American Christian radio host Harold Camping stated "beyond the shadow of a doubt" that the Rapture and Judgment Day would take place on May 21, 2011, and that the end of the world would take place five months later on October 21, 2011. Camping, then president of the Family Radio Christian network, claimed the Bible as his source and said the Rapture would occur at 6 pm. local time on May 21st, with the rapture sweeping the globe time zone by time zone, while some of his supporters claimed that around 200 million people (approximately 3% of the world's population) would be 'raptured', that is taken up into the air to be with Jesus (while the other 97% would remain behind to suffer the agonies coming at the end of the world).
Kooky though this all seemed, some people at least breathed a sigh of relief when the day came and passed without incident. Following the failure of his prediction, media attention shifted to Camping's response. On May 23, he stated that May 21 had been a "spiritual" day of judgment, and that the physical Rapture would occur now on Oct. 21, 2011, simultaneously with the destruction of the universe by God. However, Oct. 21 also passed without Camping's predicted apocalypse. Whew....thank goodness for that!
I wish that someone in the media had gone up to Camping on May 22nd or Oct. 22nd and congratulated him, “You were absolutely right. The Rapture did occur on May 21st and the redeemed were saved. But wait a minute. How very curious. You are still here!”
Most of those proclaiming the imminent second coming of Christ, are acting under the assumption they are one of the redeemed. “I will be saved, but you poor wretches will be lost.” How arrogant and judgmental, is that!
Lest we simply dismiss these folks as “Kooks”, let me point out that they at least have taken seriously an important part of Jesus' message that we all to often forget or take lightly, “keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come”.
What if we all kept awake, and lived as if today was indeed the last day of our life, no matter whether that be due to the Second Coming, or more likely our own physical death. How might your life and mine be very different if we lived as if today is our last day on Earth? We might choose to live in dread, fear and anxiety. But if we are people of faith, believing in life beyond life in the glory of God, might we not treat others around us with tenderness and compassion, savoring our moments with our loved ones, close friends, children and grandchildren? Might we not notice and drink in the beauty of the world around us that we so often rush past? Might we not remember with thankfulness all that we have been blessed with?
I suspect that if we lived as if today is our last day on Earth, we would find to our utter surprise that we are, in fact, actually living as if it is the first day of our life....our senses heightened and acute, our capacity for love and compassion immeasurably increased, our appreciation of every moment richly treasured.
The season of Advent calls us into a new beginning. It looks forward one to the celebratation of God entering into humanity in the Incarnation, the birth of Jesus Christ. It also points ahead to the future for which "all creation is groaning” filled with justice, peace and mercy, in which we fully love the Lord our God with all our heart, and our neighbors as ourselves.
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First Sunday of Advent
Year B RCL
Year B RCL
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