Sermon delivered on Advent Sunday C, December 2, 2012, at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church, Columbus, OH.
Lectionary texts: Jeremiah 33.14-16; Psalm 25.1-10; 1 Thessalonians 3.9-13; Luke 21.25-36.
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Happy new year, St. Augustine’s! Today is Advent Sunday. We begin a new calendar year for the Church and have lighted the first purple candle on our wreath that represents the patriarchs. Advent comes from the Latin word, adventus (parousia in Greek), and means coming or arrival. Advent is a season of expectation and preparation in which the Church prepares to celebrate the coming (adventus) of Christ in his incarnation, and also looks forward to his final advent as judge at the end of time. Advent is not part of the Christmas season but rather a preparation for it. It is an appropriate time to reflect on the Four Last Things—death, judgment, heaven, and hell, always popular things to talk about, especially in today’s culture—and the theme of judgment is prominent in our lectionary readings today. Consequently, I want us to do two things. First, I want us to look at what the texts suggest about the nature of God’s coming judgment. Is it a good or bad thing? Second, I want us to look at what the coming judgment of God means to us for the living of our days right now.
Both the OT and NT make clear that God judges sin and evil and will one day bring about a great and final judgment on evil and those who perpetrate it, both humans and spiritual beings alike (cf. Exodus 7.14-12.30; Joel 2.30-32; Amos 5.17-19; Rev. 11.1-12.17). This final judgment is typically called the great and terrible day of the Lord or just simply the Day. But here is the curious thing. The process of God’s judgment, while surely a terrible thing, will result in something wonderful. That is why we sometimes read apparently conflicting statements about the Day. For example, the prophet Amos writes, “Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light” (Amos 5.18), while the psalmist talks about all creation rejoicing when God comes to judge the earth (Psalm 96.11-13; cf. Romans 8.22-25). How can this be? Because in judging evil, God will bring about his righteous, just, and merciful rule, and evil (and those who perpetrate it) will be forever banished. What is not to like about that (unless, of course, you are a committed evildoer who hates God)?
We also see the goodness of God’s judgment reflected in all of our texts this morning. Jeremiah writes about the just and righteous rule of God’s Messiah that will bring about the salvation of God’s people. It is important for us to remember that Jeremiah wrote these words during the final Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, a time of God’s terrible judgment on his people for failing to be the people God called them to be to bring about his healing love and righteous rule to God’s world. Surely there would have been some in Jerusalem who looked around at their imminent destruction while hearing Jeremiah’s words and thought the prophet was either nuts or talking nonsense. We can relate because many still think likewise in our world today!
The psalmist also celebrates God’s good, just, and merciful rule while asking God to number him among the righteous who would be saved as a result of God’s coming judgment on evildoers. We find this same sentiment reflected in Paul’s epistle where he encourages the Thessalonians to persevere until they find final respite when Jesus returns to usher in fully God’s promised new creation so that they can enjoy living in God’s direct Presence forever. And Jesus tells his followers to take hope when they see his predicted signs come about because their redemption is drawing near. More about that in a moment.
And of course, because we Christians are covered by the blood of the Lamb so that we can enjoy a new and healed relationship with God through Jesus, and because we believe that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead so that God’s promised new creation was finally inaugurated, we have every reason to have hope when the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives because it means that God’s new creation with all its wonderful promises will be consummated. In other words, because we believe that Jesus’ resurrection is firmly rooted in history and is history’s single most important event, we know that history is going somewhere, and for the good. That is why we are to long for the coming of God’s righteous judgment. We are certainly not to gloat over or desire the destruction of those who are firmly opposed to God righteous rule and who perpetrate evil. We don’t gloat because we remember that before coming to faith in Jesus we too could not stand in the presence of God’s perfect holiness. And we don’t gloat because doing so would reveal to others and ourselves that we are still wickedly proud and hostile toward God’s great love for all his human creatures that results in God’s desire to save all people so that everyone might enjoy his promised new creation. If God desires this, how can we who claim to love him desire otherwise? Does not compute!
And it is here that we need to look briefly at what Jesus said in today’s gospel lesson about folks in his generation not dying before they saw the Son of Man coming on a cloud. Was Jesus talking about his Second Coming? If he was, he was clearly mistaken. And if he was clearly mistaken, how can we have any confidence about the truth of his Second Coming? After all, twenty centuries plus have passed and he still hasn’t returned to fulfill his promise to do so. If Jesus was wrong on this, how can we have any confidence about anything he said, let alone about his return and the promised new creation? These are questions we must answer!
The answer, of course, is that Jesus was not talking about the end of the world and his return in today’s passage. Luke firmly believes in the Second Coming but this is not one of those passages that deals with it. Our lesson today is part of Jesus’ teaching about the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple that begins at Luke 21.5. Jesus uses classic OT imagery to describe this world-shattering event for Jews of his day. Ancient Israel used language like the stars falling from the sky and the sun being darkened in a highly symbolic way to describe cataclysmic events. Think of the language you used when you learned about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union or when witnessing the destruction of 9/11. Sometimes in the midst of dramatic events, we find it hard to come up with the right words and so we may speak about these events symbolically, not unlike when we talk about all hell breaking loose in the midst of some catastrophic event. So here is Jesus, using language that any first-century Jew would have readily understood, talking about the coming destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, not the end of the world. If Jesus had been speaking about the end of space, time, and matter, why would he have urged his followers in a previous verse to flee to the hills? Survivalist shelters like the hills would hardly do any good if the world is ending!
And what about his reference to the Son of Man coming on a cloud? Again, Jesus is using OT imagery, this time from Daniel 7. There the Son of Man is not descending but ascending to God’s throne room in heaven where he is vindicated by God. Surely this was an allusion to his future resurrection and the vindication Jesus would receive from it. These events clearly took place within Jesus’ generation and it is because Jesus was vindicated in his resurrection that we can lift up our heads in hope when we see the Day arrive. Jesus is who he claims he is. And because he is, we know that history is going somewhere and we can live as people of hope.
“That’s all well and good,” you say. “But we aren’t first-century Jews. We are 21st century Americans and the fact that Rome destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple in AD 70 is pretty much irrelevant to us. How do Jesus’ words apply to us today?” Fair enough. We aren’t first-century Jews but irrespective of where and when we live, we still live in a world that has not seen Jesus’ return and God’s final judgment so that God’s world and its people are finally put to rights. In fact, in some ways, living as Christians in the 21st century is getting even harder than it was for some first-century Christians. Paul and others apparently believed Jesus would return in their lifetime, but he didn’t. And with every passing year that Jesus does not return, we are tempted increasingly to abandon our belief that he will (and with it our accompanying faith), and our culture is only too happy to help us do so. Think about it. Some of our friends think us odd that we would spend Sunday mornings at church. We are increasingly told that our faith is outdated and out-of-touch with what’s going on in our society. Our critics point out that the world is still a mess and God is not doing anything about it. They point to our past and present mistakes as Christians as proof we are simply chasing a pipe dream. Of course, they conveniently forget about all the good Christians have done for society—the schools and hospitals built, for example, not to mention the countless lives that have been transformed in the power of the Spirit. No, they say. What we need is more sex, more parties, more money, more power, more stuff. The Lord hasn’t returned and we’d better get with the program because he isn’t going to return.
And our response to all this? Prayer, perseverance, and mutual encouragement in the fellowship of the body. As both Jesus and Paul remind us, we are to continue to meet together and remind ourselves of the important stories in the Christian narrative. For example, we are to remind ourselves that the resurrection is firmly rooted in history and therefore God’s promises to us in Jesus are true. God has vindicated Jesus in his resurrection. Jesus is Lord. The promised new creation has been inaugurated and will be consummated, even though we do not know the day or hour. But we have to remind each other of this by rehearsing our stories so that we can live our lives like we believe it, i.e., like God’s holy ones. Otherwise, if we try to do this by ourselves we will likely get distracted by the stuff of life and fall away.
When we have faith and confidence in our stories and in God’s sovereignty and ability to deliver on God’s promises, it brings new fire and purpose to our praying. We don’t come to God with our fingers crossed, hoping he might be able to do something about the mess that is his world and our lives. We know God can and will deliver when we ask for the right things, like his will to be done on earth as in heaven. We see this reflected in Paul’s prayer in today’s epistle lesson. Notice how he calls God Father and Jesus Lord and pairs them together? There’s a reason for that. Paul is essentially acknowledging that the God to whom he is praying is able and willing to answer his prayers to help him and those for whom he is praying to persevere and lead holy lives that are pleasing to God because of what he has done in and through Jesus. God raised Jesus from the dead and made him Lord. Can God not answer any of our prayers that are in accordance with his will?
This, of course, takes great faith on our part. But it is also what enables us to persevere in these trying times and in the face of the unrelenting criticism of the enemies of the Cross (and therefore our enemies). Our prayers, coupled with the Presence and power of the Holy Spirit and other faithful Christians, enable us to be the people Jesus calls us to be—truly human, who reflect God’s great love and image out into his broken and hurting world. Make no mistake. I am not suggesting this is easy. It is quite the opposite and it is impossible if we try to do it on the basis of our own puny strength and effort. That is why we need each other and the help of the Spirit. And that is why we must be at prayer in the manner Paul suggests to us this morning so that we can persevere. That way, despite the immense difficulties and opposition we face, both from within and without, we will not succumb to excess and distraction, and can face the coming Day with hope and expectation, not because we are better than others but because we are humbly following Jesus our Lord by whose blood we have been saved and in whose Name and power we act to bring about God’s righteousness, mercy, and justice to our little corners of the world. That’s what it means to be God’s holy people. And when know we are God’s holy people, despite the prospect of God’s judgment, we know that we really do have Good News, now and for all eternity.
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.