Watch video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFU7dJ3Ij2A
Program Transcript
Advent – Hope
In a world filled with uncertainty and darkness, we find ourselves journeying through the season of Advent. This sacred time of waiting and anticipation reminds us of the profound significance of hope.
Isaiah 64:1-3 in the New Revised Standard Version reads:
“O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence!”
As we look around, we witness the struggles of our world—a world yearning for divine intervention, just as Isaiah did. We see nations in turmoil, hearts in despair, and lives shattered by adversity.
But Advent whispers a promise—a promise of hope. It calls us to prepare our hearts and open our eyes to the light breaking through the darkness. The hope that transcends our circumstances and points us to a Savior who comes to heal, redeem, and lead us into wholeness.
In this season of Advent, let us kindle the flame of hope in our hearts. Just as the prophets of old cried out for God to rend the heavens and come down, we too cry out for God’s presence to be known in our midst.
In our gatherings, in our prayers, and in our actions, let us be bearers of hope. Let us be the hands and feet of Christ, demonstrating love and compassion to a world desperately in need.
Isaiah reminds us that even in the darkest of times, we have a God who hears, a God who cares, and a God who brings hope. This season, let us embrace the message of Advent and let the hope of Christ’s coming fill our hearts with joy and expectation.
As we journey through Advent together, may we be the living embodiment of hope, shining God’s light into the world’s darkness.
As we await and long for Christ’s arrival, may hope be our guiding star, illuminating our path and filling our hearts with the promise of a love that knows no bounds.
Amen.
Program Transcript
Advent – Hope
In a world filled with uncertainty and darkness, we find ourselves journeying through the season of Advent. This sacred time of waiting and anticipation reminds us of the profound significance of hope.
Isaiah 64:1-3 in the New Revised Standard Version reads:
“O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence!”
As we look around, we witness the struggles of our world—a world yearning for divine intervention, just as Isaiah did. We see nations in turmoil, hearts in despair, and lives shattered by adversity.
But Advent whispers a promise—a promise of hope. It calls us to prepare our hearts and open our eyes to the light breaking through the darkness. The hope that transcends our circumstances and points us to a Savior who comes to heal, redeem, and lead us into wholeness.
In this season of Advent, let us kindle the flame of hope in our hearts. Just as the prophets of old cried out for God to rend the heavens and come down, we too cry out for God’s presence to be known in our midst.
In our gatherings, in our prayers, and in our actions, let us be bearers of hope. Let us be the hands and feet of Christ, demonstrating love and compassion to a world desperately in need.
Isaiah reminds us that even in the darkest of times, we have a God who hears, a God who cares, and a God who brings hope. This season, let us embrace the message of Advent and let the hope of Christ’s coming fill our hearts with joy and expectation.
As we journey through Advent together, may we be the living embodiment of hope, shining God’s light into the world’s darkness.
As we await and long for Christ’s arrival, may hope be our guiding star, illuminating our path and filling our hearts with the promise of a love that knows no bounds.
Amen.
Psalm 80:1-7,17-19 • Isaiah 64:1-9 • 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 • Mark 13:24-37
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, and traditionally, Advent is a season of expectation and waiting, preparation and anticipation. Our RCL scriptures for this Advent season also include some apocalyptic texts, ones that disrupt our usual way of viewing Advent and the Incarnation. They encourage us to watch for God to be revealed in our world now, adding a new layer of insight about the Christmas season. Emmanuel – God with us – is here now and will come again. This Advent, we are re-orienting ourselves to thinking about and living in time differently. Instead of having a future focus, we anticipate God’s presence in the present. Rather than thinking we must be prepared or ready for God to enter the world, we have the hope and assurance that ready or not, Jesus has come, is present by his Spirit, and will return in glory. Each week of Advent, we will include a brief Advent service to accompany the lighting of a candle in the Advent wreath.
First Sunday of Advent – Purple Candle
Today we light the first candle of the Advent wreath. This is the candle of HOPE. With Christians around the world, we use this light to help us prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of God’s Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. May we receive God’s light as we hear the words of the prophet Isaiah, who was beseeching God to remember the nation in the midst of their sins.
O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence—as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil—to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down; the mountains quaked at your presence.
From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls on your name or attempts to take hold of you, for you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people. (Isaiah 64:1-9 NRSVUE)
As Isaiah called for God to come to his nation, we pray a bit differently. We know God has come in Jesus, and we pray for his return.
Let us pray:
Lord, as we look to the sins of this world, and in our own lives, we praise you for the forgiveness that comes through Jesus. We have no righteousness apart from him, and we praise you for him. As we look forward to celebrating his arrival in the Incarnation, we also praise you for his presence now by your Spirit, and for the hope of his return. Grant that the light of your love for us will help us become lights in the lives of those around us. Prepare our hearts for the joy and gladness of your coming, for we know that Jesus is our hope. Amen.
The theme for this week is Jesus will appear again. Psalm 80 is an acknowledgement that often God becomes decentered from our lives, and it invites a prayer for restoration, a recentering in God. Isaiah 64 recounts times when God appeared in the human world, doing “awesome deeds that we did not expect.” Paul writes to believers in Corinth that their strength comes from Lord Jesus Christ, and as we wait for his return, he continues to strengthen us with spiritual gifts and fellowship. Our sermon text, from Mark’s gospel, helps us understand the ever-present, divine, and risky love behind the Incarnation and Second Coming, as well as what we should be watching for.
No Escape but Risky Love
Mark 13:24-37 (NRSVUE)
Back in 2014, escape rooms became popular forms of group entertainment. Does anybody know what an escape room is? [wait for responses] They are immersive experiences where the participants are the main characters, taking part in an adventure that involves using clues to solve puzzles and progress through the game. The goal is to escape the room within 60 minutes. Sometimes families or work teams go to an escape room to build collaboration and have fun.
Human beings enjoy puzzles and figuring things out, and often we try to apply that problem-solving skill to a biblical text. This is especially true of apocalyptic texts, such as our sermon text found in Mark 13. But scripture is not a puzzle to be figured out to avoid pain and suffering, and faith isn’t an escape room. Instead, we’re going to look carefully at the characteristics of apocalyptic literature in the Bible, think about the audience Jesus was speaking to, and consider the hope of Advent the passage conveys for us as modern readers. Let’s read Mark 13:24-37. [Read passage.]
To begin our exploration of this text, we need to understand the characteristics of apocalyptic literature and the context for this passage in Mark.
Characteristics of apocalyptic literature
Apocalyptic literature tends to be dualistic, contrasting good with evil and picturing in vivid terms the ultimate victory of God’s good purposes. In Greek, “apocalypse” means “to reveal,” so the symbolism and imagery used in apocalyptic literature is not intended to be a puzzle, but an opportunity to gain perspective and clarity about God within the world’s chaos. Apocalyptic literature in the Bible often asks the tough questions, such as “if God is all powerful, then why do believers suffer?” Its intention is to convey hope for God’s deliverance, and stylistically it does this through imagery, poetry, and dream-like visions that were familiar to the audience of that time period. Mark’s gospel adopts some of these stylistic elements of apocalyptic literature.
Context of Mark 13:24-37
Barclay’s Commentary calls Mark 13 “one of the most difficult chapters in the New Testament for a modern reader to understand,” explaining that the Jewish history and thought found in the chapter would have been familiar with readers in that period, but completely foreign to today’s readers. Jesus used his audience’s familiarity with apocalyptic literature in the Old Testament, coupled with its language and imagery, to convey the hope of the Second Coming. For the immediate context of Mark 13, it is helpful to consider that Mark wrote his gospel around 70 CE after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, and that event shaped his telling of the gospel story. For example, Mark knew what happened with the temple, so he chose to have Jesus prophesy about the temple’s destruction as a means of establishing his authority as the Son of God (Mark 13:1-23). We’ll look at two of the themes in Mark 13:24-37 – the second coming and keeping watch.
The Second Coming
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 the elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. (Mark 13:24-27 NRSVUE)
The main focus is on the second coming of Christ, but this is entangled with the Day of the Lord and its symbolism and imagery referenced in the Old Testament. Jesus’ audience was familiar with oppression, both from within their culture and from without. They hoped and dreamed of the day when the Lord would free them, and these dreams and visions found their way into Old Testament books. The apocalyptic Old Testament books were not intended to be “maps of the future and timetables of events to come,” as Barclay says, but rather, they were poetry and visions and hopes for God’s intervention in the future. Jesus took the language and imagery his audience would be familiar with and used it to convey the hope of the Second Coming before he was crucified and resurrected. Notice the imagery in v. 24-25 and how it corresponds, at least in part, with what happened at Jesus’ crucifixion as referenced in Luke:
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. (Mark 13:24-25, NRSVUE)
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. (Luke 23:44-45, NRSVUE)
By using the imagery and language his audience was familiar with, Jesus foreshadowed the significance or greatness of the Second Coming, as well as his crucifixion. His point was not to focus on specifics, such as the order of events, but on the significance, hope, and certainty that he would return.
Keeping Watch:
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. (Mark 13:28-37 NRSVUE)
This section of our sermon passage offers the chance to rethink what we’re looking for and why. Rather than looking for signs that we interpret as indicators of the Second Coming, we instead “keep watch” for the ways we delude ourselves into thinking we can determine God’s timeline. If we consider v. 28-31, we might think we’re expected to figure out the “puzzle,” but we can contrast that with Jesus’ words in v. 32-33:
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. (Mark 13:28-31, NRSVUE)
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. (Mark 13:32-33, NRSVUE)
Barclay’s Commentary points out that v. 28-31 pertain to the destruction of the Temple, not the Second Coming, whereas v. 32-33 reveal that even Jesus did not know the time of his return. No one does, nor are we expected to know or figure out when the Second Coming will occur (v.35).
The reality of the Incarnation, God becoming a man, is risky when you consider our proclivity to anthropomorphism (i.e., attributing human characteristics to nonhuman beings) and what happens when we think God acts like us. Theologian Karoline Lewis says this:
God becomes us to bring life to that which would surely die and to bring a new heaven and a new earth to the moments when the sufferings and despair of our earthly life is more than we can bear. Advent gives us the time and space once again to believe in and live out this reality.
Jesus’ admonition to “Keep awake” or “Keep alert” gives us pause when it comes to thinking we have the mystery of God figured out. The Second Coming is our chance to revel in the mystery of God and to bask in the hope-filled promise that Christ’s return is certain.
Mark’s apocalyptic gospel gives us good news in a world that often seems to be off kilter. The good news isn’t that we must figure out clues, like we’re in an escape room, to know when the Second Coming will happen and escape from the world and its problems. The real good news (some call it “the really real”) is that even though we may feel overwhelmed and ready to give up in light of the problems facing humanity, God will never give up. In fact, God chose to come closer to be with us in our mess through the Incarnation. In Jesus, God’s willingness to be inextricably linked with humanity is revealed. Boston University Homiletics Professor Rev. Dr. David Schnasa Jacobsen calls this a “risky proximate love.”
God is revealed as coming close with a divinely authorized risky love that leads all the way to the cross. This is no triumphant fix-it God…This is a God who apocalyptically reveals Godself precisely as the mystery for us in the face of our broken realities.
When God enters time, we can expect disruption, and that won’t be comfortable or easy. As we begin the Advent season, we are encouraged to know that whether we’re ready or not, Jesus will return, and our challenge is to keep watch for the ways that God shows up now in our beautiful and broken world.
Call to Action: This week, look for evidence of God in your life. This can include anything from noticing beauty in nature to personally specific examples of answered prayer. When these instances occur, offer thanks for the Incarnation that made possible God’s fully embodied presence (Jesus) in your world. Instead of waiting for Christmas and the celebration of Incarnation to happen, consider how living in the present with the knowledge of God’s constant presence (the Holy Spirit in you) changes your perception to a more hopeful and grateful stance.
For Reference:
https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/first-sunday-of-advent-2/commentary-on-mark-1324-37
https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/advent-on-the-mind
https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/advent-time
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/explanation/jesusjohnbaptist.html
https://blogs.bu.edu/sermons/2012/08/12/the-beginning-of-marks-apocalyptic-gospel/
https://bibleportal.com/commentary/section/william-barclay/the-things-to-come-mark-131-37
God in the Neighborhood w/ Winn Collier W1
December 3 — First Sunday of Advent
Mark 13:24-37, “Spiritual B12”
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Program Transcript
God in the Neighborhood w/ Winn Collier W1
Anthony: Let’s transition to our first pericope of the month. It’s Mark 13:24–37. I’ll be reading from the New Revised Standard Version, the updated edition. It’s a Revised Common Lectionary passage for the first Sunday of Advent on December 3.
“But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels and gather the elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 28 “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. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Beware, keep alert, for you do not know when the time will come. 34 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. 35 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, 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
I would imagine, Winn, as an Episcopal priest, you’re quite familiar with the liturgical calendar and the season of Advent. So, I want to ask you on this first Sunday of Advent, how does this season fit into the grand narrative of Scripture and the retelling of the gospel story?
Winn: I love how Advent is the beginning of the Christian year. And so, at the very beginning of Christian time—and when we say Christian time, what we mean is time that is as it truly is, which is centered in Jesus Christ. We wouldn’t even have time, we wouldn’t have history, we wouldn’t have humanity if it weren’t for the true human, our brother, Jesus Christ.
And at the beginning of the Christian year, we’re invited for these four weeks to retell, but not just retell, as if it’s merely reflection, but actually to re-enter the truest story of humanity, which is the story of Christ, bringing God and humanity together in this one human. And what’s deeply powerful about Advent is it encompasses the totality of the human story in all of history.
So, it’s not only, obviously as we know, it’s not only a time of preparation for the celebration of Christmas. Even as we’re doing that, it’s a much broader story. It’s looking back to before human time ever began and realize that all of creation has always been waiting for the coming of Christ. And now that Christ in the person of Jesus, God has come into the human story in a more profound and immediate and fleshly way, that we’re again, looking forward to the ultimate end of human history, which is the renewal of all things when Jesus will come again.
And so, in these four weeks—and it’s interesting how we’ve lost this in most sort of Protestant expressions of Advent. But for a lot of church history, when Advent was celebrated, it was also a penitential [relating to penance / remorse] season, something like Lent.
And in Lent, we often do some kind of fasting or some way of helping our body to really be attentive to the in-breaking realities of Christ. And Advent was also that way. There’s something about this conditioning of ourselves, this posture of humble hope, which recognizes that unless God breaks into our reality, we are doomed.
But the good news is that God has, and God will, and we are never abandoned, and we are never alone. And we are always in this place of recognizing what God has done, and what God will do. We’re just waiting for the story to continue to unfold. And that’s a good place to be.
Anthony: Yeah. And Karl Barth would say it’s the only place to be. I think he said in Church Dogmatics, “What other time or season can or will the church ever have, but that of Advent.”
I can still hear Fleming Rutledge pushing back on Advent just being a placeholder for Christmas as just, we’re just longing to get to Christmas. No, this is the season we’re in.
And I think it was Frederick Buechner that talked about Advent being like being in a theater. There’s this sense of anticipation for the curtain to offer up the great reveal. And of course, the reveal is the Son of God and his reappearance.
Winn, if you were exegeting this passage to prepare for a sermon—and there’s a lot in here and it can get sideways really quickly—what would be your focus on declaring the gospel?
Winn: Since you mentioned Barth, Barth once said that when he was preaching a sermon, he would always assume that there was at least one person in the room asking the question, could this story possibly be true?
And then Barth says, then I would preach to that one person. And that’s a deep resonance for me and how I understand the gospel. It is, in every profound and penetrating way, it is deeply good news! And good news will be often disruptive. It will unnerve, but it always creates life and possibility.
So, when I when I read this passage yesterday thinking about our conversation,
I first went to these opening lines. The good news of God seems to always arrive, and of course, it’s so because we’re always in this condition, in one way or another. It always arrives when it seems like suffering rules the day. When it seems like the sun itself has darkened. When the moon, even the source of beauty and light, seems to be giving no light anymore.
When it seems like all that we count on, like even the stars, seem like they’re just falling out of the sky. Whenever it seems like the powers of heaven are being shaken and all the powers that we rely on and depend on.
And we’re walking through some things as a family right now where I sense a little bit of that. I sense where the powers are shaken, and stars seem to be falling. And it’s precisely into that place that the Son of Man comes with great power. And I believe that the Christian story, the Jesus-centered story, is that Jesus enters into the suffering realities of the world.
Today as I’m thinking through this and we’re having this conversation, things are completely unraveling in Israel and Gaza. And I hope that by the time people listen to this, that’s changed. I don’t have a ton of hope. I do have hope that this will not be the final word. That these realities, we can’t ignore them. We must name them. We must weep in them. We must weep with those who are weeping.
And we know that there is coming a day, and has already been a day, where it has been inaugurated and revealed. And the final chapter is coming where this Son of Man will come in great power. And in that day, the sun will be bright and the moon will shimmer with radiance and the stars will be fixed like beauty as they’re meant to be. And the power, because it’s in God’s good hands will not be shaken. And I long for that day.
Anthony: Come Lord Jesus, amen and amen.
I don’t know if it’s been your experience, Winn, none of us pray for suffering, right? Hey Lord, give me some suffering. No, we don’t do that. However, as I reflect back on my life and lived experience, I experienced God in suffering in a way I don’t when life feels like fluff. I just learn more about his devotion, his faithfulness.
And again, I’m with you. I mourn and I grieve what’s happening in the Middle East. So come, Lord Jesus and set things right.
Program Transcript
God in the Neighborhood w/ Winn Collier W1
Anthony: Let’s transition to our first pericope of the month. It’s Mark 13:24–37. I’ll be reading from the New Revised Standard Version, the updated edition. It’s a Revised Common Lectionary passage for the first Sunday of Advent on December 3.
“But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels and gather the elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 28 “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. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Beware, keep alert, for you do not know when the time will come. 34 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. 35 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, 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
I would imagine, Winn, as an Episcopal priest, you’re quite familiar with the liturgical calendar and the season of Advent. So, I want to ask you on this first Sunday of Advent, how does this season fit into the grand narrative of Scripture and the retelling of the gospel story?
Winn: I love how Advent is the beginning of the Christian year. And so, at the very beginning of Christian time—and when we say Christian time, what we mean is time that is as it truly is, which is centered in Jesus Christ. We wouldn’t even have time, we wouldn’t have history, we wouldn’t have humanity if it weren’t for the true human, our brother, Jesus Christ.
And at the beginning of the Christian year, we’re invited for these four weeks to retell, but not just retell, as if it’s merely reflection, but actually to re-enter the truest story of humanity, which is the story of Christ, bringing God and humanity together in this one human. And what’s deeply powerful about Advent is it encompasses the totality of the human story in all of history.
So, it’s not only, obviously as we know, it’s not only a time of preparation for the celebration of Christmas. Even as we’re doing that, it’s a much broader story. It’s looking back to before human time ever began and realize that all of creation has always been waiting for the coming of Christ. And now that Christ in the person of Jesus, God has come into the human story in a more profound and immediate and fleshly way, that we’re again, looking forward to the ultimate end of human history, which is the renewal of all things when Jesus will come again.
And so, in these four weeks—and it’s interesting how we’ve lost this in most sort of Protestant expressions of Advent. But for a lot of church history, when Advent was celebrated, it was also a penitential [relating to penance / remorse] season, something like Lent.
And in Lent, we often do some kind of fasting or some way of helping our body to really be attentive to the in-breaking realities of Christ. And Advent was also that way. There’s something about this conditioning of ourselves, this posture of humble hope, which recognizes that unless God breaks into our reality, we are doomed.
But the good news is that God has, and God will, and we are never abandoned, and we are never alone. And we are always in this place of recognizing what God has done, and what God will do. We’re just waiting for the story to continue to unfold. And that’s a good place to be.
Anthony: Yeah. And Karl Barth would say it’s the only place to be. I think he said in Church Dogmatics, “What other time or season can or will the church ever have, but that of Advent.”
I can still hear Fleming Rutledge pushing back on Advent just being a placeholder for Christmas as just, we’re just longing to get to Christmas. No, this is the season we’re in.
And I think it was Frederick Buechner that talked about Advent being like being in a theater. There’s this sense of anticipation for the curtain to offer up the great reveal. And of course, the reveal is the Son of God and his reappearance.
Winn, if you were exegeting this passage to prepare for a sermon—and there’s a lot in here and it can get sideways really quickly—what would be your focus on declaring the gospel?
Winn: Since you mentioned Barth, Barth once said that when he was preaching a sermon, he would always assume that there was at least one person in the room asking the question, could this story possibly be true?
And then Barth says, then I would preach to that one person. And that’s a deep resonance for me and how I understand the gospel. It is, in every profound and penetrating way, it is deeply good news! And good news will be often disruptive. It will unnerve, but it always creates life and possibility.
So, when I when I read this passage yesterday thinking about our conversation,
I first went to these opening lines. The good news of God seems to always arrive, and of course, it’s so because we’re always in this condition, in one way or another. It always arrives when it seems like suffering rules the day. When it seems like the sun itself has darkened. When the moon, even the source of beauty and light, seems to be giving no light anymore.
When it seems like all that we count on, like even the stars, seem like they’re just falling out of the sky. Whenever it seems like the powers of heaven are being shaken and all the powers that we rely on and depend on.
And we’re walking through some things as a family right now where I sense a little bit of that. I sense where the powers are shaken, and stars seem to be falling. And it’s precisely into that place that the Son of Man comes with great power. And I believe that the Christian story, the Jesus-centered story, is that Jesus enters into the suffering realities of the world.
Today as I’m thinking through this and we’re having this conversation, things are completely unraveling in Israel and Gaza. And I hope that by the time people listen to this, that’s changed. I don’t have a ton of hope. I do have hope that this will not be the final word. That these realities, we can’t ignore them. We must name them. We must weep in them. We must weep with those who are weeping.
And we know that there is coming a day, and has already been a day, where it has been inaugurated and revealed. And the final chapter is coming where this Son of Man will come in great power. And in that day, the sun will be bright and the moon will shimmer with radiance and the stars will be fixed like beauty as they’re meant to be. And the power, because it’s in God’s good hands will not be shaken. And I long for that day.
Anthony: Come Lord Jesus, amen and amen.
I don’t know if it’s been your experience, Winn, none of us pray for suffering, right? Hey Lord, give me some suffering. No, we don’t do that. However, as I reflect back on my life and lived experience, I experienced God in suffering in a way I don’t when life feels like fluff. I just learn more about his devotion, his faithfulness.
And again, I’m with you. I mourn and I grieve what’s happening in the Middle East. So come, Lord Jesus and set things right.
Small Group Discussion Questions
- Why do you think human beings sometimes look at apocalyptic scripture passages as an opportunity to decode clues and find a secret message from God about the Second Coming? What aspect of our human nature does this satisfy?
- How does understanding the historical context in which Jesus spoke help us focus on hope rather than specific signs and times?
- How does focusing on the certainty of the Second Coming rather than on preparation and waiting change our thinking about Advent and Christmas? In other words, how does shifting our focus from expectant waiting to observing God’s presence in our world now as a result of the Incarnation change our practice and experience of Advent?
Thank you for producing these high quality Advent videos that tie in the Advent Candle Themes and the RCL scriptures. Great job!!