The Hope of Advent
On Tuesday, December 9th, I was asked to speak at the candlelight memorial service for Dickerson Funeral Home in Veedersburg, IN. It was a beautiful service in which both I and another pastor in town were able to share briefly about hope, grief and the life that is available through Jesus Christ. The following is my message from that service. It is based on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
A couple Sundays ago marked the beginning of the season of Advent. Advent is the four Sundays prior to Christmas Day. It marks a time in the Christian year when we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. It is more than decorating the house, buying Christmas presents, and scheduling parties with loved ones. It is a time when we can really examine ourselves and prepare ourselves spiritually for the birth of the Savior, but it is also a time to remind us that we don’t know when Christ will return. It is a time when we face the realization that Christ could come back at any point, and our job is to be ready for it. Our task is to live our lives in such a way that the hope which comes from above shines before all people.
For centuries, people have struggled with the expectation of the second coming. And perhaps that has something to do with the unknown nature of it all. We like to know what is going to happen because it makes things go a little smoother. But the simple truth of the matter is that just as the birth of Christ was unexpected, so will be the second coming. We are not to figure out when it will happen; we are to live in expectation of it.
Paul writes this letter to the church in Thessalonica during a time in which so many of the Christians were worried about their friends and family who had passed away. They despaired because they thought that these people would miss out on the second coming altogether. They believed that those who passed away would never be able to participate in it. Because of this, they were having a difficult time coping with their passing. Paul writes to reassure them that those who have passed on, or “fallen asleep,” will indeed be remembered upon Christ’s return.
Part of the reason why they were worried about this in the first place can be found in Act 17.
Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica during Paul’s second missionary journey. They went directly to the synagogue for three straight weeks and taught about Jesus and how he fulfilled Scripture, and that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead. Many Jews and even some prominent Gentiles heard and accepted Paul’s message. However, there were several people who stirred up trouble, which caused Paul and Silas to leave in the night for Berea. Because of this disturbance, Paul was unable to teach the Thessalonians on some of the other aspects of the faith, which undoubtedly would have included Christ’s return, which is why he begins in verse 13 by saying, “We do not want you to be uninformed about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”
The message of the gospel is essentially one of hope. There is no need for despair when it comes to the gospel. It has the power to mend broken relationships. It has the power to overcome the difficulties of life. It has the power to defeat even death. What this means is that life as we know it right now, is not all there is. The idea that death has the final word is no longer true in light of the truth of the gospel. Death is not the end; it is the cocoon in which we find ourselves after our life as a catepillar has come to a close. And, when God’s timing is right, that cocoon opens to reveal a new creation.
Death is a step that ultimately brings us closer to who we are intended to be. This is the message of the gospel: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). The promise of the gospel is that even though we will die, we truly find life in Christ. God is a God of promise, and what he promises is as good as done. His Word does not go unfulfilled.
Paul assures his readers that God will not forget those who have fallen asleep. In fact, he writes that those who have fallen asleep will be among the first to see the Lord upon his return. The dead are awaken by a great call from heaven, and they are taken up with the living. The Greek word for “caught up” gives us the picture of one who is suddenly, and unexpectedly, snatched up. This reinforces the uncertain, but sudden, timing of the return of Christ. And the Greek word for “to meet” is a specific term that is used when dignitaries would visit an area and all the people would come out of the village to meet him. Imagine the grand scene that Paul is painting here: we are going about our daily duties, then suddenly and unexpectedly, we are taken up to heaven and reunited with our brothers and sisters in Christ and we form a receiving line for the coming King.
In light of this understanding, we can look at death in a new way. This isn’t to say that there won’t be sorrow for those who have passed on, but to say that we need to recognize that this sorrow is only temporary. For the day will come when we will meet again, and it will be the day of Christ’s return. It will be a day of such significance that everything we know will be flipped upside down. The world as we know it will not exist because the world as we know it is not how it is supposed to be. In Isaiah, God promises a new heaven and a new earth. The same promise can be found in Revelation, alongside the promise that God will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death.
Let me close tonight with some words of encouragement. The ones we love who have passed away this year are not gone forever. They are asleep right now and will be awaken with a great trumpet call from heaven as we are taken up to meet our Lord. It is okay to grieve for those who have passed on, but Paul reminds us in 1 Thessalonians that there is no need for us to grieve as those who have no hope. We do have hope. We have the hope of the gospel, which is God’s promise to us that one day, every tear will be wiped away, and there will be nothing but rejoicing and praise as we live out eternity in His loving presence.
Fantasy Football Update, Week 14
DeAngelo Williams is a total stud. He had another huge game last night against the team that made him look bad back in Week 6. Going into last night's game, my opponent and I were tied up at 81 apiece. He didn't have anyone going, and I had Williams, so unless he gained 20 yards and lost 3 fumbles, I wasn't worried about losing this week. He ended up running for 186 yards and 2 TD's, which was good for another solid 30 points, making the final this week 111-81.
The regular season has closed out in grand fashion for Team Swish. After starting the season 1-3, I have strung together 10 straight wins to finish the season at a nice 11-3. I've captured the #1 overall seed in our playoffs, and came in second in total points scored for the season, being outscored by the third place team by a mere 14 points. All in all, this has been probably the best regular season that I've ever had in fantasy football. But all that doesn't matter now. This Thursday's game marks the beginning of the playoffs. I've finished in first in the regular season before and lost in the first round of the playoffs, so we'll see how everything goes
And just to point out how much I attribute this season to DeAngelo Williams:
- my original RB's were McFadden, Thomas Jones and Jamal Lewis
- McFadden (who was supposed to be the impact rookie this season... yeah right) began the season with some injuries, and Lewis was starting off by playing on a poor Cleveland team (though, nobody knew it at the time)
- the various Lewis/McFadden/Jones combos combined for point totals of 12, 25, 6 and 20 before I started looking for a new RB to throw into the mix.
- on Week 5, I tried Rudi Johnson and Michael Pittman because all three of my RB's had a bye week. They combined for a stellar 12 points, and I looked to the waiver wire once again. I came across a story that said DeAngelo Williams would be a good pick-up on the waiver wire, so I gave it a chance. Week 6, against the Bucs, 2 points.
- on Week 7, I sat Williams in favor of Jones and Lewis. Jones had big yards for 15 points, and Lewis only had 9 on the day. Williams was sitting on the bench with 12 points.
- beginning Week 8, Williams broke out in a big way, with weeks of 17, bye, 20, 24, 19, 32 and 30. He is currently ranked #2 overall in the Yahoo! standings.
DeAngelo? More like DeAngelico.... I haven't had a sports man-crush on anyone like this (not named Albert Pujols - the perpetual sports man-crush) since Scott Spiezio in the 2006 playoffs. However, my man-crushes are temporary. If he falls apart in the next two weeks, he'll go from man-crush territory to second on my draft board next season.
All right, I'm going to finish my Strawberry Frosted MiniWheats and get some work done!
Hearing Voices
The following was preached at Veedersburg and Hillsboro UMC on Sunday, December 7, 2008. The text for this week is Mark 1:1-8.
This week marks the second week of Advent – the time in which we prepare ourselves to celebrate the coming of Christ. Last week we talked about how it was important for us to live our lives in preparation for the second coming of Jesus. We are to live as people of Advent, who are eagerly expecting the second coming of Jesus. The simple truth is that we don’t know when he will return, but we do know that it is going to happen. We know what we are preparing ourselves for, now the question turns to how do we do this? I guess the simplest answer would be to listen to the voices.
Today’s passage comes to us from Mark 1. I have spent a fair amount of time in today’s passage over the years because Mark is one of my favorite books in the Bible, and he begins by quoting another one of my favorite book - Isaiah. So, to translate, this passage is my version of a Buy One Get One Free sale. Before we go too far into the passage, I want to give just a little bit of background to place it in context.
The author of this gospel is John Mark, who appears in Acts 12-15 as a companion of Paul on his first missionary journey, which is recorded in Acts. Mark left Paul to return to Jerusalem before the completion of this first missionary jouney, which caused him to be the focal point of a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas. Paul did not want to bring him on their second missionary journey, but Barnabas did, which resulted in them going their separate ways prior to leaving for this journey. In time, Mark ended up in Rome with Peter, and that is where he wrote the gospel. The Gospel of Mark is actually Mark’s recollection of Peter’s message. So, whenever you read Mark, you are reading the teachings of Jesus as related by Peter.
Mark does not have a birth narrative like Matthew and Luke, nor does he have a theological reflection like John. Mark does not waste any time in his gospel. It is almost like he is trying to write down everything as quickly as he possibly can. In fact, one of the more common words found in Mark is “immediately” – the Greek word is found 41 times in Mark’s 16 chapters. The story is always in motion, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that he starts off with a very brief introduction, and then begins the story at the point when Jesus’ ministry really starts, which is following his baptism by John. But, believe it or not, there is a lot of punch packed into these very few verses, and there is a lot that we can learn from them.
The first verse alone makes a couple of profound statements about Jesus. Marks begins by saying, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Now, on this side of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we take certain words and phrases for granted, but when Mark was writing, “gospel,” “Christ,” and “Son of God” were some bold statements to be making.
First of all, “Christ” is the Greek word for the Hebrew concept of Messiah. So there is everything that goes along with the claim that Jesus is the Messiah – the expectation that Jesus is the long awaited savior of Israel from the line of David.
“Son of God” is a pretty straightforward phrase as well. A son is one who has the characteristics of the father. Whenever people see my dad and I together, there is no doubt that I am his son. We share many of the same characteristics, both physical and personality-wise. In the same way, Mark is making the claim that when one looks at Jesus, one is looking at God. This is also a highly subversive term in the Roman Empire. In the Roman Empire, the only one who would be the Son of God would be the emperor. It was believed that emperors became gods following their death, and that the ensuing emperor was his son. Likewise, we have the word “gospel.”
“Gospel” in this context would have also been highly subversive. This is the one whose real meaning is probably lost the most on many of today’s readers. “Gospel” comes from a Greek word which literally means “good news” or “good message.” However, in the Roman Empire, the concept of gospel was reserved for a particular purpose. “Gospel” in the Roman Empire had to do with celebrating the ascension, or birth, of a king or emperor. So, when Christians started proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, it was perceived as a threat to the Roman emperor. It was understood as treason in the Roman Empire to claim anyone but Caesar as the emperor. So, in one very short sentence, Mark manages to get his audiences attention in a big way by basically claiming that Jesus is the Messiah, and using words that were reserved for news about the emperor. In the midst of Rome, this is a very dangerous beginning to a document that is not about Caesar, and we’re only in verse 1!
Verse 2 brings us to the Buy One Get One Free sale, and, realistically, that’s not even accurate. Verses 2-3 are more like the super sale at Wal-Mart where it’s buy one, get two free. You see, even though Mark attributes the quote to Isaiah, the first part is actually found in Malachi 3:1. Mark is making a connection between two passages that both point to a significant figure that would arrive prior to the coming of the Lord.
Now, when a New Testament author quotes something from the Old Testament, he is not only bringing to mind the verse that he is quoting, but the entire context that surrounds that passage as well. Many of the Jews in Rome would have been very familiar with the Old Testament, and would also be very familiar with the context of Old Testament quotes. There was not the need for a long teaching to give the background because the background was already known.
Malachi 3 discusses the messenger who would be sent before the Lord would come. In chapter 3, there is not an abundant amount of discussion on the characteristics of this messenger, but in Malachi 4:5, the prophet Elijah is said to be the one that will be sent prior to the coming of the Lord. This led to speculation that Elijah, who never actually died in the Old Testament, would come back before the Messiah. You can pick up this expectation in some of the questions that are asked of John the Baptist in John 1. He is outrightly asked if he was Elijah. He replies by saying that he isn’t, and literally speaking, he wasn’t Elijah, but he fulfilled that role which is first discussed in Malachi. He was the one who turned hearts and prepared the people for the coming of the Lord. Mark also points to John’s fulfillment of the role of Elijah.
Remember, Mark doesn’t waste any time when it comes to writing his gospel. He doesn’t put in a lot of details that aren’t important in moving the story forward or making a particular point. That being the case, we need to really look at what he says in verse 6. Mark writes, “Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.” If Mark is in such a hurry to write his gospel, why would he comment on what John was wearing? Was the Jordan River the red carpet of the first century? Of course not! The answer to why Marks makes this comment can be found in the Old Testament book of 2 Kings. In chapter 1, Elijah is described as wearing a “garment of hair and a leather belt around his waist.” John’s clothing further emphasizes his connection to Elijah the prophet, who was to come and prepare people for the coming of the Lord.
And, while John’s ministry was important, he was always careful to make his ministry about Jesus. He is constantly drawing people to himself for the sole reason of pointing them to Christ. He recognizes his place in the pecking order, if you will, and realizes that no matter what, his ministry is about Jesus, not himself. In fact, even in Mark, he plays down his role, as we can see in verses 7-8. There’s an important lesson that we need to learn from this. We do ministry so that we can point others to Jesus, not to ourselves. We don’t do ministry so that we can look good to others in our congregation or even our community. We do ministry in order to point others to Jesus. If there is a point in which we are doing something so that we look good, then we have missed the point entirely. Okay, now that I’ve gone to the end of the road with the Malachi quote in verse 2, let’s take a look at the context of the Isaiah quote, which is found in Mark 1:3.
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,’” Is found in Isaiah 40:3. The context of this passage also points to a significant event in the lives of the Israelite people. Throughout the book of Isaiah, the prophets weaves in a theme that is known as the New Exodus. For the Israelites, the exodus from Egypt was their defining event. It was what they referred to time and time again as a landmark event in their history, demonstrating God’s care for them. The Passover was celebrated each year as a way of remembering this event. Many Jews, even today, will celebrate the Passover as a way of remembering God’s faithfulness through the generations. However, in Isaiah, there are several places in which God himself claims that he will do a new work that will be remembered for generations to come (chapters 42, 43, and 48). The new thing will be so incredible that the former things (that is, the exodus from Egypt) will be forgotten.
At the end of Isaiah 39, King Hezekiah is told that the day will come when all of his possessions and all in his house will be taken away to Babylon. Hezekiah responds with, “Well, at least I don’t have to deal with it.” Now Hezekiah’s response is not exactly the kind of attitude that God is looking for when it comes to something like this. He is definitely an example of how not to respond in such situations. Realistically, though, he serves as a good attitude check for us, and perhaps we need to use this chapter from time to time to remind us that our decisions now often have effects that go down through the generations. However, we are going a little too far down a rabbit trail here. The bottom line that we need to remember as we head into Isaiah 40 is that the people of Israel will undoubtedly face exile for their unfaithfulness, but what are the first words of Isaiah 40? They aren’t words of condemnation; they are words of comfort. In fact, that’s how it starts, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”
Isaiah 40 seems to pick up after the exile. The penalty for their sin has been paid in full, and they are pardoned. The people will return to the land of their forefathers. There is a voice that is crying in the wilderness that the way needs to be prepared for the Lord. The valleys will be raised, and the mountains and hills will be laid low. The rough terrain of the desert will be smoothed out for the Lord. This was the ministry of John the Baptist.
He was the one who cried out in the wilderness for people to prepare their hearts for the Lord. In preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins, John was raising the valleys and lower the mountains and hills. Let’s also not forget about the symbolism of where John is located. He is at the Jordan River. The same river that reminded Joshua and the Israelites of the exodus from Egypt. The same river that stopped flowing even though the banks were overflowing at the time. The same river that the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land on dry ground. It is no accident that John’s ministry happened here.
John was preparing the way for the Lord at the Jordan River because it was time. The time had finally come when the former things were forgotten and the new thing that God was doing was going to take place. This was the time when all of the promises of the Old Testament would be more than just something to hope for; it was the realization of all the hopes of the Old Testament. Mark realized the significance of this time, and he didn’t want to waste any time letting his readers know of it significance. Everything that the Israelites were waiting for was finally happening. No longer would the people be in a state of spiritual exile, but now, because of what happened in an insignificant region of the Roman Empire, all people – not just the Jews, but all people around the world - were invited to return from exile.
I stand here today to let you know as well. The time has come. We no longer live in exile. God has indeed done a new thing, and in doing so, all people are invited to live in relationship with Him. Today we celebrate the Lord’s Supper because it is a reminder of what God has done. God has destroyed the barrier that exists between Himself and humanity. We no longer live in a state of spiritual exile. We are invited to return home and live in a renewed relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Busy Week
In case someone was uncertain as to what a pastor does during the week...
I spent most of my day yesterday in Lafayette, as someone in one of my congregations had surgery. The gentleman ended up going in earlier than scheduled, so I talked with the family for a little while, ran some errands, ate lunch and came back to catch him as he was getting ready to head home. Doesn't sound like a lot of busyness; however, Lafayette is an hour away. It pretty much took all day.
I have started attending a Bible study that is working through Max Lucado's He Still Moves Stones. They asked if I would lead this week's lesson, which is tomorrow morning. I still need to prepare for it.
I was asked to take part in a special service that the funeral home in Veedersburg is hosting for those who have lost loved ones in the last year. I'll be giving a 10-15 minute message next Tuesday evening. I need to call one of the other pastors in town just to make sure we don't speak on the same topic.
I have two people having surgery today. One is at the heart hospital near St. V's in Indy. The other is in Champaign, IL. I talked to both of them yesterday, and they said that they didn't want me to make the trip to see them (it's about 1-1.5 hours in opposite directions from the 'Burg). Hopefully, both surgeries will be outpatient, and they'll be home tonight. I'm planning on calling them this evening to check up on them.
I'm also working on a Christmas Eve service. I got this idea that it would be really cool to have a service of carols and lessons that walk through the Christmas story. I've been thinking about it for a week now and spent some time working on it during my lunch yesterday. It is going to be exciting.
I also have to work on this Sunday's sermon. It's from Mark 1:1-8, which is a passage that I have studied a lot, but I still need to do the background work and write it. I have a near pathological dependancy on my manuscript right now. I'm slowly getting away from it, but it is going to take some time. Besides, if I didn't type out a manuscript, what would I post on Monday mornings?
Let's also throw on top dinner, some minor cleaning and hiding Katie's Christmas presents, and it is looking like a pretty full day today.... So, why am I blogging right now....
Fantasy Football Update, Week 13
And the streak continues! You don't know how bad I want to put a video up of Will Ferrell in Old School right now; probably not the most appropriate thing....
Anyhoo! Going into tonight's MNF matchup between the Texans and the Jaguars, I have a 113-95 advantage over my opponent, and Kevin Walter going tonight. All of his players are done for the week, which means I will now be on a 9 game winning streak, and in sole possession of first place, after starting the season 1-3.
I have to admit, I was worried this week. Now because my opponent has been in first place pretty much all season, but because he had a couple guys with huge games on Thanksgiving. At the end of the games on Thursday, I was down 64-20 because he had huge games from Romo, Fitzgerald and Bironas. My 20 points came from a big day for the Tennessee defense, and who was really surprised by that outcome against the Lions?
The primary source of my concern, however, came in the form of the Colts-Browns game. Now, the Browns have one of the worst secondaries in the league, so I thought that Peyton and Marvin were a lock to play this week. I also thought that Winslow would fare pretty well against a banged up Colts secondary... and I was TOTALLY wrong. This was an ugly game. Not a single offensive touchdown was scored. Winslow sprained his ankle at the beginning of the second half, and Manning threw consecutive interceptions at the close of the first half and the opening of the second half. I am glad that they didn't charge him with a fumble when he lost the ball on a goal line sneak. I'm still not sure what that rule was all about, but it didn't cost me (or the Colts) so I'm not complaining. In the three players that I had going in that game, they came away with a combined, COMBINED, 6 points. Manning's 125 yards and 2 INT's were good for half of that total.
Meanwhile, I decided to sit Aaron Rogers, who threw for nearly 300 yards and 3 TD's and scored a total of 26 points. Do you see why I was worried?
Of course, then again, I was not as worried as I could be because my RB's are absolute studs. Jones ran for 138 yards (and had an additional 21 receiving) to go with his 2 TD's against the Broncos for a solid 27 points, and he was the lower of the two for the day. My other RB - DeAngelo Williams, who only ran for 72 yards (14 receiving yards as well), but scored 4 TD's (all 1 yard runs) for a total of 32 points.
I was also a little more at ease with Berrian's 99 yard TD catch in the evening game (even though it followed a goal line stand in which my Bears couldn't punch it in on four tries from the 1 yard line). That play alone was 15 more points, and Berrian ended with 122 yards receiving on the night. Longwell also had a good night, scoring 10 points from the K position.
One more week and it's off to the fantasy football playoffs. Typically I have Manning as my QB, and by the end of the season, the Colts are so far ahead in the division that they don't play him all that much. This year could be different with the Colts in the hunt for a Wild Card spot. We'll see how that affects things going forward. Of course, if Rogers is healthy and has a great matchup, he'll probably be the one starting. We will definitely see.
Oh, and I almost picked up Mark Clayton from Baltimore last week. What did he do? 164 yards receiving, 1 TD... oh, and a 32 yard TD pass as well. I think he's going to be on my roster before the day is done.
For What Do We Prepare
The following was preached at Veedersburg and Hillsboro UMC on Sunday, November 30, 2008. The verse for this week's message is Mark 13:24-37.
Today’s passage is certainly an interesting way to begin Advent. Advent is a time when we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but it is much more than simply celebrating his birthday. Advent is a time when we are filled with expectation and anticipation at the coming of Christ, and it’s not the same anticipation that many had in the first century. If you’ll remember from last week, the first century Jews were expecting a military and political leader that would restore the fortunes of Israel. The long awaited Messiah did come, so we are not waiting on the coming Messiah. Jesus did live on this earth and showed us what a redeemed life looks like; a life that is fully engrossed in the will of God. Jesus still lives, and it is his second coming that we are eagerly awaiting – a time when all of creation is restored and we will live eternally in the presence of the Triune God. Today’s passage is a reminder of this. It is a reminder that we are still living in a time of tension. It’s the tension that God’s kingdom has already come in Jesus Christ, but that we are awaiting its full consummation upon Christ’s return.
The section in which we find today’s Scripture is in the midst of a conversation between Jesus and the disciples. Jesus has been teaching in the Temple all day long, and when they come out, the disciples are quite impressed with the architecture of the area. They say to Jesus in 13:1, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings.” They are amazed at the structures which surround them. But Jesus takes the opportunity to take their comment and tell them something spiritually significant. Now, isn’t that just like Jesus? We come to him with something that we find amazing, and he flips it on its head and gives us a totally different perspective; a broader perspective; an eternal perspective.
The discussion turns to what the last days are going to be like, and introduces one of the most studied and confusing conversations that Jesus ever had with his disciples. The reason that I say this conversation is one of the most confusing is because there are so many different perspectives on what it is that Jesus is talking about here. There is so much noise surrounding this Scripture, that we don’t really have a clue what Jesus is talking about here, but that doesn’t stop us from interpreting it anyway!
I am not going to stand here today and tell you that I have it all figured out. I will say right now that I don’t have a clue if Jesus is talking literally or figuratively in this passage. I don’t know if the Left Behind series hit the target dead on or was so far off base that it’s laughable. And while we’re being honest, let’s go ahead and admit that they don’t really know either. That’s the thing about the future. It hasn’t happened yet, and unless there is some sort of time traveling device that will allow us to see the future, we can never predict with 100% certainty what will happen in the future. But there is something inside us that always wants to know what will happen. For some reason, we think we can face the future better if we know exactly how everything is going to go down. But even some of the simplest predictions go unfulfilled, and sometimes the most bold predictions end up making us look silly.
I came across some of this century’s biggest mistaken predictions while working on something else a while ago, and I think it is appropriate to share them in this context in order to give us some perspective.
1. In 1912, one of the most well-known failed predictions took place. An official of the White Star Line declared the Titanic to be unsinkable. Early in the morning of April 15th, the Titanic sunk, killing nearly 1,500 people.
2. In 1939, the New York Times said the problem with TV was that people had to glue their eyes to a screen, and that the average American wouldn’t have time for it. Today, the average American watches around 22 hours of television each week.
3. And finally, “Whatever happens, the U.S. Navy is not going to be caught napping.” Frank Knox, U.S. Secretary of the Navy, December 4, 1941. As you probably know, three days later the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor killing 2,333 and wounding 1,139.
The future is never 100% certain. So, if we can’t use this passage to decifer what exactly is going to happen when Jesus returns, why do we look at it? What can we learn from this passage?
Well, conveniently enough, the passage is broken down into three segments, all of which have something very important to say to us. The first segment is found in 13:24-27. One thing we learn from this segment is that the second coming of Jesus will be accompanied by strange occurences in nature, but what does that mean? I’m sure many of us have seen strange weather before, but Jesus hasn’t come back, so there has to be something else that this segment is pointing to. I think what this part of the passage is pointing to is Jesus’ authority over all things. All of creation is awaiting his return, not just Christians. All of creation is radically affected by the second coming. In Isaiah 65, the prophet tells us that the Lord will make a new heavens and a new earth, and that the people will rejoice because it is a time of peace and intense joy. 2 Peter 3 refers to this time as one in which righteousness shall reign. Creation as it was supposed to be, will be once again.
The second segment is found in 13:28-31. Jesus tells the disciples to learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches sprout leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, if we are paying attention, we will also be ready for the second coming of Christ. I can’t say specifically what it is that we need to be watching for, but I am confident that if we continue to carve out that time in our daily routines to listen, we will understand, in God’s time, what those signs are, and we will be prepared for the Jesus’ return.
I don’t know how much I need to emphasize this point, but the simple truth is that we don’t know exactly when Jesus will return. We can interpret the signs that are given many different ways, but ultimately, it comes down to the fact that God doesn’t tell us to figure out when it is going to happen. What He does say is that we need to be prepared for it when it does happen. And that is the other major point that we can pull out of this part of the text.
Jesus closes this segment with the assurance that the earth will pass away, but his words will not. Jesus’ words will stand the test of time while all else around it does not. It is not a question of if Jesus will return; it is a matter of when it will happen. This passage doesn’t incite speculation insofar as the actuality of these events is concerned, just how and when they will come about. Jesus’ return is certain, and that is the most important thing to remember. And what’s the next most important thing to remember? It’s in the last segment, 13:32-37.
In these few verses, we are told, in this order, that the hour is unknown, to be on guard, to keep awake, that the time is unknown, to stay awake, that we don’t know when this will happen, and, again, to stay awake. Do you sense the urgency in this part of the passage? The uncertainty of the timing and the call to stay awake dominate these few verses. Now, I have a feeling that if Jesus tells us to keep/stay awake three times in the span of five verses, then maybe we should take those words to heart. Maybe he is trying to get across a significant point, and that point is that we constantly need to live in a state of preparation for his coming.
We can’t go through life just accepting things as they are and living half aware of what is going on around us. I have lived like that, I have a feeling that so many of you have as well. It’s the type of life in which you wake up every morning and just go through the routine. Nothing is special, nothing stands out – we cannot live like that.
Jesus doesn’t call us to enter into a relationship with him so that we can simply live life as we always have. Jesus’ call to us is so that we can live a new life; a redeemed life; a life of abundance. And when I say “abundance” I don’t mean that accepting Christ will automatically make you wealthy and you will never have to worry about anything ever again. A life of abundance is a life that is lived to the fullest. It is a life in which we expect Jesus’ return and live in such a way that shares the gospel with all around us.
We are people of Advent. We are people who need live each day knowing that Jesus just might come back before the day is done, and knowing this, we prepare ourselves for his coming. We celebrate Advent because Jesus has come. We celebrate Advent because Jesus is here. We celebrate Advent because Jesus will come again.