First Sunday of Advent (Year C)
TEXT: Luke 21:25-36
[Jesus said:] “It will seem like all hell has broken loose—sun, moon, stars, earth, sea, in an uproar and everyone all over the world in a panic, the wind knocked out of them by the threat of doom, the powers-that-be quaking.
“And then—then!—they’ll see the Son of Man welcomed in grand style—a glorious welcome! When all this starts to happen, up on your feet. Stand tall with your heads high. Help is on the way!”
He told them a story. “Look at a fig tree. Any tree for that matter. When the leaves begin to show, one look tells you that summer is right around the corner. The same here—when you see these things happen, you know God’s kingdom is about here. Don’t brush this off: I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for this one, too—these things will happen. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out.
“But be on your guard. Don’t let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap, for it’s going to come on everyone, everywhere, at once. So, whatever you do, don’t fall asleep at the wheel. Pray constantly that you will have the strength and wits to make it through everything that’s coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man.” 1
Well, that sounds like a wake-up call, doesn’t it? That’s our gospel lesson for today, from Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Jesus’ words, in The Message version of the Bible.
I like The Message because it’s written from a 21st-century perspective—which is probably why its language is so hard-hitting. And I think Jesus’ words here are meant to hit us hard.
He is actually responding to a question his disciples asked.
You may remember this passage (Luke 21:5-7). Jesus and his friends were in the Jerusalem temple—which was a very impressive piece of architecture, “adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God.” But Jesus tells them, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
So they ask him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?”
In his reply, Jesus talks about all kinds of terrifying stuff: wars and insurrections, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and persecutions. He says that Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies, and people will have to flee to the mountains, “for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written” (Luke 21:22).
And he goes on, saying: “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:23-24).
Welcome to the first Sunday of Advent! By now, I’m sure you’re wondering what any of this has to do with Advent and Christmas. After all, our thoughts have already turned toward putting up the Christmas tree and decorating our homes. Everywhere we go, there are happy reminders that Christmas is coming. So, what’s with the doom-and-gloom gospel lesson? On this first Sunday in Advent, wouldn’t we rather hear a message about Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus? Why does the lectionary serve us up a passage like this one, today?
Well, perhaps it’s because many of us really do need a wake-up call at this time of year, when it’s so easy to become distracted. And this time of year is full of distractions, isn’t it? Shopping. Traffic jams. Endless parties. We can get so caught up in these things that we completely miss the “peace on earth and good will to all” part.
The first message of Advent is: “Wake up! Don’t miss out on the coming of Jesus.”
The season of Advent is a spiritual wake-up call. Listening to this gospel lesson, you can almost hear the alarm clock ringing.
Not only does Advent try to wake us up, but it also invites us to look around. Advent urges us to look in two directions: back upon the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem; and forward to Jesus’ return in glory. That’s why this season begins with a text about the Second Coming. From the start, Advent looks deep into the future; to the end of history, in fact.
Now, if I’m going to be faithful to what the scriptures say about Christ’s return, then the first thing I must tell you is this: nobody knows the day or the hour of his return—nobody! One of the most radical statements in the Bible is found in Matthew and Mark’s account of Jesus’ words in the temple: “… about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32).
Did you catch that? Not even Jesus knew when the end of human history would come. Only the Father knows.
But we want to know, too … don’t we? And so, we try to figure it out. Lots of people focus on Jesus’ words in today’s text: “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all [these] things have taken place” (Luke 21:32).
Writers like Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye and many others have supposed that Jesus was speaking about the generation which saw the reconstitution of the state of Israel in 1948. That’s why—in 1970—Hal Lindsey wrote a book entitled The Late Great Planet Earth. On its pages, Lindsey cobbled together prophetic passages from the Old and New Testaments and came up with a prediction that Christ would return by the year 1988. The book sold over 28 million copies.
Of course, when 1988 came and went and Christ did not return, Lindsey merely adjusted his numbers to buy a few more years (and sell a few more books). Well over a quarter-century later, we’re still waiting.
Likewise, the psychic Jeane Dixon—who apparently correctly predicted the assassination of John F. Kennedy—asserted that an apocalyptic “war of Armageddon” would occur about the year 2020. More recently, the physicist Frank J. Tipler has asserted that the Second Coming of Christ will occur by 2057. Perhaps the clock is still ticking.
Why do we worry about stuff like this? Some people focus on prophecies and predictions because they want to prove that the Bible is true. They think that—if they can show that the Bible in fact predicted something that would happen 2,000 years later—then people will pay attention to it.
But, look: the Bible does not need proofs to make it true. The Bible reveals God to us in Jesus Christ—and that is what makes it true. I also have to tell you this: I believe that the events Jesus predicted did in fact come to pass. In the year 70 A.D., the Roman army invaded Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and made the earth shake with violence. Jesus warned his disciples that life in this time would be difficult for God’s people—and that certainly was the truth.
Personally, I think we’ve been living in the last days for about 2,000 years. Christ could return at any time, my friends. It could be next week. It could be this afternoon. Or it could take another 2,000 years. No one knows for sure. It seems like a long time to us, but even 4,000 years is hardly a blip on God’s radar.
In any case, I hope none of you are consumed by anxiety over all this. Did you notice that our gospel lesson actually contains words of hope? There are many who want to use the sights and sounds of the apocalypse to scare people—to scare us into faith. However, this is not our Lord’s way. Instead, Jesus tells us: “Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
Do you hear that? In the midst of tragedy—in the midst of war and rumours of war; in the midst of oppression and poverty, tsunamis and superstorms and earthquakes, rioting and protest, autocratic political leaders and fulminating dictators—in the midst of our own personal losses, we can raise our heads and look for the Lord because he is near. That is the message of Advent.
In the beginning God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Where was God? In the darkness.
Moses went up into the darkness that covered Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Where was God? In the midst of the darkness.
On Easter morning, while it was still dark, Jesus rose from the dead. Where was God? In the darkness before the dawn.
Advent is a season in which we remember that we are people of hope. We sing to Emmanuel because God is with us. When we are lost in any kind of darkness, Advent reminds us that we are not alone. The God of hope is with us. Jesus warns us not to get distracted by the cares of this world. Lift up your eyes. Lift up your hearts. Look heavenward, because—even in the worst of times—our Lord comes to us.
When you get right down to it, that’s really all the scriptures say about the end time: no one knows when it will come, but it does come, and—because God is present in it—it is a time of hope.
We should not pay attention to the doomsayers who would attach a date and time to Jesus’ return. However, we should prepare for his coming—and we should pay a lot of attention to how we prepare for it. We can prepare by living out our faith each day: living it out with a sense of urgency.
We all realize that the celebration of Christmas has changed over the years. What started out as a season of hope and promise and joy and peace has turned into a time of stress, and crowds, and shopping lists. And when it’s all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take us months to pay off, and an empty feeling of having missed something.
But … what if we prepared differently this year? Not long ago, I heard about a project called the “Advent Conspiracy.” That sounds kind of sinister, but it’s really not. The purpose of the Advent Conspiracy is to bring a deeper meaning to Christmas. On its website,2 it lists four guiding principles: “Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All.”
In a nutshell, the idea behind the Advent Conspiracy goes like this: What if we bought one less Christmas gift this year? You know: the sweater that will never be worn, the candle that will never be lighted, or the knickknack that will get returned the day after Christmas. And what if we took the money saved by not buying that gift, and gave it to help someone in need?
Since Christmas began with a group of people who worshipped Christ, what if we conspired together to begin this season of preparation by engaging fully in worship? What if we conspired to buy less? What if we conspired to give more? What if we conspired to love each other?
See how this works? It’s simple. It’s not easy—but it is simple. If you have a conflict with a family member or friend, offer forgiveness and seek reconciliation as quickly as possible. Don’t let it simmer inside of you until it poisons your whole outlook on life and makes it uncomfortable to be around that person. Live peacefully with each other.
Imagine what a positive difference that would make in our lives—and in our world. The Advent Conspiracy is designed to help us live well as we anticipate the coming of Christ.
Just like today’s gospel reading, the Advent Conspiracy gives us a wake-up call. As the Apostle Paul wrote: “… you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light” (Rom. 13:11-12).
That’s good advice for the start of this Advent season. So, let’s do it! Let’s wake up, be alert, and stay on guard. Lift up your eyes to the Lord and stand up to face him, for your redemption is at hand. Thanks be to God.
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1 Luke 21:25-36, from The Message Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.
2 http://www.adventconspiracy.org/