Pentecost 22A

Adv= ent 1

November 29, 2009

Rev= . Ken Wratten at St. Stephen’s, San Jose

Jeremiah 33:14-16 Jeremiah gi= ves a promise of Restoration; I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for Da= vid.

Psalm 25:1-9 O Lord, remember me according to y= our love.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 May h= e so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God= and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Jesus brings strength to restore faith

Luke 21:25-36 Be on guard; be alert at all times. Redemption will come.

Be on guard. Be alert. Something is happening!

Have you heard the ad for Brian Williams on NBC nightly news? “The world is complicated. Our job is to make sense of it. That= is what we do.” Isn’t that special?

The truth is that daily life includes events that don’t make sense, and can pull us down, and make us anxious.
War zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, with our young men and women serving as soldiers; Wall Street execs seemingly proud of insider trading abuses; Bank execs making millions per year while tens of thousands of homeowners go into bankruptcy; children and elderly dying of the H1N1 virus; violence in our streets. In the context of all the issues that can pull us down, wear us ou= t, worry us to the point of not being able to cope, what message does Advent b= ring to us?

There is a three-dimensioned meaning to the season of Ad= vent (the Latin root advenire means = to come); Jesus coming into the world as a human baby on Christmas Day, his co= ming into our hearts every day– if we will receive him, and his coming bac= k in glory to judge the world, at the end of the age. Digging into our readings today, t= here is a powerful meaning to this Advent, one that I invite you to carry in your heart throughout this season.

Jeremiah was prophet of Judah around 600 BC. King Josiah had brought reform; Kings Jehoiakim and Zedekiah reversed the reform, and allow= ed pagan worship, threatening to destroy worship of God. Judah was being squeezed between superpowers Egypt and Assyria. We don’t have an exclu= sive on anxious times. In the middle of corruption of faith and threat of war, Jeremiah wrote and preached the need for reform, that God would allow their defeat, but would bring Restoration and new life. And that is what happened. The first message of Advent is that God does bring us Restoration and new l= ife.

1 Thess: The 2 year old church was nervous and doubtful. They thought Jesus would be coming back right away. But now they were seeing their loved ones die, without Jesus’ return. They were worried what w= ould happen to those who died before Jesus came back. Paul gave them assurance; Jesus will return, and those who have died will come with him. The second message of Advent is assurance that God is who He says he is; he loves us; eternal life is a reality; and Jesus will be back to bring us to him. =

In Luke 21, Jesus gives a talk on the “end times”. There is another version of this story in Mark 13, and anothe= r in Matthew 24. All three synoptic Gospels include Jesus describing to his disciples the end times, when he will usher in the kingdom of God.

If we survey Jesus’ discussions just in Luke about= his second coming, we find;

Luke 9:26; Jesus will be asham= ed of those who are ashamed of him.

12:8; He will confess those who confess him.

12:40; He will come at an unexpected hour.

17:24; His coming is compared to fl= ashes of lightning that light up the whole sky.

17:26-30; There will be cataclysmic destruction, as in the days of Noah and Lot.

21:36; With prayer we may escape the turmoil of the end times.

Jesus clearly describes this life as only one step in our existence. In today’s reading Jesus tells his disciples that the end = of the age brings redemption; not ‘the end’, not something unknown= and scary, not more of the same as what life is like now; but redemption, which means restoration of humankind and the world itself to communion with God.<= o:p>

When those end-of-time events happen, Jesus doesn’t tell his disciples to go hide somewhere, but to “stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Jesus explains that these thin= gs are coming to an end so that something new can begin. Something new is breaking in upon = us, an advent that will save us from the harm that humans are doing to each other,= and from what humans are doing to the creation.

Advent calls for preparation and expectation to permeate everything we do. Preparation and Expectation; through the family meals we share; the travel and special times together; the service projects we work = on for the benefit of the needy; the gifts we select to communicate our caring= for each other; the awareness of this as a global holy time, regardless of anyone’s religious affiliation – this is holy time.<= /span>

Live expectantly, filling ever= y day with activities that matter, because your life is a divine mandate; and your life contributes to God’s purpose for human life. <= /p>

Scripture gives important encouragement for the faithful when the foundations of life seem to be shak= ing all around you. What gives you direction and strength when life gets especi= ally hard, or the future is just plain scary? Jesus’ words about the comin= g of the Son of Man assure us that in the worst of times he is near us, coming “with power and great glory” (21:27). The message of Jesus̵= 7; end-time discourse is the message of restoration; new life; assurance; hope; and redemption.

Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day is great cause to celebrate; God became human, born as a baby boy, brought into the world to = be one of us, to help us understand just how much God loves us.

Jesus coming into our hearts every day, if we will recei= ve him, is cause to celebrate; God lives inside us, re-making us every day int= o a new creation, empowering us to be more than we could ever become on our own= .

Jesus coming back at the end of this age is cause to celebrate; the end of countries at war, and people doing physical or psychological violence to each other, and hunger and every manner of suffer= ing. Jesus coming back will make complete God’s reign over everyone and ov= er all creation.

Today’s Scripture brings voices from 600 BC, 32 AD= and 51 AD, telling us to hold on tightly to our faith, and to understand that t= he Creator isn’t finished creating. There is a whole new created order y= et to come.

Put your gift shopping, Christmas party preparation, and Christmas spirit in the context we have looked at today. We begin a new chu= rch year today; and we begin the season of Advent; reminding us that God’s love story with humankind is about restoration, redemption, and new life. <= o:p>

Be = on guard. Be alert. Something is happening! It is Advent! Amen.