Advent 1, 2024
Jeremiah 33:14-16
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke 21:25-36
Psalm 25:1-9
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
There was a big push a few years back to return to a six-week Advent season. That’s because—back in the day—Advent was a parallel penitential season to Lent, and lasted about the same length of time. Lent and Advent were both times of preparation. And the readings we’ve had lately still match that six-week timeline. If you look at the gospel readings the last two weeks, you can see that they share a similar theme with today’s apocalyptic chaos and fear.
Two weeks ago we had the entropy-rules reading with the Temple’s destruction predicted, when I said we were living in a slow-motion apocalypse. And last week, for Christ the King Sunday, we saw Jesus on trial before Pilate just before he would be crucified at the hands of the Roman Empire. And now today we have this description of still more apocalyptic chaos and fear. So you can see how the previous two weeks fit right in with the start of Advent, which could give you the six-week Advent plan, if you were so inclined. Which I'm not.
And while outside these doors we think of Advent as a time of Christmas cheer and jolly parties, that’s not how it works in the church. The point of Advent is to remind us that we need a savior. If everything were great, we wouldn’t need a Savior. But it isn’t great. So we do need a Savior.
And so what is our takeaway from the readings the past two weeks coupled with this morning? Are we comforted? Are we encouraged? Or are we worried and living in fear? How we respond to all this doom and gloom is important. Because, as I say, it’s intended to remind us that we need a Savior. But if it makes us fall into despair, or stick our heads in the sand, then the readings haven’t done their job. So let’s start with fear.
You’re familiar with the words of Franklin Roosevelt in his first inaugural address: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. The idea of being afraid of fear is an interesting concept, isn't it? Afraid of . . . being afraid? But he was definitely on to something there. Because fear is one of the main motivators for nearly every problem in the world. Fear of those who are different is what leads us to violence, and bloodshed, and war. Fear of scarcity leads us to hoarding and selfishness and greedy consumption. Fear of harm leads us to mistrust our neighbor and turns us inward. And fear makes us divide the world into us and them, either or, insiders and outsiders. Fear takes away our ability to see nuance and find compromise. Fear is indeed something to be feared.
There’s a great couplet in a Bruce Springsteen song where he sings,
“On his right hand Billy tattooed the word love and on his left hand the word fear. And in which hand he held his fate was never clear.” Love and fear. The opposite of fear is not confidence. The opposite of fear is love. We can see the dichotomy of fear and love by looking at their fruits. Rejection or acceptance. Selfishness or generosity. Suspicion or hospitality. Fear or love.
In the reading we just heard, Jesus says “People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world.” People will faint from fear of what is coming upon the world. So what is coming upon the world? What is coming that is causing people to faint from fear? The answer is: “The Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” That is what will cause people to faint from fear. Jesus coming into the world.
So what does it mean for Jesus to come into the world? Well, we have loads and loads of answers to that in the scriptures. It means the blind will regain their sight. It means the lame will walk. It means the lepers will be healed and the deaf will hear. It means the prisoners will be set free and widows and orphans will have a home. It means the lowly will be lifted up and the mighty cast down from their thrones. It means the hungry will be fed with good things and the rich will be sent empty away. Jesus is coming to set the world right. The way God intended for it to be. The way it was before fear took hold of our hearts, and set us on these paths of self destruction.
Jesus is coming back to set the world right, and “People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world.” The world will be set right, and some people will be afraid. You know who fears that the world would be set right? The people who benefit from the world being broken, that’s who. Jesus is coming back to unplug the world and plug it back in. He’s coming back to do a hard reset on a world that has been twisted through fear into something it was never meant to be. Because God loves this created world, and God has no intention of handing it over to the powers of darkness and fear. And the only ones who are afraid of the world being made right are the ones who profit from the world being wrong. I leave it to you to fill in the blanks on that.
Jesus says, There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Wow! So what are we to do in the face of all that? Tell us, Jesus, what do you want us to do when there is distress among the nations and people are fainting with fear and foreboding and powers of heaven will be shaken? What do you want us to do?
And Jesus tells us: “Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” That’s it. Stand up and look. Watch and wait. We do not usher in the return of Jesus. And we cannot prevent the return of Jesus. He is coming back to make the world right, and our job is to watch and wait. Watch and wait without fear.
More than 120 times in the scriptures, some angel or priest or prophet or totally ordinary person says, “Do not fear!” Do not fear. 120 times. It sure seems like it’s a message God wants us to take to heart. Do. Not. Fear. And I’m back to that Springsteen lyric, “On his right hand Billy tattooed the word love and on his left hand the word fear. And in which hand he held his fate was never clear.” Love and fear.
As we begin our Advent journey together—or enter the third week, if you’re on the six week plan—we watch and we wait together. And my prayer for all of us is that we would choose love over fear. Generosity over selfishness. Acceptance over rejection. And that we would choose the world as it can be over the world as it is. Jesus is coming back. And that is good news. So let us watch and wait together, without fear.
Amen
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