Being Present with Hope

Mark 12:24-37 “In those days, after the suffering of that time, the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. 25 The stars will fall from the sky, and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Human One coming in the clouds with great power and splendor. 27 Then he will send the angels and gather together his chosen people from the four corners of the earth, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.

28 “Learn this parable from the fig tree. After its branch becomes tender and it sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that he’s near, at the door. 30 I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away. 32 “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the angels in heaven and not the Son. Only the Father knows. 33 Watch out! Stay alert! You don’t know when the time is coming.

34 It is as if someone took a trip, left the household behind, and put the servants in charge, giving each one a job to do, and told the doorkeeper to stay alert. 35 Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know when the head of the household will come, whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows in the early morning or at daybreak. 36 Don’t let him show up when you weren’t expecting and find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to all: Stay alert!”

INTRO

This week, as we come together on this first Sunday of Advent, we begin a new sermon series: The Gift of Being Present. As Series Creator, Rev. Dr. Marcia McFee writes, “Advent can be filled with worry about finding the perfect Christmas gifts. Deep down, we want people in our lives to know they are special and that we love them. But sometimes we overlook the greatest gift of all… our very presence.” Over the next four weeks, we will explore what the gift of presence looks like in different ways as we strive to be present for our friends, family, and community.

But the truth is…we have a hard time being present. We human beings are hardwired to want to know and understand all that the future holds. What does the coming year look like? What will the economy look like in the next month? What will the church look like in five years? Will I be able to retire? Will my retirement funds last? Often, thoughts of the future unnerve us. The uncertainty of the future often leaves us feeling nervous, but we also feel as though we have no control over life.

The questions keep coming: will my children and grandchildren grow up and find happiness in this unstable world? Will global warming cause irreversible damage to the planet? To regain control, we limit our ability to be present in the moment because we are so worried about the future that we feel like we should be doing something about it rather than sitting around doing nothing.

Even during “good times,” we fear the loss that may come in the future. If we know our parents are aging, it can be hard to enjoy a holiday with them even if they are good health. We become too focused on what the future will look like without them. Those experiencing grief and hopelessness now fear that no relief is in sight. This is where the disciples themselves right before the text this morning. In verse four, the disciples ask Jesus, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” The disciples like us who are looking for comfort don’t find it in Jesus’ response. The signs are in those days: the sun will darken, stars will fall, and stay alert. The time is coming!

What are we supposed to do with Jesus' apocalyptic language on this first Sunday of Advent? This doesn't sound very hopeful! If anything, we aren’t being nudged to be present in the moment…our tendencies are driving us to long, not for the future but for the past instead. We come to church on Sundays to get away from the chaos, not run head-first into it. We come to hear about deliverance, hope, joy, peace, and love…we come to worship the Christ child and to think merry, happy thoughts…this is not it! Do you hear the text screaming at you? ITS TIME TO WAKE UP!

The signs of the times, the horrors of the world, the fears we hold on to as a church and as individuals do not have the last word! There is hope! Just prior to the text today, Jesus has told the disciples about the coming destruction of the temple.

In this description of the aftermath found in our gospel lesson, Jesus is telling the disciples that things are not always what they seem. The things we perceive as stable and reliable are not always what will endure the test of time. The temple, which the disciples saw as indestructible, will be destroyed. This destroys the sense of certainty the disciples believed they had. You see, the disciples are reminded that faithfulness is not about having the future all planned out. It’s not about knowing exactly what will happen and formulating the perfect response. Rather, faithfulness is about trusting in God’s grace to provide for the mission and even to work through them despite their own needs.

You see, while our text for this first Sunday of Advent is apocalyptic in nature, the imagery of apocalyptic language is meant to speak across time and to be applied to new situations. The point of the text is not to predict a specific event in the future, such as the end of the world…but rather, it should call us to understand God’s mighty acts of salvation in the past as a framework for understanding how we as God’s people ought to respond to our current realities.

One commentary says it this way: “It turns out that the enemy is not any one empire, but all political and economic powers are liable to be co-opted by Satan. They seek their own worldly agendas at the expense of ordinary people.” It is fitting that we begin our anticipation of the birth of Christ by being exhorted to wait for his coming again. We, too, are being called to “stay alert!”

In our anticipation of Christ’s return, we walk in the footsteps of the saints who lived before Christ was born. We wait in the same way as they did. They didn’t know the day or hour when Jesus would be born. So do we not know the day or hour when Christ will return. And that is the nuance of Advent. We aren’t waiting for Christmas. We already know when Christmas is…rather, we wait on Christ.

However, this waiting is a different kind of waiting. If you stand, waiting for an Uber or taxi to arrive, you are passively waiting. You stand there, doing nothing, and wait. If you stand on the street and hear the sounds of the Christmas parade getting closer, your waiting will be transformed. You’ll be excited, anticipating the parade’s arrival. This is an active waiting. This is the kind of waiting we are called to.

How will we actively await the return of Christ? Not by looking or acting busy, Not by waiting for or counting the signs, not by predicting the future, or looking to the past; rather, our job as followers of Christ is to speak hope into the present moment, to proclaim the Good News. We are to look for Jesus in the need of those around us and to be awakened to God’s presence in response to our own need. This means we have to be living in the moment…to be present in the now!

Jesus, in Mark’s Gospel, wants his disciples, then and today, to participate in the reign of God as it is being realized in this time and in this space. How should we witness to the hope of Christ in this day in time when Israel is at war with Hamas, Russia with Ukraine, Housing cost are causing a rise in homeless in the City of Danville, Food insecurity continues to grow, and fear is rampant? According to the gospel text, it is found in being in the moment. To be in the moment means to love in the moment. The witness of the church is to be countercultural, transcendent, impatient in the face of injustice, hopeful, and justice-seeking, focused not on divisions but on breaking down the walls of separation. We are to be so countercultural that people think we are weird. People should say that the Methodists are weird, but we want what they have. They want to be a part of it.

You see, it’s easy to ignore the realities of the world. It’s easy to ignore the suffering in our own communities. One of my favorite John Wesley quotes is this, “One great reason why the rich, in general, have so little sympathy for the poor, is, because they so seldom visit them. Hence it is, that, according to the common observation, one part of the world does not know what the other suffers. Many of them do not know, because they do not care to know: they keep out of the way of knowing it; and then plead their voluntary ignorances an excuse for their hardness of heart.”

This is the Hope that the first Sunday in Advent is speaking about: we can bear witness and speak hope to situations that are going on in our world today. It is a call to awaken our hearts to the grace of God and be that grace to others that there may be hope in the world again. If we speak truth to powers, if we bear witness to God’s reign in the world, if we say no to powers and principalities and yes to God, if we commit to actively waiting for Christ’s return and doing something about the injustice and oppression of the world, then we are truly speaking God’s hope into the world. That’s the hope that we seek this Sunday. Not empty promises of the politician of the day, not I’ll certainly keep that in my prayers niceties, but active, doing, going, being, and bearing witness that true hope returns to the world.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.