Advent week 1

Advent 2024 – Hope

Good morning, Pearland Vineyard,

Thank you

My name is Shane Sullivan. I have had the privilege of meeting many of you over the last year, since my family and I have been here, and I want to thank you all for giving us such a warm welcome as One River Vineyard has walked through a transition phase. You all have been extremely welcoming and caring both to our fellow Vineyard members and to my immediate family as well. This is something I have come to rely on. I would expect nothing less from a Vineyard church. So again, I just wanted to say thank you all very much. For those of you I have not met, let’s consider this our introduction.

Introduction about me

A little about me; I’m married to a wonderful woman named Charise, and we have 5 great kids. Most of whom are running around here today. A few weeks ago, I became a grandpa for the first time…That will make you feel old. We started our journey with the Vineyard around 15-20 years ago. Charise grew up in a pretty charismatic church home and I grew up in the Roman Catholic Church. So, as you might expect neither of us wanted to go to church in the others home church. We surfed around for a while and after moving and crazy work schedules agreed on the Vineyard Church in Duluth. The people were lovely and the climate is unbelievably cold. After bouncing around a few places for work and school we settled in Houston. Shortly thereafter we were part of the original church plant from Houston Vineyard to plant One River Vineyard. I was the associate pastor for the first 6-7 years, then with Covid and Rob passing away I took over the church as Senior pastor. We are at present, in a bit of a transition and have been meeting with you all for the last several months. So again, thank you for your warmth and hospitality. I also work as a Chaplin for the Pearland police department for the last 10-11 years and have worked with NOLA Vineyard in their Mercy Response program through out the south. I met some of you all for the first time in Harvey. But Charise and I have been working with them for some time.

I really love to study scripture and help people. When I say study, I mean I like to read the kinds of things that bore the general population to death. I have an affinity for ancient Mesopotamian literature and early church history. I know fun stuff. But I also like for follow the path where ever it leads. I read exclusively non-fiction. But I like how to books, manuals. Again, stuff that just bores most people to no end.

Toilet paper

In the last few months Charise and I were in the bathroom cleaning. I was putting toilet paper on the roll. She looked over to correct me and to her surprise it was on the right way. She commented as much and I said. I know, I was online at the US patent office and I read the blue prints for the original patent on the toilet and accessories. She looked at me with astonishment. What she said was “Of course you did.” What she meant was “You’re this close to a jacket with no holes in the sleeves.”

Over the last number of years Kurt and I have struck up a genuine friendship, he’s really a remarkable man. He’s allowed me to come and speak to you all about Advent today.

Liturgical calendar, Advent, Text

I typically start messages by explaining the history of what we’re going to look at and then transitioning into the text itself, so bear with me. Today we’re going to start with an explanation of the liturgical calendar. After that explanation we will move on to Advent specifically. We’ll finish up with a chat about the texts we have today for our first week of Advent which is about “Hope”.

Conversational

Now before we get started, I want to say that I run a service a little differently than you may be used to. I have come to believe that the early church services were much more conversational. There was often a dialogue that ensued following the reading of scripture or a letter. Like today, in the early church, we were all really just trying to work this stuff out. What does it all mean? How do we live life and follow Jesus.

To that end, I’m all for conversation during the message. If you have a question, raise your hand. I’ll repeat it for the folks at home and then we can discuss it. Because I read weird stuff I occasionally pop in with some random factoid. If you need clarity about something I say, don’t be shy just tell me I’m off the track and I’ll circle back and clarify. This is not meant to be a presentational. It’s mean to be interactive. It’s a family meal, and we’re just chatting with each other.

Avent is Baptism

This is one of my favorite times of year. We’ve come to know it as the Christmas season. But would it surprise you to know that’s not the original mark that we chose to celebrate at this time? The first iteration of this season was used as a time to help people focus in on their upcoming baptism. Originally, Advent was 40 days long. It was a way for us to use practices and scripture to help people focus in on their decision to choose Jesus and to make a public declaration of their choice through baptism.

In this advent season, we will see what the Vineyard calls the “Already and the Not Yet”. For those who are visiting or are newer to The Vineyard, this is inside baseball for our understanding of where we fit in the Kingdom of Yahweh. Jesus has ALREADY come. We have been given power by his gift of the Holy Spirit. Ken spoke about this a few weeks ago. But we’re still waiting for the conclusion of all Yahweh’s holy works to be completed on this earth. This is the Not-yet. We exist in the time in-between. We see Jesus’ birth and prophecies about his life. We also see the incoming Kingdom and the world as it will be one day.

We’re going to start this conversation by talking about the liturgical calendar, so that we can move on to Advent, which again, is one of my favorite seasons.

Who knows what I mean when I say “High church” and “low church”?

……

High church and low church are not value judgements. They’re simply descriptors for churches that have more formal or less formal services.

High churches are; the Roman Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans and those of similar style.

They are, unequivocally the older organized versions of the Christian celebration of our faith. Like all churches, they’re full of people. So, they have their good and bad spaces. But I want you to go back with me in time if you will. Let’s pretend for a minute that it’s somewhere after the end of scripture, but before Christianity became an officially sanctioned religion. You’re just hearing about Jesus and this thing called “Christianity”. The times covered in the Bible have just concluded. A friend of yours has come to you and told you this wonderful message of Hope that is Jesus. This tale of a king sent from God above to walk with us personally. He’s here to create a cultural shift and bring the whole world into alinement. The message sounds wonderful, but you want to know more. Where do you go? What do you do? Who do you talk to?

You would have been directed to a local ecclesia (gathering). Often small gatherings of believers for a meal (Communion), a time of worship, often Hymns or Psalm reading. Then a member of the congregation would read a scripture.

About the Bible

The Bible as we know it was largely canonized, or put together if you prefer modern parlance, as we have it today. But most people, most church communities, didn’t own a bible. In fact, a Bible would not be a book at all, it would have been a series of scrolls. The first known book form of the bible wasn’t produced until the mid-4th Century. It would be over a thousand years after that, before it would be printed in mass quantities like we have today. Can you even imagine this, when today we so easily have access to a bound Bible and many of us even have electronic versions on our phones.

illiterate

At that time, most of the population was illiterate. Studies show as much as 90% of people in some areas could not read, so having access to scripture wouldn’t really help anyway. How would you get the information contained in the Bible out to believers in this situation? The church, which was largely united at the time came up with a plan. Something that worked with the education level of the people the church currently had as members, and those it was trying to reach. It created something called a liturgy. Liturgy is a fancy word, meaning the order of service. It was a way we would organize a service.

They introduced colors which would have had meaning to peoples at the time. These colors would change through out the year to let people know what season the church was currently in. They also introduced small pictures of biblical characters and biblical scenes. These are called Icons. Most churches contained a cross in reference to Jesus and the power and meaning that object has to us. They introduced incenseto add smells. Later on, as Christianity began to gain enough prominence to have their own buildings, the shape and orientation of early churches were designed to help point people to Jesus. We shaped them like modified versions of the Holy of Holies. Which, as you may remember from OT readings was the setup that Yahweh ordered the Hebrews to create, in order to keep the Arc of the Covenant, which contained a piece of His essence. Churches intentionally faced East so that members prayed toward Jerusalem, and because they believed that when Jesus returns, he will come in the East. (show the stuff)

Liturgical church services were crafted, quite intentionally, so that everyone was welcome. There was no barrier to entry based on gender or race or culture. This doesn’t shock most people today, but at the time it was revolutionary. Religious gatherings were often segregated by gender with women on one side and men on the other. In many traditions, more culturally prominent individuals were seated up front closer to the action. But not in early Christianity, everyone was welcome. The rich and the poor sat together at the table and had a meal and talked as equals. I think even today this is something we can struggle with culturally. In modernity we can often appeal to our preferred people groups; race, gender, personal preferences. Interestingly this was an argument that the Apostle Paul saw going on in his day as well. He wrote;

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Early services were crafted specifically to unify, not segregate.

In order to make sure that all followers of Christ heard the full gospel, or as much of it as possible, early church fathers crafted a reading plan set on a three-year cycle. They covered the entire bible in those 3 years. A family would attend service every day, not just on Sundays, and each day a brief reading was given. In that way, everyone could hear the entirety of the bible in those three years. Not every day was a full service, but the readings were available, if the church had them. With as limited as the scrolls were, most of the time any given church did not have all of the scrolls. They were traded amongst local churches and copied, so that each individual church could maximize the scripture available. Being accessible to the masses and unity amongst believers was of the chief importance to the early church.

As Christians and people of Vineyard we place a high priority on prayer and on the works of the Spirit. Can you imagine the power and wonders of Yahweh, to have all His people reading or hearing the same scriptures and praying the same prayers at the same time throughout the Christian world, every day all year long? There is power in unity. It’s one way Jesus changed the world.

It’s no wonder that a group of semi-literate Rabbinical cast outs, who came to be known as the Apostles, who were unwelcome almost everywhere they went, were able to lead a movement that gathered more people to Jesus than any other faith on the planet.

This is how Jesus conquered the world. Not with swords or earthly power, but with the power and fruits of the Spirit like Hope and Love. Not with Armies or Kings, but with slaves and the lowborn, farmers, and day workers sitting as equals with merchants and the wealthy. Jesus is the only god to reach down from His throne to touch the individual lives of all humanity. Not just a select few.

This is Hope. This is the power of Jesus.

As previously stated, The liturgical calendar is a is a three-year cycle that changes just before Advent every year so that everyone in the church has A) a study guide, and B) can hear or read the entire bible over the course of the cycle. Now adays there are many “Read the bible in a year” programs available. This was the first, and the only one available for over a thousand years. It was created, not just for one’s own personal edification, but also to create spiritual unity across the church world. The same readings, the same prayers, the same songs, every day, across the entirety of the world. In every nation, in every tribe, in every tongue. Or at least that was the original goal. We were of course, limited by our earthly travel at the time, but that’s another message.

I think there’s a larger message for the modern church here. Not just in our call for unity. But in the heroic measures taken by the early church to make Jesus known to anyone who was seeking him.

Any questions about the liturgical calendar?

OK, on to Advent. Who knows or remembers what Advent means?

…

It’s a $5 Latin word that means “Arrival”. What Arrival are we talking about? The short answer is Jesus. But as I said at the beginning, Advent was not originally started for modern day Christmas. The arrival that was being heralded initially was not, exclusively our saviors’ birth. In fact, Advent started hundreds of years prior to the first known “Christ Mass” celebrating his birth which was in 1021. So what arrival were they originally talking about. Because those of us that have been around the church for a while know that Jesus already came, but promised to return.

Advent celebrates and reflects on Jesus’ birth and life. And also, on his promised return.

We just had several (?) members of our family baptized today. Advent was originally designed to help them along their way to make this choice. It was also designed to help us as their church family, come alongside them and help them reflect on this upcoming decision. This season focuses on themes like Hope, Peace, Love and Joy. But the overarching idea is understanding the Already-Not-Yet of the Kingdom of Yahweh.

Jesus has accomplished many, most even, of his earthly works. But there’s still more to come. And we live in that time. The time in between. Where the Kingdom of God has broken into this world. But it’s not yet fully realized.

As we begin to celebrate this Christmas season. I invite you all to take a step back. Remember the works that Jesus has accomplished in this world. And the work he’s still to do. As much as this is a time for celebration, it is a time for reflection. This is the time to walk with those new to our faith and help them begin to see the fullness of the Kingdom, both on earth, and in Heaven.

As I mentioned before, Christmas as a holiday began to take its place in this celebration around the year 1000 AD. I suspect that’s because the themes for the season are so similar. Now is the time that we’ll have many visitors to the existing churches. Now is where those of us practicing our faith can come along side the newcomers and help them understand the gifts of Jesus and the blessing he is to our world.

In our modern age people are desperately looking for an alternative to many of the mainstream narratives that permeate our lives. Jesus is the embodiment of that counter cultural narrative. He said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light..”

We all need rest from the burden of life. Jesus is that rest, whether we look at this season as a prelude to baptism, or a celebration of the birth of our LORD. The message is the same thing here.

Ok, are we ready to get started on the text. I see a few people asleep in the back there.

We’re going to look at Luke 21:25-36

In a minute I’m going to have someone come up and read the text. But first I want to do a little background on this section so that we can fully understand what this conversation is about. This takes place towards the end of the book of Luke. In fact, the very next chapter is when Jesus gets betrayed and arrested. He and the boys, the disciples, are in Jerusalem and have been teaching on the streets and in the temple for quite a bit at this point.

They’re all walking through the city and the boys start to comment on the Temple. This would have been the second temple built in Jerusalem after the first diaspora, or dispersing of Israel. The temple was huge, and beautifully adorned with jewels.

This is before photographs. It’s before world travel, it’s before Instagram. This was hands down, the most magnificent building these country boys would have ever seen. They would have been acutely, culturally and religiously, aware that it took 80 years or more to build. This building was the center of the Jewish faith at the time. When they’re having this chat, they would have known that at this point in history, it had only been finished for around 15 years. (these dates are argued). But it’s something close to this.

So, they’re having this chat. They’re talking about how wonderful and beautiful and magnificent the temple is. How proud Yahweh must be of this accomplishment. But then Jesus chimes in and says. ”Oh ya, guess what. It’s all coming down. Not one stone will be left on another. “

Well, what’s the first thing the boys ask? In true form, When. When, Jesus will this happen?

Jesus them launches into a monologue. Which is the whole of this chapter.

Now, Jesus in his truest form is a Jewish Rabbi. He is a teacher. But he doesn’t teach in a form that is commonly understood by our modern mind. Jewish Rabbi’s teach with something called Jewish Rhetoric. It’s a style of teaching where you tell stories, respond with other questions. He would generally try to get the Apostles and his followers to figure things out for themselves. This gets our modern minds into trouble, because we’re often trying to reinterpret the stories and make direct answers out of it.

The boys ask him when, when will this happen Jesus. The answer they want is “well I’m thinking Friday around noon.” What he responds with is 27 verses long. He tells them this long draw out heavy story and a parable about trees. 1 for 1 answers is not Jesus’ way of teaching.

Do you know how many direct questions Jesus was asked in the Gospels? 183

Do you know how many he answered? 3

This is a clue about the text we’re about to read.

Have someone read”

There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

29 He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

The New International Version. Zondervan, 2011, p. Lk 21:25–36.

Have you all seen this graphic before?

(Show hyperlink chart).

This is a chart that shows all the links between the different direct verses in scripture.

I absolutely love the bible. It is the most beautiful library ever produced by humanity. Did you know the Bible is not a book? It is 66 books all working beautifully together which is why I called it a library. I don’t care what your opinion on the authority of scripture is, from a purely literary perspective, it is completely unrivaled. Its continuity is flawless. Its themes are beautiful and often poetic. It is the single greatest document or series of documents of all time.

I’m making a point here, because I think all too often, we’re prone to taking excerpts of scripture either out of context, or we read them in isolation of each other. When we do this it often causes misunderstandings, or misinterpretations.

How many of you all are readers? No shame, much of my life I didn’t care for it. It took a long time for me to develop a taste for reading. I had to find the subject matter that really spoke to me before I was able to enjoy reading.

I read a book at some point; I think in college. It was called Le’ Morte’ De Arthur. Has anyone here read it before? It’s considered to be the seminal work on Arthurian legend. (king Arthur and knights of the round table.) See for those of you that didn’t know Arthurian lore was not a one-shot deal. The tales of this guy and his friends unfolded over roughly 800 years. And over a dozen countries. Then in the 15th century this guy named Sir Thomas Mallory took all these legends and cobbled them together to make this book. It’s considered brilliant. A literary master piece. Has anyone read it?

It’s absolutely garbage. There’s a ton of inside baseball. Where if you’re not familiar with other legends it doesn’t make sense. There are characters that die in the first chapter that show up again in the tenth chapter with a wife and kids. There’s a guy in the 3rd chapter that dies of old age. He shows up again around the 13th chapter as a teenager. It’s just a mess. I’m not criticizing, I’m really not. I’m under no illusion I could have done any better.

But when you compare something like this, a book considered Genius by modern scholarship, to the stories we have in the bible, the Bible just shines through like no other. It becomes clear to anyone that has read both books there is divinity in the pages. The bible moves and blends together in ways we just don’t see anywhere else.

Let’s go back to the chart.

Most of us in this room have a bible in one form or another. You’ve probably noticed at the end of certain sentences there’ll be a letter or number and if you go down to the bottom of the page it links to another verse somewhere else in the bible. This chart shows all the places that happens. This is the single most interconnected library in human history. It frequently refers backward and forward to itself.

It’s great. It helps those of us without a perfect memory make correlations and associations across the many books and themes of scripture. When we’re able to examine these links more fully It paints a picture of the full nature of Jesus’ message to us.

What it doesn’t do very well, is show us the links in scripture that are more paraphrased or slightly rearranged. Jesus was famous for this. Because he was showing us how he was the fulfillment of those scriptures. He didn’t always use word for word pieces of the OT. This is that Jewish Rhetoric I was speaking about.

Have any of you ever had a friend that was just a magnitude smarter than you? Someone that, never made you feel stupid, but when you walked away from a conversation with them you just knew they understood things your mind will never grasp?

I get the feeling, reading the Gospels that the boys felt like that a lot. Can you imagine being a 15–19-year-old (effectively) child, hearing Jesus tell you the verses that we just read?

I’m going to do something I don’t usually do here, and start in the middle. There’s a key piece of the story here that often stands out for those of us that have read this before.

Many of us have been taught to read this as what we call end times prophecy. We’ve been taught that all this is yet to come and that we’re in for a rough road.

Now, I’m not here to rework your theology on the end times. That requires a fuller conversation. What I will say is this is not the section to hang your hat on. It is important to always read the Bible first considering what it meant to the audience it was written for and then applying that wisdom to our lives today.

Let’s start with the proverbial elephant in the room. Jesus is coming back in power and Glory and he’s riding in on the clouds. That’s how we’ll know it’s the beginning of the end. Right? Isn’t that what he’s saying?

Well, Let me read you something from the book of Daniel 7:13–14. This is unfortunately not one of the hyperlinked texts. So the connection is a little harder to find. But trust me it’s there.

In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, o coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Wait a minute, I thought Jesus was coming back to earth. Here he’s being led into the throne room of Yahweh, the Ancient of Days. Where he receives his power and glory. Boy this sounds a lot like the glorification of Jesus we see through out scripture upon his resurrection.

Well what about the earthquakes and eclipse? Those are all well documented to have occurred between 45-75AD.

Jesus says here, in vs 32 that all this will happen in this current generation. This part of the prophecy has passed. It’s done.

This is where we see one of those Hyperlinks. In Luke Jesus says after all these things the kingdom of God is near. But let’s jump to Mark 1. The very first words Jesus says in that Gospel.

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Mk 1:14–15.

Tim Mackie is a theologian I like and have listened to for years. He says “the bible was written for us, but not too us. “

This is one of those sections. Jesus really is speaking to the Apostles. All of this takes place in their lifetimes.

This is one of the prophecies we get to sit back and marvel at the fulfillment of.

Our Hope is in Jesus. We maintain a fulfilled hope that Jesus was who he says he was. And did what he told us he did. It’s not all over. There are still miles to go before the final curtain. But Jesus did not leave us with this fret of impending doom looming over us. He’s coming back to collect as many of us as we’ll allow.

What does it mean, practically, to have Jesus as our hope?

What is hope?

Hope is a desire or expectation for a specific thing to happen.

What are we expecting to have happen? How are we expecting Jesus to interact with us? Now is an excellent time to work this out.

We are fresh on the close of a very contentious political event. Half(ish) of the people in the country are displeased with the outcome.

Of those some HOPE for failure. Some of the people associated with the victorious party HOPE for a specific outcome from our new leader.

I would posit that as Christians, none of this is where we should place our HOPE.

Martin Luther posited a maxim that many Lutherans still use today. Sola Fide – salvation is found in Christ alone. That is our one true hope.

Now is the time of year for quite reflection, study and sharing the love and hope of Jesus with others.

In the beginning of this section Jesus starts with a cosmic landscape. He tells of signs in the sun, the moon and the stars. We’re taught in modernity to look for an astronomical event. Something like a supernova, or shooting stars. Something Apocalyptic.

But let’s reframe this through the eyes of the first century reader or hearer. This is not how they used astronomy. In their world, one would not look for such events.

Signs in the stars had a much more practical meaning. They used the skies to navigate from one point of earth to another.

We have to remember this was before GPS and other navigation devices. “Signs in the stars” was a practical statement.

He did continue on to describe a cataclysmic event. But not the one at the end of humanity. Jesus was talking about his death and resurrection. He knew that by his death the very framework of human navigation would be shifted.

There would no longer be a space for separation by race, life station, nationality, or political appointment. Jesus would rework our global navigation system. He would die, and assume his power in the throne room of Yahweh.

He was telling the boys, the Apostles and disciples, to be on guard against what would immediately become a very tumultuous future.

Historically, we can verify all of this as truth.

But to us so many generations in the later, this is just further proof of his fulfillment of scripture.

As Christians we have hope, for this time and for the future of humanity.

Jesus gave us these words to show of his upcoming crucifixion and resurrection. Which was a constant theme he spoke of. His words tell us that the Kingdom of God has come near. We’re living in the Already and the Not-Yet of His kingdom.

Hope, is the light of our faith. It’s only through this Hope that we can share our faith with others and help welcome them into the kingdom. This is the true meaning of Advent, and this is the true arrival.

This is the message of Christmas. Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life. One which he used to point us all to the true Kingdom of Yahweh. He promised that our salvation would come by his earthly end. And that he would be back at the end of time to reunify heaven and earth as the original entity Yahweh created, making the entire earth into a state of perfection like the Garden in the opening verses of Genesis.

This is the time of year for us all to come together in celebration for Jesus upcoming birthday service. But it’s also a time to reflect and help others see the fuller picture of the ongoing mission of Jesus.

There’s an Ancient prayer that the church has used for the last 1500 years. I think it encapsulates the spirit of Baptism, unity, hope and Christmas all in one.

Glory be to the Father,

and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now,

and ever shall be,

world without end. Amen