Pressing On Into Advent
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25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
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Get Into The Word
Luke does believe in the “second coming” of Jesus, and I do too… but I’m not sure that this passage is totally about just that. It seems Luke is more concerned with vindicating Jesus and rescuing the people of Jerusalem from the system that has oppressed them for so long. Concerning Advent, The United Methodist Book of Worship, states the following: “The season proclaims the comings of the Christ—whose birth we prepare to celebrate once again, who comes continually in Word and Spirit, and whose return in final victory we anticipate.”1
And, how do you make sense of an event which involves armies round a city, the roaring of the sea, the coming of the son of man on clouds, and the arrival of the kingdom of God? All going to happen within a generation of when Jesus was actually speaking.?
One thing to do is look at context… what was Jesus talking about here? Look at what he was talking about just b efore this… Luke 21.20-24
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Everything Jesus has said up to this point fits together. He’s talking about a great crisis that is coming, and Israel- Jerusalem in particular- is going to be held accountable for the failure to repent and be the kingdom of God. There’s a disastrous result coming.
Here, in the passage we’ve read today, Jesus is using a phrase “signs in the sun, moon and stars” that essentially means that the earth and it inhabitants are going through convulsions- it might be political… or it might be natural events.... but things are going to happen. He’s drawing from Isaiah 61 to tell us something to be feared is up.
Anyone living in the roman empire during the years 60-70 Ad would have understood this. Nero rules until his suicide in AD 68, then there are 4 successive emperors that followed him in quick succession each taken out by their own army. So much for the peace of Rome! The entire known world at the time would have collectively shaken at these events… and it fits Jesus’ narrative in Luke 21:25-26
25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
you’ve got to stick with the context here. Many people alive in Jerusalem at the time all of this was happening had become believers in Jesus almost a generation ago. We are almost 35 years out from the crucifixion of Jesus when Luke writes his gospel. They have been waiting for the return of Jesus. Acts 1:11 They are older, perhaps more confused by the events of their day, but they are waiting and praying and hoping that the Savior is returning.
Instead, they’re watching the Roman empire fall apart and eventually their Jerusalem destroyed… they were an odd people in this circumstance!
In the middle of all of this… these believers in Jesus continued to meet and break bread and worship in His name. They continued to teach each other the stories of what he’d done and said… and they taught their children. But his coming wasn’t coming! Drawing from Jesus’ own words, and Luke drawing from a passage in Daniel 7:13-14, the coming of the Son of Man (Jesus) had to be at the door!
A strange man named Paul, an ex-Pharisee had been here not long ago. Some of them knew him as Saul of Tarsus… and his presence as a believer in Christ had caused a riot. But still, Christ wasn’t coming.
And, frankly, their Christian faith was becoming somewhat of a repetitive drag. If the gospel was making news anywhere, it wasn’t in Jerusalem. It was happening everywhere but here. The return of Christ wasn’t happening.
There were stories of conversions across the sea- but there wasn’t a 24 hour news cycle so the reports were sparse. Friends who weren’t believers asked them where their Jesus was- because the way things were they could sure use his appearance now. To tell them that they had to be patient wasn’t cutting it… to tell them the worship in their house churches was delightful was no help… 35 years was 35 years! And Jesus hasn’t returned!
Does this sound familiar to you?
And Luke knows it. Look at what he says.
34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Don’t get weighed down. Don’t give up. STay awake. pray. pray for strength. pray for perseverance. Pray. wait. wait. Prop your eyes open with toothpicks. Be alert. Hang on. What’s coming is going to require strength… pray for it. The Son of Man will be vindicated, and when that happens you will want to be on your feet. But...
They were getting weighed down.
They were losing patience.
They were finding it hard to persevere.
They were falling asleep.
Strength was waning.
You know. And Luke has Jesus saying, “if you want to stand at my return, you gotta be ready”.
Oh, I forgot. Context. Luke came through Jerusalem about 60 AD. He had gone on to rome… and the writings stop. That’s because the persecutions of Nero had started. Paul’s put in jail, Christians were persecuted… peter, james, others are murdered.. And the Jerusalem Christians had it tough.
Then the destruction of Jerusalem takes place.
And it would have been hard to stay faithful. to pray . to wait with patience. To be ready to stand before the Son of Man when he returns.
36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
God alone stands, and God establishes goodness and gives standing to the righteous.
The only reason we can stand is because God enables us to stand.
The place of standing is before God as God grants mercy and forgives sins.
Standing is not arrogance, it is recieving mercy and forgiveness.
Even though people fall, or others judge them, their master can make them stand. They should strive to do so (Lk. 21:36). Standing is oriented to God’s act in Christ.
The bottom line:
A Faith That Perseveres Builds a Faith That Stands (abides)
A Faith That Perseveres Builds a Faith That Stands (abides)
For us, the fall and destruction of Jerusalem, as bad as it was at the time, sort of pales in significance to the crises we have faced in recent history. And so, it tends to be thought of as relatively insignificant by us.
We’ve seen 2 world wars. Several other regional wars. We’ve had tsunamis, earthquakes, and assassinations. We’ve known destruction too. And now we have had a pandemic. And that’s the reason we, people of faith, have to respond to our world in faith. Jesus invites us to peace- and we offer that peace to our world- and no matter how long they reject the invitation, and no matter how certain to reject it will lead to disaster- it’s our responsibility to continue to offer it. And its our job to be patient and prayerful in the meanwhile.
And it’s hard to do. The world looks at us and says, “If your Jesus is so special, then why are things in such a mess?” Think racism, think hate groups, think synagogue and night club shootings. Think the pandemic of 2020.
Our friends think going to church is strangely odd. Christianity is outdated, unproven, boring and irrelevant.
And oh, yeah, you Christians have some pretty ugly things in your time, you know. The inquisition . The Crusades. Participation in slavery and segregation.
And they don’t want to hear about Africa University, or hospitals, or orphanages, or schools in other lands. They’re bored by missionary stories and slide shows.
And they want to load you with their criticisms of the faith much as they did in the time of Jerusalem AD68. They want to become the living proposition of Luke 21:34.
34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.
And we become weighed down. perhaps literally with dissipation or drunkenness, or at least metaphorically. And it becomes difficult to stand… to abide… in the faith.
It becomes difficult to study the book that builds our faith. It becomes hard.
And the answer for us is the same as it was for Jerusalem Christians 30 years after Jesus. Luke 21.36
36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Pray.
Pray for strength.
Pray you can stand, abide.
And Keep alert. I told you this would happen.
10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness.
How do we bear witness? Stand. Abide in Him.
Pray.
Be Patient.
wait.
Because a faith that perseveres builds a faith that stands (abides).
We were told it would be this way. Our eyes and minds are tired. Spiritual and mental exhaustion are near. Physically you’ve outspent yourself. And the answer is not more caffeine.
It’s more prayer.
more hope.
more scripture.
more sacraments.
more witness.
day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year. Until he returns.
That is why patience is a fruit of the spirit.
That patient faithfulness, that persevering in the midst of the worst circumstances does something. It builds our faith into a faith that is able to abide- to stand. Please note what Jesus said- that patient faithfulness is an abiding in the persecution- but it builds a standing or abiding before the Lord Jesus.
Patience is a fruit of the spirit. But it’s built by choice. By choosing in the toughest of circumstances to remain faithful. To the end.
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
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And all of this culminates in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70… something we know occurred, and it directly relates to everything Jesus has said to this point about a coming disaster.