Advent

Welcome to Advent

I love the anticipation that comes with receiving something. Waiting on Rylee to be born

Welcome to Advent. This is the time of the year that the Christian calendar begins it’s new year. While the secular world is drawing to a close, we in the church begin again. I have always loved this time of the year even before I knew what Advent was. I love the smells, the sights, the sounds, and the time with family. I love the way the world stops to remember a baby born in a manger to a couple scared and amazed at the same time. This is the season of Christmas, but our scripture reading and this passage out of Luke don’t seem to fit that theme. This is a text that I have wrestled with. Ask Henry. He will tell you how I have gone back and forth on what to preach this morning.

Ok, I have stalled enough. Let’s dive in.

I say that to say this; we are entering the Advent season. Normally Advent is centered around 4 themes: Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love. Our text, if I were to put it into one of those four categories, would fall under Hope, but just barely. This isn’t a grouping of texts that is typically read at this time of the year because it has nothing to do with the birth of Christ. In fact, it comes at the end of his life just before he is crucified.

Ok, I have stalled enough. Let’s dive in.

The New Revised Standard Version The Coming of the Son of Man

The Coming of the Son of Man

(Mt 24:29–31; Mk 13:24–27)

25 “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. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 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, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), .

I said that this text was an odd choice for advent. Most of what is preached this time of the year recounts the birth story, either Mary’s or her cousin, Elizabeth. Those stories are telling of what will come through the birth that they will give, one to proclaim the message, and one to be a fulfillment of that message. This text comes from the end of Jesus’ ministry and has a very different tone, but it is a message worth telling.

Advent is about the coming of the Christ-child, but it is also about so much more than that. It should serve as a reminder that Christ’s mission is yet to be fulfilled.

On the surface this text is a sign of what will come at the end of the age. However, it recalls us to the sign that occured at the beginning of Jesus’ story. The star over the stable marked where Heaven came down and joined the dirt of Earth. It signified a shift in law and power. The image that Jesus describes is effectively doing the same thing, albeit in more bombastic language.

The New Revised Standard Version The Lesson of the Fig Tree

29 Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30 as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that 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 tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

This is the messiah that the Jews have been wanting and waiting for; a messiah that utterly destroys anyone who gets in the way of their freedom of oppression. This was what they were waiting for; and yet what they got was the opposite.

This text comes at the end of an apocalyptic section at the end of Luke that doesn’t seem to fit the gospel narrative and instead sounds like something from the Prophets. Here Jesus is telling his disciples what to expect and to not waver under the pressure from those around them. He is calling them to wait and be ready. Not exactly the charge into battle that they wanted. You can’t fight if you are waiting, but you can watch. You can proclaim his name and message.

He begins telling them another parable.

The New Revised Standard Version The Lesson of the Fig Tree

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

(Mt 24:32–35; Mk 13:28–31)

29 Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30 as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that 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 tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

34 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

However, unlike most of his parables, there is no hook here. This isn’t something we paint on nursery walls or tell children in Sunday School that shows them how to behave. There isn’t a redeeming moral to this story, and yet it is an important story that should not be overlooked. At the center of it is a fig tree. Jesus loves using fig trees to make a point, either is cursing it because it failed to give fruit, or here when He uses it as a way to tell time. He knows that his disciples would be aware of how to tell time by looking at the leaves. As much as he uses the tree to illustrate his point, the tree in and of itself, is not the point he wants us to leave with. Patience is his point here. Fruit leaves don’t turn overnight from dormant to ready to produce their fruit. There is an important waiting that takes place, but you can’t sit by and expect it to happen on its own. Fruit trees need to be cultivated and pruned in order to produce their fruit. We cannot wait for someone else to do the work of cultivating. This is a call to action. This is a call to continue what we are told in , “go into all the world and make disciples.

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), .

The New Revised Standard Version Exhortation to Watch

Exhortation to Watch

(Mt 24:36–44; Mk 13:32–37)

34 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

I love waiting for things. This sounds crazy, but I really do enjoy the period of waiting. When I order something I check the tracking number multiple times a day to see if that thing I am waiting on is any closer to my house. You can, but please don’t, ask Callie how I get when I wait for something. Every delivery truck on our street gets a close examination to see if it is stopping at my house. I wait, not patiently, but I wait.

Jesus is calling us to wait. Be on guard is to take an active roll in the preparation of his return. This brings us back to his words in verse 28,

The New Revised Standard Version The Coming of the Son of Man

28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Just because I said I love waiting for things, doesn’t mean I’m the best at it. One of my many faults is that I am not a patient person. Not just with waiting for something, but in a lot of my life I lack patience. I want things to happen on my schedule and at my convenience. As I am waiting for something, no matter what it is, I tend to get worked up about it. When I bought my phone, it didn’t arrive when I thought it would and (I’m not proud of this moment) but I had a mini fit in the middle of the kitchen with Callie and Rylee watching me. Over a phone! So when I read our text today and am told to wait, it doesn’t sit well with me. I struggled with this text a lot, because I didn’t want to hear what it had to say to me.

We are called to be ready, not for the birth of a child, but for the return of a King who is coming to claim his people back to himself. This is a call to be patient as you wait. There is work to be done in the meantime. This is the challenge of Advent. Can you continue to the work assigned as you wait on his return? Can you be patient? This Advent season, allow your anticipation for what is to come, fuel you for the work that is ahead of you.

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May you go and be patient as you wait and act toward the return of the Christ.

The New Revised Standard Version The Necessity for Watchfulness

The Necessity for Watchfulness

(Mt 24:36–44; Lk 21:34–36)

32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35 Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”