The End of Times, or Is It?

The End of Times, or Is It?

The First Sunday of Advent

29 November 2020

Watch out! Stay alert! For you do not know when the time will come. (Mark: 13:33, NET Bible)

This past week is the first time in many, many years that we were home for the Thanksgiving Holidays. Typically, we are either somewhere on the east coast – Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania – or in Los Angeles. Staying home was the exception. This year, however, is a year of exceptions. Staying put seemed the most logical, safe, considerate thing to do, not to mention that I was quarantined. Our holiday was tranquil, spent alone. We had Zoom calls and actual phone calls but hosted no friends. The only people I met were fellow dog walkers out for a stroll. Like many of you, I probably do not know how to think about this "new normal." And now, the count-down to Christmas begins.

I wonder, is that how we should look at Advent. Or should we view this season on its terms? And, if we did, what would that look like? So, where do we start?

One way to think about Advent is to look at its markers. The church is dressed in purple, the color of royalty, and serves as a penitential color. On this first Sunday of Advent, we light the first of five candles on the Advent wreath, clear markers of Kairos, or time. Our readings take on a serious tone. It is hard to sugar coat, "after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken." And nor should we. Even more than Lent, Advent reminds us that time and how we spend it is crucial. And, maybe that is where we should start, with time.

Seemingly countless moments fill our lives. Everything we do – every task, each decision, all our choices - they are unique opportunities, never to be repeated. Time, whether we notice it or not, moves on. The sum of these moments adds up to a life lived. Advent reminds us that the time to live, to do something, to make a difference, is now, not tomorrow, not yesterday. The season of Advent, like silent meditation, is about being present, living in the moment. However, living in the moment does not mean we can neglect the future or ignore our past. Being present acts to focus our attention, no more, no less.

Today's Gospel brings a sharp point to this season of Advent. Jesus uses language that can evoke fear and anxiety. The words are eschatological, bringing to the fore the end of days. Jesus uses imagery that his followers understood, "the Day of the Lord."

In the book of Ezra, the "the Day of the Lord" is preceded by

"Quakings of places

Tumult of peoples,

Scheming of nations,

Confusion of leaders,

Disquietude of princes." (4 Ezra 9:3).

Other prophetic books, such as Baruch, use similar language. Jesus' disciples would know this language. The sun and the moon's darkening were equally visceral images used by the prophets as warnings of the times to come if the Hebrew people failed God's call to repent. What is also important to remember is that some of these predictions happened during Jesus' time. As listeners in our current time and place, it is also critical not to get bogged down in the Ancient Near East imagery.

As I said, this reading from Mark's Gospel is particularly sharp-edged, and we must pay attention to it; we cannot ignore it. Jesus tells us there will be a Second Coming. What I find compelling to highlight is that he states that he does not know when. He leaves the timing up to God. It is not his decision to make. And, I think it is an act of human hubris for us to make any predictions about the end of time. Yesterday I read the following: Beware of those who, as someone quipped presume, "to know the furniture of heaven and the temperature of hell."[i] Jesus remained ignorant, trusting in God's wisdom, grace, and love, and so should we.

Is there anything else we can learn from today's Gospel? Something that helps answer my first question about living in Advent on its terms? Ignoring all the language of the end of days, Jesus tells us how we should live. He is quite explicit.

Watch out! Stay alert! For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves in charge, assigning to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. Stay alert, then, because you do not know when the owner of the house will return—whether during the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or at dawn— or else he might find you asleep when he returns suddenly. (Mk. 13:33-36)

Stay alert! That is his message. Live your lives as I have instructed. Live them as I have done. Love God, and love your neighbor.

This Gospel reading may be hard for us who live in this in-between time, in this COVID time. Jesus provides, in my reading, a dual purposed image of hope, despite the sharpness of his message to be ever vigilant.

Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.[ii]

The parable of the fig tree gives us hope, using the fertile image of the fig tree. Unlike another passage about fig trees where a tree's barrenness, its lack of fruit, seals its fate, this tree is the image of hope for our future. But, it also points to the future, a time of unknowing.

What we need now, after these many months restricted from so doing so many daily activities, is hope. We know that vaccines are on the way. In some ways, this news is our fig tree becoming tender. It doesn't answer all our prayers. The vaccines cannot bring back loved ones or time lost. It can, however, reclaim some of what we lost.

Finally, I would conclude with the reminder that this season of Advent is about marking time. It is about remembering how precious our time is – time with family and friends. Our faith should be less about worrying about the exact nature of the second coming, of the end of times. Our faith must be about the love of neighbor – seeking justice, caring for the sick, the indigent, the abandoned. Our faith should push us into acting and praying. As Jesus preached early in his ministry, "Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand."[iii]

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

Amen.

[i] Stookey, L.H., Calendar: Christ’s Time for the Church, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press) p. 122

[ii] Mk. 13:28

[iii] Mt. 4:17, KJV