Jeremiah 33:14-16 p 645
14 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’
Luke 21:25-36 p 856
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. 26People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory. 28Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’
29 Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33Heaven 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, 35like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be 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.’
Advent is a time when we are all on the way to Bethlehem. When we journey to the crib, following the words of the Prophets, following the star, to see the baby who is the light of the world. Except, perhaps, for this mornings portion of Luke.
Why, we might wonder, do we hear words about signs and times, earthquakes , distress among the nations, wailing and fear and foreboding? This is not what we come to church to hear! This is not what we expect when we are trying to get our hearts ready for Christmas!
And yet, every Advent season begins with words like these. This section of Luke is known as the “little apocalypse”- words of war and rumors of war, talk of how bad things are now, and how much worse things are going to get.
Apocalypse means “unveiling”, or revealing. It is as if a curtain has been drawn back, and we are invited to look, allowed to look—both at the way things are now, and at the way things will be. And in the apocalyptic type of literature, things are only going to get worse. But we also get to see something else—that is, that what we see now, and what we will soon see, are not the only things that are. (There is a greater truth, there is a greater Someone—and that Someone is in charge.)
Over one hundred years ago, Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol. And what Scrooge experiences on that Christmas Eve night, is an apocalypse—a revelation, an unveiling. Scrooge sees things that disturb him, unseat him. Scrooge sees his painful past and his even more painful future. He also sees a scene of love and hope—the Cratchitt family. Scrooge sees his own grave—and seeing, asks the Spirit of Christmas Future whether the things he sees are “things that Will be, or things that May be”….. Scrooge sees that what is, is not all there is- he can change, he is changed by what he has seen, and the future reality can become very different.
Jeremiah spoke to a people who were devastated. Living in a city destroyed by war—think of Dresden after the bombings in World War II, think New Orleans after Katrina—only the poorest of the poor have been left in Jerusalem. The Babylonians have carried off all the gold, all the silver, all the food, all the educated and powerful people. The ones who are left are starving, are abandoned by God, are living in utter humiliation and despair. And Jeremiah, the Prophet, speaks to them: The days are surely coming, says the Lord….the days are SURELY coming, when I will fulfill my promise that I made, says God……Just prior to this message, Jeremiah has bought land, for he has hope…..hope when there should be NO hope….Jeremiah has bought a field, and is making plans for the future…..because Jeremiah is unveiling for us the reality of God….which is different from the reality we see now…. And far different from the reality the people of Jerusalem are experiencing at that time….
Jeremiah knows that what we see is not all there is. A righteous branch will spring up for the people, and this leader, this ruler, will bring justice and righteousness. Don’t pay any attention to what you see now, says Jeremiah—this is not all there is. This is not how it will always be…..for God has remembered his promises. God is faithful….God will cause that righteous branch to grow up and flourish.
Flourishing, though, does not sound like what is happening in Luke. Jesus is standing in the Temple, and he is talking about the end. All of the earth, all of nature, will be in chaos….there will be signs….signs in the sun and the moon and the stars, pounding waves, signs on the earth and in creation.
We have signs all around us today. But the signs we see at this time talk about 50% off, or how many shopping days are left until Christmas, or how deep the discounts will be at 4:00 am on Friday morning. The signs in Luke, the signs Jesus is talking about, will be easy to see and understand—Jesus tells the disciples a parable--when the fig tree begins to sprout leaves, then you know summer is near. When you see the signs in the sun and moon and stars, then you know the Kingdom of God is near. It will not be too hard to figure out. It’s not something to be afraid of….do not worry, do not cower, do not run….rather, stand up and raise your heads- because your redemption is drawing near.
In the same way that Jeremiah is talking about something that makes no sense, saying that God’s reality does not match the present reality, Jesus here is saying that what God has planned does not match, will not match what we see. Because God will remember God’s promises to His people.
The church does things differently from the world. One of the things the church does differently is tell time. Last week, with the children, we talked about how the church tells time differently, how last week was the end of the church year, and this week is the beginning of the New Year.
But one of the other things the church does differently is seeing the truth.
At Advent, we stand, while on that journey to Bethlehem, in the middle of time—we look back to the birth of Jesus, and we look forward to the end of time…the time when Christ will come again, when Jesus will redeem us, when the righteous branch will be raised up for the people. Stand up and raise your heads. Do not be afraid---because we see the truth, we know the truth about God and the world. That truth has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
On npr the other morning I heard a story about an ophthalmologist, Dr Mike Brennan. He had been in the army in Vietnam, and had started a medical practice in North Carolina. He was busy working, and golfing, and playing with his grandchildren. And a friend of his, an old army buddy, called him up…to go to Iraq. To use his medical knowledge to help educate the doctors in Iraq. Because Saddam Hussein had so effectively closed off the country, that medical skills were decades behind. And when he got there, after his first couple of visits to doctors and hospitals, always accompanied by army, and armor, and guns, Dr Brennan decided just to go, by himself, to these hospitals and doctors, in civilian clothes. Because he saw a different reality---even though the reality he was living in, in Iraq, said that you had to have armor, you had to be armed, you had to be prepared….this man, this doctor, saw a different reality…..he saw a reality in which healers healed…and doctors took care of people the best ways they knew how,….and doctors from different countries and cultures worked together for the healing of all people. He had a glimpse, an unveiling, a drawing back of the curtain…of a greater reality. One of the Iraqi doctors he worked with, says “I think we were blessed—because sometimes when you think the world has ended all around you—war, violence—all of a sudden you have people who have traveled 10,000 miles to be there, to talk to you” This Iraqi doctor talks of being blessed- and of being able to see a different reality, because of the actions of one man.
If this portion of Luke, known as “the little apocalypse”, shows us a different reality, then what we see in Bethlehem is also an apocalypse, an unveiling—because we see the truth about God and about God’s people. We see that God so loved the World that he gave his Son—we see that God’s power is made manifest in weakness. We see the truth about the powers of the world, about the systems of oppression and violence, when we look at that baby in the manger. That baby in the manger is the same Christ who stands in the Temple and says to us: Stand up and raise your heads—because your redemption is drawing near. Be alert- but don’t be afraid. Be alert, be ready- for the world is about to turn.
