Luke 21: 25-36 (Common English Bible)
The word “Advent” comes from the Latin term meaning “to come.” So something or someone is coming to us this season. We most often think of Christmas and the birth of Jesus. But there is something bigger and more powerful than that. In the gospels Jesus speaks of the Human One coming in the clouds with power and glory, which is an idiom that means, honor and majesty.
Luke wrote his gospel 40 years after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension. At this time the church was undergoing suffering and persecution. Luke wrote his gospel to encourage the church and remind them that God is in control and has a time set for Christ’s return. And remember, the term “Christ” is not a last name. It is a title. Don’t expect the Christ to look like a person with white skin and blue eyes. The Christ could return in a non-human form. Maybe in a form of positive energy that lights up the sky all over the world.
The language about the Second Coming “signs of the Sun, Moon and stars” should not be taken literally, but symbols that great nations and kingdoms of the world are going through convulsions and dramatic change. And things like that can happen very suddenly. Just remember the fall of the Berlin Wall. It almost happened overnight as one example.
We all have a future and we all deal with it in our lives. Some look toward the future with fear, anxiety and worry. Jesus said, “People will faint from fear and the worry of what is coming upon the world.” But others will look to the future with hope and optimism.
Regardless of what is to come, the force of the future is to prevent the present from dominating our thoughts. Advent moves past the present by promising us the possibility of something new and different. This is something that will transform the present into a new and better existence.
The unknown future always holds the impossible becoming the possible. The future is always unfolding and calls us forward and not backwards as some political forces in America want. But there is always a struggle. Just remember the struggle over the Affordable Health Care Act 15 years ago. Now most people are glad to have it. We had the same struggle over Medicare back in the early 1960s. Those who opposed it called it a communist plot. I call it something that makes the US a more civilized nation.
To name or judge something impossible would be to close our minds to what Advent means. God incarnated part of itself into an infant born from a peasant couple. That is one example. Moses overcoming the Egyptian Empire is another. And there are so many others as we read the Bible and the most important one is the resurrection of Jesus. During Advent the unknown future comes to us as a chance for something new, for a new birth, for the expectation of hope in a transforming future.
Advent does not promise an escape from the circumstances of our lives or the present world. But the promise of Advent does bring us hope in the midst of all these problems, whether personal or international.
The foreseeable future falls within the scope of our power and possibilities. With an uncertain future, there are no guarantees, no contracts or warranties. But there are risks. That is why Jesus said, “Be on guard that your hearts are not weighed down. Be alert at all times.” Jesus reminds us that the impossible is challenged in the realm of faith, hope and love. That is how we are to live when, “heaven and earth are passing away. When there is distress among the nations, and when the powers of heaven are shaken.” And theologian Paul Tillich, one of my favorites, did write a book of his collection of sermons, titled “The Shaking of the Foundations” that I recommend. It’s a far easier read than Tillich’s three volume book “Systematic Theology.”
The voices of Advent are faith, hope, compassion, forgiveness, healing and love. The Advent voices speak of a possibility of a new life, a transformed life that brings the possible from the impossible. And when you wake up tomorrow morning, they will be there waiting and calling you to a new reality that is possible.
AMEN
