Never Buy Green Bananas

Mark 13:24-37

November 30, 2008

Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.

When I wake up, I begin every morning with a daily ritual. I eat cold cereal with a banana. The boxed cereal can last for months if not years in our pantry but bananas don’t. So when I buy a bunch of bananas, I count out about 5 or 6 knowing that a banana a day would take me to the end of the week. I pick up bananas that are not overly ripe because all of them won’t last until the end of the week. I look for bananas that have just the right amount of yellow to blend into my bowl of cold cereal.

But I never buy just green bananas because who knows if I’ll get to eat them!

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Many people think this season of Advent is a time to be awake, alert, and focused on Jesus’ birth. We think that Advent is a time to focus on what happened over 2000 years ago in that Bethlehem manger.

According to the traditional Christmas story, the innkeepers on that day certainly weren’t alert or focused on what was going on. After all, according to tradition, innkeeper after innkeeper turned Mary and Joseph away, saying that there was no room for them. So, as a way of making amends for the way that those innkeepers acted 2000 years ago that have given innkeepers a bad name, last year a hotel chain in England made a special offer. They offered to give free lodging over the Christmas holiday to any couple that was named “Mary and Joseph.”

But the truth is that the purpose of Advent is not so much about being awake, alert, and focused on Jesus’ birth. That’s because it’s too late for that. Sure, during the Christmas season we can certainly remember and celebrate the miracle that took place long ago in Bethlehem. But the simple fact is that Jesus has already been born in Bethlehem. We know that when we visited Bethlehem this past summer. It’s too late now to be awakened and to get ourselves ready for that event.

No, Advent is primarily a time for us to wake up with our bowl of cold cereal and a ripe banana, alert, and focused on that day when Jesus will come again. That’s what this passage in the Gospel of Mark is talking about.

Jesus’ Return

Here in Mark as well as in many places in the New Testament, we are told that one day Jesus will return to earth. He’ll return not in some quiet way. Rather when he returns, everyone in all the earth will know it. In Mark, it says when Jesus comes back, the sun and the moon will become dark, the stars will fall from the sky, and the whole universe will shake and tremble. On that day, when Jesus returns, he will gather together all his faithful people to be with him forever.

Hearing this prediction, some people have walked city sidewalks carrying signs that say, “The End is Near.” Some people figure that if Jesus is going to return, the best thing to do is to figure out when that’s going to happen so we can be ready at the right time. There was probably some of that kind of thinking at Jonestown in Guyana when Jim Jones led his people to a terrible tragedy thirty years ago. Throughout history there has been no shortage of people who have tried to do just that, to determine when Jesus will return.

I heard that right now in St. Petersburg, Florida, there’s a minister who is organizing a project that he believes will speed up the time when Jesus will return. What the minister is doing is encouraging people to make donations to a fund that helps Jewish people move back to Israel. According to that minister, when a certain number of Jews are finally returned to their homeland; that will be the cue for Jesus then to return. I wonder what is really behind this!

The problem with making predictions about Jesus’ return or thinking that we can control when it will happen is that that flies in the face of what the Bible tells us. Even in Jesus’ day, people were speculating about when he would return. But Jesus says quite plainly, “About that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” So if the angels in heaven don’t know when Jesus is going to return, and if even Jesus himself doesn’t know when he is going to return, who are we to claim that we know the answer to that question?

Keep Awake

As Christians, we believe that some day Jesus is going to return. But what are we to do while we wait? Jesus tells us to stay awake, be alert, and focused on him. Since we have no idea when that day will be—whether it will be next week, next month, next year, or 10,000 years from now—the best thing we can do is keep awake.

Now, this does not mean that Jesus wants us to become insomniacs and throw away our beds or not to catch one of those daily naps that supposed to help us with our memory. Rather Jesus tells us to keep awake, meaning that we should use the time we have to be awake to what we are doing with our lives, to pay attention to whether we are living our lives the way Jesus wants us to be living them. That way, no matter when Jesus returns, we’ll be ready. He tells us to never buy green bananas because you may not get the chance to eat them.

In this Advent season, I share three challenges for you to keep awake for the coming of the Lord. First, listen carefully to the words of Jesus. In the middle of the noise of the holidays, listen to the words of Jesus. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (8:34). We are called to self-denial, even in this season of rich foods and giving and getting gifts.

“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all,” says Jesus (9:35). Glory and power are to be found in service to others, even as we focus on the fun and festivity of the holidays. “Truly I tell you,” promises Jesus, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it” (10:15). This emphasis on childlike faith is the reason why most of us like to be with family and friends with little children running around because they have that quality of innocence to remind us to believe in God.

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (13:31). During this time of staying awake, we are to listen to words of Jesus.

Secondly, remain connected to the faith community that Jesus intends to gather when he returns. Christian faith is a team sport, not an individual activity. It’s critically important for us to continue to get together for worship every Sunday, for service in Chinatown and around the world, for fellowship like last Sunday’s Thanksgiving luncheon or today’s Christmas Craft Faire, and to have fun with friends for as long as we shall all live. It’s so true that many of us have found that our friendships are sometimes even stronger than those we have with our own family members. Many of us know the value of being connected to one another as a faith community.

In an over-scheduled holiday season, it’s tempting to skip worship and head to the mall or choose a special concert over a scheduled Bible study. But Jesus wants us to remain connected in community, where we will be awake to his arrival. “You do not know when the master of the house will come,” he predicts, “in the evening, or midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn” (35).

Remain connected, in community. That’s the best position to be in, if you want to meet Jesus Christ.

The third challenge for us to keep awake for the coming of Jesus is to expect great things. As Christians today we are not sufficiently expectant. We do not look or trust beyond our human resources, and hence, we are disappointed by the lack of exciting things happening in our churches and in the relationships that we have. In addition, our modern day scientific view of the world has tempered and narrowed our ability to see beyond what only our five senses might confirm.

Advent is a time of expectation. When we feed the hungry or welcome the stranger, might we find ourselves entertaining angels? When we give drink to the thirsty or clothed the naked, might we actually be doing these things for Jesus Christ himself? When we take a moment from our busy and active lives to sit down with a friend for a cup of coffee, might we be acting on behalf of Christ at that moment? When we wish each other “Merry Christmas” with the expectation that we are really blessing that person with the hope in life that only Jesus brings into the world in his birth might we be expecting great things?

There’s a true story of an elementary school teacher who baked a banana cream pie for the Utah State Fair and the governor picked her pie as the winner. For that, she received $150. Instead of spending it on herself, she chose to teach her fourth-grade students a lesson about donating to charity.

So, she divided the prize money among her 30 students and instructed them to write an essay about the charity they chose to donate their share to. The students were eager to fulfill their assignments and searched for worthy causes. Some of the students donated their money to the Katrina evacuees; one student donated the money for school supplies for a needy family while another made cookies for his elderly neighbors and so forth.

People frequently comment about their intention to donate to charity when they hit the lottery jackpot. Oftentimes, however, there is a belief that we don’t have much to offer anyone, and the little that we do have to offer would not make much of a difference to be beneficial. This fourth-grade teacher’s one banana cream pie provided the opportunity for 30 students to give to charities. The young donors have inspired their families, friends, and neighbors to do the same. Small acts repeated often can have tremendous impact. The governor’s pick was indeed an extraordinary pie. When we expect great things to happen, they do.

It was Oswald Chambers who once said, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.”

Jesus is Coming

Every minister has one prayer on Sunday before getting into the pulpit to preach—“Stay awake!” We pray that the congregation will stay awake at least until the sermon is over. Some of you are tired from washing all those Thanksgiving dishes. You may still be stuffed with turkey. Some of you might have gotten up early on Black Friday for all of the sales and discounted bargains and haven’t stopped since.

Stay awake! Jesus is coming. We don’t know when, but we do know that one day he will return. When that day comes, don’t be caught off-guard and unprepared. Instead, use the time you have now to get ready.

During this Advent season, use the time you have now not just to get ready for Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem by stringing up lights and decorating trees. But during this Advent season, use the time you have now to stay awake to listen carefully to the words of Jesus. Use this time you have now to remain connected to the community of faith. Use this time you have now to expect great things to happen.

For myself, as I wake up every morning and eat my bowl of cold cereal, I’ll have a ripe yellow banana. Never buy green bananas. Who knows if you’ll get to eat them!

Let us pray.

O God, the days are shorter, the nights stretch longer, and we wait for you in the cold. Your first followers thought you were coming soon, any day now. And we still wait, over 2000 years later. Maybe waiting and staying awake is the posture you want us in—working, watching, and diligently doing what you call us to. Every now and then, have us look heavenward and wonder. And as we repent in Advent, may our forgiveness by you be crowned with your return. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.