Luke 21:25-36<\/p>\n\n\n\n
November 30, 2003\u2014First Sunday of Advent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charlie Brown says to Lucy, \u201cDo you think the world will come to an end in our time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI try not to think about such things.\u201d says Lucy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell,\u201d says Charlie Brown, \u201cNow that I\u2019ve brought it to your attention, what do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lucy says, \u201cWhen things that I try not to think about are brought to my attention, I try not to think about them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of us will confess to feeling a lot like Lucy during the first week of Advent. There are things that all of us are doing to prepare for Christmas. But thinking about the end of time is usually not one of them. From the lectionary lessons for today, we have this disconcerting passage about Luke\u2019s apocalyptic forecast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our first look, we wonder about the appropriateness of this text when we should be focusing on the birth of Jesus. But after further examination, Advent after all is the coming of Jesus, the birth being but one form of the appearance of Christ. In fact, in the ancient church, Advent was not only to prepare the faithful for Christmas; Advent became a season of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today we have a double focus, looking both to Christmas and to the ultimate coming of God\u2019s realm. As people of God, our outlook is the same: one of waiting and watching, one of longing and expectation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ominous Signs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When we look at the world, there are ominous signs on the horizon. Things do not look good\u2014war and body bags, terrorism and ambushes, political uncertainties and interests groups, an unstable global economy and hiring freezes. When we look toward the horizon, what do we see? Is this a time of death, endings and destruction, or a time of birth, beginnings and redemption?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luke depicts Jesus looking up in to the sky and sees the cosmos coming unglued. There are signs, strange signs that suggest that things are coming to an end. Jesus sees the \u201csigns in the sun, the moon, and the stars\u201d and knows that the world is shifting on its axis, breaking apart in a time of \u201cdistress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus was telling it as it is. Look up into the sky and you will see things are falling apart, coming unglued, chaos threatening. It\u2019s bad all over and it\u2019s going to get worse is what Jesus is saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most preachers are frightened by such apocalyptic lessons to preach on. Isn\u2019t there a more uplifting passage to choose from? How about a traditional Christmas passage? Ironically, this apocalyptic text makes a lot of sense in the times that we live. We seem to live in apocalyptic times. When we see so many images of endings, it\u2019s apocalyptic. When our headlines are filled with troubles, it\u2019s apocalyptic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the world is filled with such problems that they cause people to faint with fear to the point that even the heavens are shaken, then the Son of Man will come with power and great glory. Maybe it\u2019s time for some new beginnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus says, \u201cNow when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.\u201d We tend to think that the word, \u201capocalyptic\u201d is negative but when we link apocalyptic with the word, \u201credemption,\u201d it becomes good news. The world may be coming apart at its seams. The heavens may be turning ominous and dark, and that\u2019s bad news. But Jesus is also saying that when this time is taking place, all the signs suggest that \u201cyour redemption is drawing near.\u201d And that\u2019s good news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Changeless Heavens<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In ancient days, there was the belief that the heavens were eternally changeless. This became official church teaching. So when Galileo came up with his new cosmology, the church opposed his discoveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Modern astronomy has discovered that the heavens are in fact more dynamic than Galileo ever imagined: exploding stars, novas and supernovas, meteoric collisions, galaxies racing away from each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus is saying to us that when our world is in trouble and appears to be spinning out of control, we don\u2019t try to hold on to this changeless heaven but instead even the powers of the heavens will be shaken. We won\u2019t have the certainty of the heavens being the same like before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bad news is not that heaven and earth are disintegrating, falling apart. No, the good news is \u201cyour redemption is drawing near.\u201d We look over the horizon toward the future and what do we see? Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, reigning supreme. What we see on high is not simply an end, it is also a beginning. It is not just death but also birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Christians can be really honest about the prospects for our world, we believe that in God\u2019s time, our world will end. But when this happens, God\u2019s world is just beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus says that when our time seems at times particularly scary and chaotic, is a time for us to lift up our heads high and tell the world a story that it cannot know if we don\u2019t tell it. By the grace of God, the worst of times is also a redemptive beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the world that we know, as it is, is not fully what God intends it to be. There are wars and rumors of more war, sadness, heartache, and tragedy. We\u2019ve made a mess of things, fouled our world, and despoiled our earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our better moments we must honestly admit that matters are out of our control and that the world\u2019s large problems are beyond our ability to fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before I became your local church pastor, I didn\u2019t have to make sense of the horrific events that were happening in the world. I just had to understand them for myself. These problems were someone else\u2019s business. When I responded to God\u2019s call and your decision for me to serve as your pastor, I was hoping that when I stood up here on Sundays, I would always be able to share with you how beautiful the world is and how God\u2019s love can be seen in everything under the sun, moon, and stars. I wanted the heavens to be changeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But not before too long has passed, the shootings at Columbine, Colorado shocked our faith in our youth and schools. I found myself searching for comforting words for you who were faint with fear. The events of September 11, 2001 are this generation\u2019s unforgettable tragedy imprinted in our nightmares for the rest of our lives. I can still feel the destructive powers unleashed on that fateful day that even shook the heavens. And almost day after day, war rages in Iraq and Afghanistan where men and women, young and old are so distressed that the cries of God\u2019s people are like the roaring of the sea and the waves. When will this all end? Are we seeing the leaves of the fig tree to know that God\u2019s time is almost near?<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my better moments, I confess that these matters are out of my control and that the world\u2019s problems are too large for us to fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raise your Heads<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So we look toward tomorrow. We strain toward the future. We raise our heads. We watch, long for, and anticipate a new sign. And what do we see? We look and see the face of the one who came to save us, who constantly forgave us, and always loved us. Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s like the football coach whose team is down 20 points at halftime. He begins his locker room talk with, \u201cWe have them just where we want them.\u201d When we see the world, it\u2019s easy for us to see that we are losing. Yet the good news of the gospel is that every word of it is true, for the one who tells us to believe such nonsense is none other than Jesus\u2014the one through whom the world learned that God\u2019s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. Jesus is the one who taught us that God\u2019s weakness is stronger than human strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The words of Jesus invite us to have hope and confidence, for they assure us that despite the direction in which the world seems to be moving, the situation is firmly under God\u2019s control. Like the coach whose team is down at halftime, Jesus offers us a pep-talk. \u201cStand up\u201d he says, \u201cRaise your heads. Be on guard.\u201d Don\u2019t give in to the temptation to pessimism and despair. The Lord will prevail, and for that reason alone we can keep our heads held high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We started today asking the question, \u201cWhat is the world coming to?\u201d But that question is not nearly as important as the question, \u201cWho is coming to the world?\u201d The Lord has come. The Lord even now present in our midst\u2014here in the faces and hearts of all who believe. And the Lord will most surely come again, with power and glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But there is still another question which needs to be asked this morning. It is far more personal than the others: \u201cWhat are you coming to?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This Advent season\u2014in the midst of all the troubles of the world\u2014you are invited to follow the star, to come to Bethlehem, draw near to the babe born in the manger, and to find in the face of the Christ Child, the reassurance that the Lord has indeed come, and that the Lord is even now present in the midst of our sometimes chaotic world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we raise our heads, we pray that our eyes will see the star at its rising and when we arrive at the place where the star has stopped; we too will see Emmanuel, God with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n O Lord, who comes to us in life, often when we least expect your Advent, prepare our hearts and minds, so that when you appear, we might be ready to greet you with joyful obedience, always expectant and eager for your reign in our lives. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Luke 21:25-36 November 30, 2003\u2014First Sunday of Advent Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. Charlie Brown says to Lucy, \u201cDo you