PROPERS: ADVENT 1, YEAR C
TEXT: LUKE 21:25-36
PREACHED AT HOLY TRINITY, PENSACOLA, ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018.
ONE SENTENCE: The seemingly-contradictory images of the season remind us of God’s movement through the midst of all things.
I was amused this week when an item appeared on my Facebook feed. It was a posting from a website named, “Unvirtuous Abbey” and it said: “Instead of saying Merry Christmas during this season, why don’t we shout, ‘Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
That was the kinder and gentler version of that passage. The words are John the Baptist’s, and he precedes them with a pastoral salutation: “You brood of vipers!”
That passage, from Luke, Chapter 3, will come in a few weeks. But, today, it emphasizes something quite relevant: The paradox of Advent.
Just listen to the words we have already prayed or proclaimed today.
From the collect for the First Sunday of Advent:
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Now, listen to the words from the Gospel according to Luke:
Jesus said, "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. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
From the promise of a savior coming in great humility (even as an infant) to the roaring of the seas and waves, and people fainting from fear.
What is the true essence of the season? How do we reconcile the paradoxical images?
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Perhaps we don’t.
It has been observed that true spiritual health is found in being able to accept paradox. That means being able to acceptboth/andinstead of only either/or.
Harry Truman is reputed to have said, “What I need is a one-armed economist who doesn’t say, ‘On the other hand.’”Sadly, theologically speaking, that is seldom possible.
We live in a binary culture, in which something is either true or not true. We have lost the appreciation for the complexities of creation and God’s movement through it. Things must be either this wayor that way.
We have lost the appreciation for the nuances and conflicts which were so much a part of the ancient Jewish faith – and the world in which Jesus lived. How many times have you heard him say, “You have heard it said, but I tell you…?” He is saying that boththings are true.
We cannot go into depth of complex thought and the contradictions in scripture in these few moments, but let’s remind ourselves of the practical, human reality of faith history:
· Noah was a drunk.
· Jacob was a liar and manipulator.
· David was an adulterer.
· Elijah ran from God.
· Peter denied his best friend.
· Paul persecuted the church.
But all of these people served God’s purposes in the arc of faith history. Their lives are described as both/andand not either/or. Each lived a life that are recalled for both their rebelliousness and not just faithfulness. Yet each one’s life is cited by sacred scripture as a model of responding to God’s call.
We can say the same about ourselves:imperfect but beloved; reluctant but called.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, the great American writer, once said, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
So, in the midst of mixed messages we receive in this season – apocalypse versus salvation; vulnerable infant versus Mighty God of the Cosmos – we are to remain calm and embracethe ambiguity. That would be an indication of spiritual maturity on our part. To trust in the many, sometimes conflicting aspects of this season.
Despite the seemingly contradictory messages, the truth rings through the season. Just as it has through the last two millennia.
But there is anotheraspect to these conflicting images which should comfort us.
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Jesus’ words today are apocalypticin nature. Apocalypticvisions have to do with hidden things being revealedand are associated with images of the end times. Scriptural descriptions of the apocalypse unveil God’s hand in the world.
In the Old Testament and the New Testament, the primary apocalyptic books are The Book of Danieland the last book of the Bible, The Revelation to John. Each book – one for the Hebrew Scriptures and one from the Christian Scriptures – has bizarre stories and vivid images. They unveil the coming of God.
Jesus’ words today are in keeping with that apocalyptic tradition.
The Apocalypseis a central image in Advent – along with the expectations of God coming as a gentle, tender infant, in a manger, in a stable.
These are not contradictory images. They are complementary. One reinforces the other. It is a case of both/andand not either/or.
Apocalyptic tradition tells us that God is working through all things. In the roaring of the seas and the waves… in the powers of nations being shaken… in people fainting from fear… in nation rising against nation… in wars and rumors of wars… God is moving through history.
And we know also that God is moving through a lowly stable… through a mother lovingly nursing her newborn infant… through a family’s home and a carpenter’s shop in Nazareth… through a young itinerant preacher wandering through Galilee… through a cross standing on a hillside outside of Jerusalem… and through an empty tomb in that same city.
We do not understand the progression of God’s movement through time. In this life, we do not have the perspective which allows us to see the flow of history. But, we may be certain – and filled with faith and hope – that God moves through all thingsand all moments.
Whether we say, “Merry Christmas” or we shout, “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
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