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Today is the first Sunday of Advent. That means that Thanksgiving is over and it is time to start preparing for Christmas. All of that leftover turkey has been eaten and the last piece of pumpkin pie in the refrigerator has mysteriously disappeared. It’s time to put our cornucopias away and put our pilgrims back on the Mayflower until next year. We can toss our orange pumpkins and start hanging our green wreaths with red bows.
The first Sunday of Advent reminds us that Christmas is coming! So, go ahead and drag out that box of decorations and tune your radio to one of those stations that pay Christmas music twenty-four hours a day. Go ahead, inflate your giant light-up Santa Claus and snowman lawn ornaments and string those colored lights around the house before the snow starts flying. Go ahead, push someone over as you get your door buster bargain at 4 o’clock in the morning, but make sure you are gentle with the little baby Jesus when you lay him in the manger of your nativity scene. Yes, Advent is here and it is time to prepare for Christmas!
Since it is time to start preparing for Christmas, maybe you are as perplexed as I am by today’s lectionary readings. I don’t know what the lectionary organizers were smoking when they selected these Scriptures for the First Sunday of Advent. Don’t they know that that we are supposed to be thinking about the sweet little baby Jesus born in Bethlehem; not the grown up Jesus standing in the Jerusalem Temple delivering a prophetic message about the apocalyptic catastrophes that will usher in the end of the world as we know it? Are they trying to ruin our Christmas spirit with all of these verses about the end times? Don’t they know that Advent is a time for hope, not a time for fear?
Fear
These Scriptures that talk about the cataclysmic events that will take place at the end of the world are enough to make the hair on the back of our necks rise. In all three of these passages, the people had good reason to fear. Jeremiah’s prophecy came during a time of great apprehension and uncertainty. Many of the people of Jerusalem had already been carried off into exile in Babylon, and the city was currently under attack. They didn’t know if they would live or be captured and led into captivity. It seemed like the end of the world was at hand.
Likewise, in Luke 21 Jesus responds to his disciple’s question about when the end of the world will come. He tells them to look for signs such as earthquakes, famine, pestilence, and persecution. He also pictures some type of cosmic chaos with the sun, moon, and stars. These heavenly bodies will be shaken and the seas will toss and roar; probably hurricanes and tsunamis. Nations will be in anguish and conflict with one another. War will run rampant all over the earth.
These events will be so devastating that people will faint from terror. They will be panicked about everything that is happening in the world and be completely overcome by fear. In verse 31 Jesus says that these horrific happenings will affect everyone living on the face of the earth. These words are frightening indeed. I can feel our collective blood pressure rise even as I speak this morning.
Even though the epistle passage from I Thessalonians 3 isn’t quite as bleak as the other readings, Paul’s prayer for his church to be found blameless and holy in the presence of God the Father when our Lord Jesus comes with his holy ones generates some uneasy feelings.
We know that Jesus will return to earth someday, but if we are truly honest with ourselves, whom among us is really holy and blameless? I don’t know about you, but this causes me some anxiety. Do you ever wonder what you will be doing at the moment Jesus returns? That is a scary proposition!
There is no doubt about it, a day is coming when the earth will be overcome by each of these apocalyptic events, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop them. No amount of wisdom or philosophy will be able to prevent the heavenly bodies from shaking. No amount of science or technology will be able to stop the earthquakes and tsunamis. There won’t be any peace treaties or United Nations resolutions that will be able to thwart the violence and anguish of the nations.
If all of this is inevitable, what hope do we have? What can we do? If heaven and earth are going to pass away, what hope do we have for a future? Why consider all of these dreadful texts at the beginning of the Advent season?
Hope in the Midst of Fear
At first glance, it seems rather odd to be thinking about the return of Christ and the end of the world on the First Sunday of Advent, but when we understand the full purpose for the Advent season, it makes perfect sense. Advent is a time to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Messiah—the first coming and the second coming. So many people think that Advent is just a time to focus on the baby Jesus born in Bethlehem, but it is so much more. Advent beckons us to face the reality of the Second Advent—the second coming of Christ.
Yes, we struggle with many fears in our lives today, and those fears only intensify as we move closer to the final judgment, but with Christ, we can have hope. Just as these three texts were borne out of intense fear about the future, they each offer hope in the midst of fear. That is why the lectionary organizers grouped these passages together and set them for the First Sunday of Advent. No, they were not smoking some strange tobacco when they chose these verses for the church to read today, but they intentionally chose these because they carry the theme of hope in the midst of fear, and that is what Advent is all about!
Jeremiah 33:14-16
So, let’s look at these three passages again. In the midst fear from the onslaught of Babylon, Jeremiah prophesied a word of hope. Most of his prophecies to this point had been negative, but in chapter 30 he begins to write his book of consolation whereby he proclaims hope in the midst of fear. God brought hope to his people by reminding them that a day was coming when he would fulfill his gracious promise he made to Israel. He would rise up a Branch from the line of David who would restore justice and righteousness to the land. Judah would be saved and Jerusalem would live in safety. This Branch of David was non other than Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Messiah!
God partially fulfilled this promise at Christ’s first coming. Jesus was the Davidic king who came to restore justice and righteousness. He inaugurated this restoration at his first coming and will complete it at his second coming! That is why Advent brings hope! That is why we can have hope even in the midst of fear.
Luke 21:25-36
Look at the Luke 21 again. What hope can we have in the midst of fear about the end of the world? In verse 28 Jesus tells us to lift up our heads (a gesture of hope) because when we see these signs, we know our redemption is drawing near. For those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we have hope because we know we will be redeemed from sin and death.
When we live the way Jesus wants us to live, we not only don’t have to fear the end times, but we actually look forward to them. Jesus will deliver us from this life that is filled with sin, sickness, pain, and death. This is why he warns his disciples not to be weighed down with dissipation (which means indulgence), drunkenness, and the anxieties of life because the day of his appearing will come unexpectedly. Therefore, we are to keep watch and pray that we may be able to escape the coming doom and stand with Christ at his return. Advent brings hope in the midst of fear!
I Thessalonians 3:9-13
In I Thessalonians 3:12-13 Paul reiterates the hope that Jesus offers in the midst of fear. He prays that the Lord would make their love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else. He prays for God to strengthen his church so that their hearts will be blameless and holy in the presence of the Father when Jesus returns. You see, when we live right, there is nothing to fear. When we truly live for Jesus, we can have hope in the midst of fear.
Again, I don’t know what fears you are struggling with in your life today, but I do know how we can have hope. When we respond to Jesus in faith, when our love for each other increases and overflows, and live holy and blameless lives, Jesus’ second coming becomes our hope instead of our fear. Advent brings hope in the midst of fear and that is why the lectionary organizers have brilliantly placed these passages before us today!
Well, Advent is here! So, as I mentioned, go ahead and get out those decorations and string those lights. Go ahead and get your 4 a.m. door-buster bargains. Go ahead and make your preparations to celebrate Christ’s First Advent. But whatever you do, make sure you don’t forget about Christ’s Second Advent!
During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives: “On May 19th, 1780 the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, “The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought.” Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful till Christ returns. Instead of fearing the dark, we’re to be lights as we watch and wait.”
If he comes back today, are you ready? Have you truly put your faith in Jesus Christ? Is your love for others increasing? Are you living holy and blameless before the Lord, or are you weighed down by indulgence, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life? Advent brings hope in the midst of fear! Are you ready for the Second Advent?