Mark 13:24-37
24 "But in those days, after that
suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25
and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will
be shaken. 26 Then they will see "the Son of Man coming in clouds' with
great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his
elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 28
"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender
and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you
see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30
Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things
have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not
pass away. 32 "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels
in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Beware, keep alert; for you do
not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when
he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands
the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35 Therefore, keep awake--for you do not
know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or
at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes
suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."
Beware, keep alert;
for you do not know when the time will come.
·
Years
ago, I took the advice of an older preacher, a man I trusted and counted as a
friend. He said when he was going to preach he always “looked for the good
news” in the readings. “Good news”, of course, is the meaning of “Gospel” and even
the word “Evangelical” is drawn from the Greek word we translate as “gospel.”
·
However,
the Gospel reading today appears to be anything but “good news” with all the
talk of falling stars, a darkened sun and moon, and the shaking of the heavenly
powers. It appears to be the end of the world. I’ve said it before that some
among us and around us have seen what appeared to be the end of all things.
Others may not have experienced the end but, from where they stood, they could
see it. Where is the Good News here?
·
Where,
indeed! All this talk of cosmic upheaval and chaos does not seem comforting or
hopeful. It involves change, to say the least! And change is always tough.
Think of the changes in your own life. We could say “remember your birth.”
Quite a change, but none of us could really do that. Think of the first day of
school… or the time any of us moved to a place we didn’t know… or when you
married … or if I dare to say it, when we lost a loved one to death. Any change
is traumatic and often troubling. The change promised in the Gospels goes
beyond anything we could imagine. It would seem like the end of the world.
·
And it
would be. At least the end of the world as we know it. Of course, that brings
uncertainty, anxiety, and even fear. It would be for the best if we did not
know the exact time that all this would occur, for we’d all mark our calendars
and shut down a few days or weeks before, complaining of the futility of doing
anything.
· The good news here is the story of the changes to come. Not when
or exactly how they’ll come, but that they will come. The changes will not
simply mean upheaval and destruction, but freedom and salvation. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the
four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. Simply said, the changes are for us
and in our favour. Matthew’s Gospel compared the troubles to “birth pangs” and
we know that birth pangs – as painful as they might be - lead to changes and to
new birth and new life.
· Advent reminds us that the birth of Christ, that event we
celebrate in a few short weeks. (Yes, a few short weeks!) is not simply the
anniversary of a birth of a famous person, but a birth of new hope and the
beginnings of a new creation.
· This is one of the reasons the birth of Christ is heralded by
choirs of angels and announced by archangels in Luke and a little less so in
Matthew. It is such an incredible event that the powers in the heavens
must be involved.
· Mark’s Gospel tells of terrible and terrifying things yet to be
because the presence of the Son of God a.k.a. the Son of Man has tremendous
meaning. God isn’t dropping by for a visit, but is settling in for all time in
the created world. This was not done so we’d be a little nicer to each other
once a year, drop a few coins in a kettle or a collection can, or anything as
short term as that. The Son of Man, the Anointed One, the Prince of Peace came
to up-end everything, to make all the crooked ways straight, to right every
wrong, and to reconcile all things in himself. If this were not so, all our
favourite Christmas carols would be reduced to the “nice” melody, sentiment,
and meaning of something like “Chestnuts
Roasting on an Open Fire.” Such a tremendous event requires such earth-shaking
details as those spoken of by Mark.
· Advent reminds us that what we still look forward to is not chaos
and devastation, but new birth for all that is created. The time – that
day or hour – is not ours to know, but the watchfulness and
expectant waiting shown in the actions we heard about last week (Lord,
when did we see you…) remains our mission, our imitation of Christ,
and our way of being alert.
Beware, keep alert;
for you do not know when the time will come.
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