Sermon for December 1st, 2024

Luke 21:25-36

25 ‘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. 26People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory. 28Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’

29 Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

34 ‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’

Prepare the Way: Looking Forward

Today is December 1st, which means that later today, I will be joining millions of people across the world in opening the very first tiny paper door of my advent calendar. In case you are unfamiliar with the tradition, an advent calendar is a cardboard or wooden box with twenty-five little doors or windows representing the twenty-five days of the season of Advent—or the days leading up to Christmas. You open one door every day. Behind each door is typically a picture, a scripture verse, or sometimes a little toy or piece of chocolate. There are all sorts of advent calendars, and it’s a time honored tradition to observe the advent season. My advent calendar this year has twenty five 2-ounce sample bottles of Scotch Whiskey (thanks, Eileen!).

In honor of the first day of advent, and advent calendars, did you hear the one about the guy who was arrested for stealing an advent calendar? He got 25 days.

Or did you hear about the new advent calendar designed by Microsoft? If you open more than five windows at the same time, it freezes.

Some newer advent calendars this year only have days ending in 1, 3, 5 ,7, and 9. That’s odd.

Actually, it’s getting harder now to even find advent calendars. I think their days are numbered.

Seriously, though—I’m thankful for advent calendars. Like the advent candles we lighted at the beginning of the service, and like the advent songs we sang today, they are among the very few remnants of a season that used to be widely celebrated every year in the church—a season that today usually gets swallowed up by Christmas.

My wife, Amy, is a stickler for not playing Christmas music until after Thanksgiving—a rule that radio stations, department stores, and our children increasingly ignore. But there was actually a time in the church when Christmas carols and hymns weren’t even sung until December 24th—Christmas eve—and the following weeks. That’s because the season of Christmas doesn’t actually begin until Christmas Day. If you’re familiar with the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” it’s an old reminder that the holidays (and the gift giving, and the decorating) began on Christmas Day then continued well into the new year.

Today, we’ve pretty much reversed that: We celebrate the “Christmas season” all throughout December; we run around like crazy shopping and cooking and wrapping and going to Christmas concerts, Christmas parties and secret Santa white elephant gift exchanges, then on December 26th, we’re done. We’re exhausted. Thank you, baby Jesus, but now it’s time to rest and get ready for our New Year’s Eve party.

I think the reason we do all this is because we’re not very good at waiting. Ironically, that’s what the forgotten season of Advent is supposed to be all about. A season of quiet reflection and introspection—preparing our hearts, not our houses, for the celebration of the birth of Christ.

I am just as guilty of this as anyone else. Usually, my “Advent sermon series” is really just a Christmas sermon series in disguise—we talk about the shepherds and angels, the animals and the manger scene—but we don’t talk much about waiting. About preparing the way. About slowing down, looking around, and looking within. That’s what we’re going to attempt to do this year. My hope is that by the time we get to Christmas Day, you will be able to offer to the Christ child (and to your family and to yourself) something valuable: Your presence. I don’t mean the kind you wrap and put underneath the tree. I mean your real, authentic presence—or being present in a beautiful moment, a celebration of God entering into the world, of God entering into your world in a powerful and life-transforming way.

So for the next four weeks--the entire season of Advent--our scripture passages are from the Gospel of Luke. But instead of the familiar ones that tell the story of Mary and Joseph and the events leading up to the birth of Jesus, this year we’re going to follow a different path. Today's reading begins in the 21st chapter of Luke, not with baby Jesus, but rather with full grown Jesus approaching the end of his ministry. This may seem like a strange place to start, but it will make sense in time. For the second and third weeks in Advent, we will go back toward the beginning of Luke, but still no baby Jesus. Instead we get a dirty, grungy wild-man yelling at people in the desert (John the Baptist), which would have taken place about 30 years after that first Christmas, as Jesus was about to begin his adulthood and his ministry. In fact, it isn't until the very last Sunday in Advent that we finally get to the baby Jesus, in Mary's womb as she goes to meet her cousin Elizabeth, who is also pregnant (with John the Baptist).

If you want to hear the familiar story of the first Christmas, don’t panic, that will still happen, but (remember the advent theme) you'll have to wait for it. We’ll tell that story at our Christmas Eve candlelight service on December 24th. This Advent season, our scripture passages tell a very different story—one you may not have heard before, but one that is very deeply connected to "Preparing the Way."

Which brings me to today's scripture passage in Luke 21. This is toward the end of Jesus' ministry, and he has already taught his disciples pretty much everything he's ever going to teach them. The very next chapter after this one begins with the events leading up to his betrayal and crucifixion. But before that, here in chapter 21, Jesus has just one more thing he needs to teach his disciples. I can summarize it in two words: Look forward! Or perhaps, consider the future. Be aware of it, watch for it, anticipate it. Listen to the strong future tense in the passage: "There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars . . . People will faint from . . . what is coming . . . the powers of the heavens will be shaken . . . your redemption is drawing near.

This is the same Jesus who in Matthew says "Don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring worries of its own." Some people interpret that verse to mean "the future isn't important, focus on today." But here Jesus is clearly saying the future is, in fact, important. You should focus on it. The distinction is that we aren't supposed to "worry" about it. We're supposed to prepare ourselves for it so we don't have to worry.

There’s a quote hanging in my office from NFL Hall of Fame quarterback, Peyton Manning. It says, “Pressure is what you feel when you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.” If you ever watched Peyton Manning play, you know he was cool, calm, collected, always in control of the game. But the reason he seemed so immune to pressure… was the countless hours he spent in between games reviewing footage, studying the playbook, running practice drills… basically preparing the way.

So. What exactly are we preparing for? What was Jesus trying to prepare his disciples for? The chapter heading for this passage in your pew Bibles is titled “The Coming of the Son of Man.” This is also sometimes known as the “second coming” of Christ, or the time in the future when Jesus will return to usher in the Kingdom of God.

Every few years, some Christian pastor will come out with a book or a podcast arguing that certain world events prove that we are in the end-times and Jesus will return at this exact date and time.

Harold Camping predicted it would be in 2011. Jerry Falwell predicted 2009. Hal Lindsey thought it would be in 1988. Even the famous physicist Sir Isaac Newton weighed in with a prediction that the second coming would occur in the year 2060. While I disagree with their predictions, what I love about all of these people I've just named, what amazes me, is that they spent tremendous amounts of time reading the scriptures, poring over the details just TRYING to anticipate the second coming of Christ. The second coming of the Messiah matters to them. They care about the future, they are excited about it in a way that might actually be similar to the Ancient Israelites who waited four hundred years for the birth of Jesus.

I'm not asking you to buy into the next prediction you hear about the end of the world. But as we prepare the way this Advent season, I am asking you to look forward to the future--your future as individuals, our future as a church, as a community, and the future of our world. Tomorrow matters. Let's resolve to be forward-thinking people, who do not fear the future, but place our hope in the future, because the future is where God’s plan is always unfolding.

The first advent candle, which was lighted earlier this morning, is also known as the “Hope” candle. The other candles represent peace, joy, and love. We’ll get to them in the weeks to come. But today we’re talking about looking forward, and hope is a virtue that is uniquely future oriented. Hope is also the opposite of worry.

I realize there’s a lot of worry in the world today. But I also study history, so I know this is nothing new. People in every age and culture do horrible things to each other, and natural disasters have always wreaked havoc. People in every age and culture fervently believe that things are worse now than they have ever been, and that the end of the world is near.

But Jesus doesn’t actually say that. He doesn’t take a pessimistic view of the future. He does point to distress among nations, to fear and foreboding among people. But what he actually says is, “when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

He says, “when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.” I don’t think that’s a prediction. I think it’s a promise. Whenever you see these things taking place, always know that the kingdom of God is near. And that’s how you can face the future with hope.

Jesus also tells us how to prepare for the future: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away . . . Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life.” In other words, spend more time reading God’s word, and less time doom scrolling on social media.

If you put your faith in people—in pastors, preachers, journalists, scientists, social media influencers or politicians—then you probably have good reason to worry. They will all fail you eventually. But if you put your faith in God’s plan, God’s kingdom, and God’s son—those things which are always and ever drawing near—then you only have reason to HOPE, this advent season and every season of every year to come.