1st Sunday in Advent
Mark 13:24-37
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father and
from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: AMEN!
Okay, I don’t know about you but we
talked last week about being the New Church year and looking back…”out with the
old and in with the new,” right? And here on this first Weekend of Advent,
Jesus takes us right to the end of times. We get the last several weeks of
Matthew’s parables and we get judgement to start off the New Year! How
positive; I mean, we go from hearing about the weeping and gnashing of teeth to
the time of judgement! It doesn’t sound like a good time to be starting this
new church year. It does not sound like this is something we can be joyful
about or be anticipating like we see the in television ads that have been
lurking and airing since Halloween, right?
Although it does sound like this
reading is out of place, it is not. It is not out of place because of this
message that Jesus sends. First, we should remember where this scripture comes
from. There are only 16 chapters in the Gospel of Mark. This reading is in
chapter 13; Jesus is well on his way to Jerusalem to be handed over. HE knows
his mission and he is on it. He has the disciples in tow as well as many other
followers. Jesus knows what is going to happen and it is not going to be
pretty. Jesus knows that he will be judged based on what he said and what he
did.
That is something to think about for
a moment. I mean, we talk about what is going to happen to him. We look at the
story as knowing what happened to Jesus; what we might consider the end of the
story (being handed over and crucified).
I believe this message today is
different. It is not to focus around what is happening to Jesus who is on his
way to the cross. I believe today’s message is to look, really take a look, at
what Jesus did in his life. It is easy to go over a list of things and state
them, but what does it mean to ponder his words and his actions in your heart?
What does it mean to sit with the story of Zacchaeus, a tax collector who is
the scourge of society, and share a meal, OR a leper, who is not to be touched
for fear of being made unclean by that one touch. What does it mean to ponder
this story of Jesus raising his good friend Lazarus, who is thought to be dead?
How often do we sit with one, just
one, of those stories and think about what it means to us in our lives? I see
so many commercials out there telling us that Christmas is coming and it is
time to spend, spend, spend; sometimes it drives me crazy! I was at Home Depot
the other day and I told the cashier that their product placement was very good
“because it made me want what they were selling!” Isn’t that insane? When I
look back on today’s Gospel reading and pondered this reading I realized that I
was focusing on the wrong thing.
I was focusing on the end of the
story. I was focusing on the Christmas aspect of things rather than the Advent
sort of things. That is what this entire scripture reading is about. It is
about preparing our hearts and minds for the coming of the Christ child. Jesus
is not telling us that we should be scared about what is to come. Jesus is
telling us that we are to be aware, awake, and alert. Those are not words that
should scare us. They are words that should call us all to look at ourselves
and our lives.
This scripture reading is meant to
put us all in a mood to think about what we have done, what we will do, and
where God is in our lives and in all that we do. That can sound pretty heavy to
deal with, but I believe that God is calling us all to think about our words
and actions in the world. It is a time to look at the times that we fell short.
It is a time to look at the world and acknowledge that it is broken in so many
ways.
But the Good News is that Jesus is
coming. As we prepare for his birth, we might not have to jump around, excited,
and yelling and screaming that Christmas is coming; BUT maybe it means that we
sit with the Word of God, pray in anticipation that God is sending a son into
the world, for you and me, to walk with us…to help teach us how to live in
God’s light and love. Maybe it means sitting quietly, feeling relieved that
Jesus will come into this world because it is so difficult and that relieve can
be what sustains us…knowing that God is with us.
I believe that God is telling us to
take stock in our lives, to be aware that things we do in life have
consequences, whether positive or negative; that what we say and do is
important in how we live our lives and how we treat our neighbors, our family,
friends, and even our enemies. As I said earlier, this world is broken and we
don’t always treat each other too kindly. Jesus tells us to pay attention to
that because our actions do matter in this life and in the next.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, this
advent season can be spent however we prepare our hearts and minds. Jesus is
coming and it does not have to be a scary time. It can be one of parties or
quietness with the Word of God. God created us all different and so we prepare
differently. Whichever, way we prepare remember, God’s Son is coming to be with
us, show us, and walk with us. May we all take the time during this advent
season to prepare for the coming of the Son of God in our lives and in our
hearts and minds, for the Kingdom of God draws near, thanks be to God.
AMEN!
No comments:
Post a Comment