When
some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with
beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he (Jesus) said, “As
for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone
will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
They
asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign
that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware
that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say,
‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
“When
you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these
things must take place first, but the end will not follow
immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be
great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and
there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
“But
before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they
will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought
before kings and governors because of my name.
This
will give you an opportunity to testify.
So
make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance;
for
I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will
be able to withstand or contradict.
You
will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and
friends; and they will put some of you to death.
You
will be hated by all because of my name.
But
not a hair of your head will perish.
By
your endurance you will gain your souls.
Do
you remember the classic Christmas carol, “We Need a Little
Christmas?” It was written by Jerry Herman and first was heard
onstage in his 1966 Broadway musical Mame.
In the show, Mame has lost her fortune in the Wall Street crash of
1929. In classic Mame style, she decides that her nephew Patrick and
two faithful (now unpaid) household servants need “a little
Christmas” NOW to cheer them up. In Ace Collins book Stories
Behind the Greatest Hits of Christmas, he
writes that at the time that Jerry Herman penned the lyrics to the
song...America was depressed and divided. The mid to late 1960s were
a time of upheaval. The Vietnam War, the integration of schools, the
assassinations of prominent politicians and social leaders, and the
threat of another World War – this time with the Soviet Union –
had everyone on pins and needles. Millions were depressed, feeling as
if the best days in life were behind them. Suicide rates were rising.
Television preachers were proclaiming that the end times were at
hand. Americans were finding more ways to divide rather than unite.
Sounds eerily familiar.
But
when Jerry Herman sat down to write scenes in the musical that
followed the stock market crash...he knew that he needed to lift
people's spirits. But how does one crawl out of a Depression? What
brings true happiness? That's when he realized that the play needed a
big dose of “the most wonderful time of the year.” He had
observed that even in the midst of the Depression in New York City –
Christmas had a way of transforming moods and lives. Jerry Herman
wrote in his autobiography that, “You don't have to wait for a
special day to celebrate Christmas. It's more important to celebrate
Christmas when you need it.” Because Christmas is about hope. It is
about the realization of the anticipated. It is about a gift of love.
I
love Christmas and lest you think that I am rushing the season – it
may interest you to know that originally Advent was 7 weeks. It was
shortened to 4 weeks in the 11th century by Pope Gregory VI. Although I don't understand his rationale
for shortening Advent – I like the idea of restoring a longer one.
We all know that there is a lot competing for our attention during
this time of year. But it is interesting to think that Advent
competes for attention with Christmastide. Advent – the time of
waiting and preparing and anticipating the SECOND coming of Christ –
gets overshadowed by Christmastide...the fulfillment of the waiting
and preparing and anticipating of the FIRST coming. And that is a
major loss because this is the one time of the church year
specifically dedicated to this focus. We KNOW the rest of the story –
we get to see Christmastide in the rear view mirror. We KNOW this
tiny baby grows up to be Jesus. Who walked on Earth, fully God and
fully human at the same time!
We
know that Jesus gathered followers preaching a radical new idea –
that God loves us and wants to be in relationship with each of us. He
loves us!
And
we know the hard part of the story – how Jesus was persecuted. How
he was falsely accused, disbelieved, abandoned by those closest to
him, tried and convicted. We know about the dark day when he was
crucified and the world went dark. And he was laid in a tomb.
AND
we know the rest of the story! We know about Easter. We know that we
serve a risen savior. Who ascended into heaven and is our advocate to
the Father in heaven.
So
– we can approach Advent in a whole new light. With a different
perspective. Imagine what it would feel like if you didn't know...if
you had been told to expect a Messiah, some day...
This
is what Isaiah was telling the people of Israel – about a promise
yet to be fulfilled. And he's delivering this promise to a dejected,
defeated and depressed group of people. After 60 years in captivity
in Babylon, a remnant of Israelite survivors, battle worn and world
weary, was allowed to return home. Whey they came back from Babylon,
though, what they found was not very promising. Nothing was the way
they remembered it. Everything they had built had been destroyed.
They had returned home, and their homes were no longer there. Coming
up with a plan for moving forward was not easy.
I
think here about all the people in Louisiana who were evacuated due
to flooding, and of the people in California and Washington who have
had to flee their homes because of wildfires. They left their houses
and their belongings and had to wait patiently, not knowing what was
happening to their possessions, until it was safe to return home.
Some people went home to find everything as they had left it. Others
came home to find a house still standing, but many things destroyed
and a massive clean-up and restoration to undertake. And of course,
some returned to find everything gone.
We
know what this looks like. We watch people go through this on
television practically every day. So we can imagine what it must have
been like for the Israelites. This was an extremely difficult
circumstance for Isaiah to speak to. What do you say when people are
in crisis, when they’ve lost everything, and the future doesn’t
look very promising? What could the Lord, through the mouth of
Isaiah, say at this point that would help these returning refugees?
Isaiah
says that he has been listening carefully for the voice of God, and
God has spoken. Through Isaiah, God speaks a word of hope and promise
to the chosen people: “Pay close attention now:
I’m creating new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles,
chaos, and pain are things of the past, to be forgotten. Look ahead
with joy. Anticipate what I’m creating: I’ll create Jerusalem as
sheer joy, create my people as pure delight. I’ll take joy in
Jerusalem, take delight in my people: No more sounds of weeping in
the city, no cries of anguish; No more babies dying in the cradle, or
old people who don’t enjoy a full lifetime; One-hundredth birthdays
will be considered normal—anything less will seem like a cheat.
They’ll build houses and move in. They’ll plant fields and eat what they grow. No more building a house that some outsider takes over, No more planting fields that some enemy confiscates, For my people will be as long-lived as trees, my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.
They
won’t work and have nothing come of it, they won’t have children
snatched out from under them. For they themselves are plantings
blessed by God, with their children and grandchildren likewise
God-blessed. Before they call out, I’ll answer. Before they’ve
finished speaking, I’ll have heard.
Wolf
and lamb will graze the same meadow, lion and ox eat straw from the
same trough, but snakes—they’ll get a diet of dirt! Neither
animal nor human will hurt or kill anywhere on my Holy Mountain,”
says God.”
There
is hope. And so the people of Israel waited. Were they always
patient? Were they always good? Not all the time and not as good as
they could be or should be. Just like us. Just like us as children
waiting for Christmas and just like us as adults impatiently wanting
that peace on earth – that sheer joy of the New Jerusalem. The hymn
that we sang earlier expresses the wanting and waiting...O Come, O
Come, Emmanuel. Ransom captive Israel. Mourning in exile...waiting
until the Son of God appears. Then we'll rejoice. We're waiting for
someone to save us, to bring wisdom and order and knowledge and
direction. We desire your coming. We want to experience all peoples
being of one heart and mind – to shake off envy, strife and
quarrels. Please...we need you! You are the source of hope, peace,
cheer, joy...and love.
Advent
is about more than preparing for the birth of the Christ child and
the beginning of Jesus' walk on Earth. It is a wonderful and
incredible gift from God. It is worthy of celebrating and preparing
for – and it will be the focus of upcoming weeks. But Advent is
about preparing for Jesus to come to Earth again. The second arrival.
The promise of the New Earth and New Jerusalem. And that takes the
idea of anticipation to a whole new level.
Today
we hear Jesus describe the “end of the world as we know it” in
terms more frightening than hopeful. “Wars and insurrections” are
not, says Jesus, clear signs of the end of the age. No. That kind of
turmoil is simply situation normal for world history. “Portents and
signs in the heavens,” often considered across many cultures to be
“sure signs” of the end are instead, simply part of the
inevitable and regular sufferings of the present age.
And
it only gets worse. Jesus goes on to tell his disciples to expect all
of these things to be happening, and to experience persecution on top
of it all.
They
will escape none of this. The question for disciples is, how will we
live in the midst of it, here and now?
What
do we do when things go wrong, when our lives fall apart, and we
don’t know what to do or where to turn or how to keep going on?
What do we do when life seems to have backed us into a corner and we
simply can’t find the strength or the courage to go on? What do we
do?
We
run to God. Because God is the only one we can really count on to
turn things around. God is the one we can trust to make all things
new.
- A new heaven and a new earth.
- A place where God is so near that “before they call, God will answer, and while they are yet speaking, God will hear.”
- A time when “the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, the serpent’s food shall be dust, and they shall not hurt or destroy on all God’s holy mountain.”
- A word of hope from God, through Isaiah, to the people of Israel, during their most desperate hour.
We
need to remember that God has the power to heal even the most broken
and damaged things imaginable. God is so powerful, so loving, so
amazing, and so steadfast that literally nothing is beyond the
possibility of God’s healing. God IS able to make all things new in
any situation. We need to KNOW that, so that we can be strengthened
for whatever trial lies ahead.
Jesus
gives his followers this promise: “I will give you words and a
wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand,”
Jesus teaches there will be disasters of all sorts. Your own lives
will be threatened. Keep your eyes on me. Keep your ears open for my
guidance. Trust. Listen. Period.
Chances
are high that if you are Christians in the United States, you are
experiencing no real persecution. People may disagree with you.
Government policies may not be what you prefer. But no one is out to
arrest you, torture you, or execute you because of your faith. So how
does this apply to us?
If
no one is out to threaten your safety or destroy your body, they are
still out to capture your allegiance from following Jesus and
spreading the good news of God’s kingdom. There are forces out to
redirect your desire from desiring the kingdom of God above all else
to desiring what they want you to desire.
Jesus
instructed his disciples long ago in the face of all kinds of
upheavals to do one thing: Always keep trusting and listening to my
voice. You’ll be given what is needed.
The
world doesn’t need to persecute us to stop us. It only needs to
divert us. Wars, uprisings, portents, even threats, these are all
diversions. They take our eyes off Jesus. They call us to trust in
their impressive power, and to reduce our trust in him.
We
get worn down and frustrated and overwhelmed. It seems as though the
world is full of bad news. We get discouraged and feel isolated,
depressed, fearful that we won't make a positive impact on the world.
Fearful that we won't make any impact at all. How do we climb out of
a Depression?
Maybe
we need to take a page out of Jerry Herman's book...maybe we need a
little Christmas. What is it about Christmas that transforms moods?
Is it the lights, the presents, family, traditions, cookies, carols,
worship? Yes.
Yes
to all of it. Everyone is affected differently, but overall...it is a
time to let go of petty quarrels, to look at each person in your
life to examine what gifts they bring from God. It is a time when you
stop being irritated by your uncle Bob's endless stories about family
members that you've never met. Transform that impatience to an
appreciation for his memory and his desire to share history. Perhaps
it is a time that you stop to actually tell your sister how much you
have always admired her sense of style – instead of pointing out
that her new shoes could feed a family of four for a week.
Transforming our perceptions to remove our tendency to judge...well,
that's not an easy task.
But
it isn't an impossible task. And Jesus promised he'd help. We don't
serve a tiny baby in a manger. We serve a risen Savior! We know the
rest of the story! Jesus did come in a humble way...that time. He's
coming back in a different way. Are we prepared? Are we doing what
we've promised? Are we spreading this message of love and acceptance?
Are we serving the world AS church or are we just coming TO church?
We
are faced with challenges. As a country, as a church, as a community,
as individuals, as families. Challenges and situations that seem out
of anyone's control. Be reassured. There isn't anything that God
can't heal or restore.
The
Lord promises healing, not only for our personal needs,
but for our communal needs. As we look around at our communities, our
nation, and our global neighbors and see so much brokenness, it may
seem impossible to believe that the wounds of this world can ever be
healed.
But!
We have been promised by the resurrection of Jesus Christ that God
will make all things new. We can’t make the world into a place that
is free from hate, free from strife, free from suffering and death,
free from evil, or free from disaster. We surely can’t. But our God
can. God can create new heavens and a new earth, a place where the
former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Trust
Jesus. Keep trusting him. Listen for Jesus. Help one another listen.
Re-divert your attention, and help others be re-diverted back to
Jesus. His is the wisdom. His are the true words. His is the power to
enable us to endure
with
faithfulness what none of us can escape.
The
world as we know it is ending. It doesn’t want to. But it is surely
ending, superseded
by the coming of the kingdom of God. Do not be afraid or anxious.
Rejoice in every sign of the kingdom’s coming. And
keep trusting Jesus.
Because
ultimately, with all apologies to Jerry Herman and Mame...this season
we need to take a moment and recognize that not only do we need a
little Christmas with all the joy and excitement that brings... We
really “need a little Jesus.” We need a little Jesus now. Amen.
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