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Lesson: Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Holy Gospel: Mark 13:24-37
The Rev. Ray Gotko
In the Name of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I have for you this morning a traditional three point sermon. The reason for this is that today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark has within it three distinct sections. Those sections can be titled: The Coming of the Son of Man, The Lesson of the Fig Tree, and The Necessity for Watchfulness.
Let us start by putting the readings in context to our liturgical celebration today. Today, as many of you know, is the first Sunday of the Season of Advent. This is the first Sunday of our liturgical year; it is like our Christian New Year’s Day. During the season of Advent, there are a couple of things that we are encouraged to do.
The first is to imagine God’s creation at the time before the birth of Jesus Christ. We are to imagine a world longing for God’s intervention. We are to imagine a world longing for God’s truth, God’s peace, God’s freedom, and reconciliation of humanity with God.
Also, we are called to understand that Christ will return. We await the coming of the Son of Man; during this season, we are encouraged to contemplate that and prepare for it.
Mark describes what the arrival of the Son of Man will be like. The sun will be darkened. The moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven. And the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Sounds like pretty scary times, doesn’t it?
As a child I was well aware of what the coming of Christ would be like. I attended Baptist Vacation Bible School. It terrified me. When I was young, our neighbors were the Porters, and their children were named Doreen, Kathy and Marshall. One weekend Saturday, my parents and the Porter parents were away. So Doreen, the oldest, was the babysitter and we were at the Porter home that day. By the way, the Porters were Roman Catholic. What started out as an uneventful day did not finish that way.
Just after noon, the skies filled with the blackest clouds you can imagine. There were constant rumblings of thunder, and an endless clashing of lightning. It rained so hard that you could not see ten feet in front of you. The wind was constantly howling. Then, at a particular moment, the skies opened and large balls of hail came pounding to earth; with the wind, they were hitting everywhere. It was so bad that the big plate glass window in the dining room cracked from one end to the other. We were terrified. Then we noticed that water was pouring down the stairs from the second floor.
We were sure that the coming of Christ was next. Doreen, the eldest and the wisest, ran for the Holy Water. With it, she and her siblings marked themselves and prayed for their deliverance. There was a quick debate following that as to whether my brother Mark and I should be marked with Holy Water and, if so, would we be saved? It was decided that we could not be marked so, and that since we were not baptized, there was no hope of us being saved.
The reason I tell you this story is because it had a happy ending. Christ did not come. I was baptized many years later as an adult, and this experience clearly formed my theory of baptism and how we should feel and treat the non-baptized, and it has influenced me since then.
My first point is that there will be some false calls before the Son of Man comes. We have been through war, we have been through disease, we have been through economic turmoil. We will go through more.
Okay, what does the lesson of the fig tree have to offer us about the Season of Advent? We all know that there is a cycle to life. The sun sets, the sun comes up, the sun sets, one day. Winter, spring, summer, fall, one year. Twenty eight days to the lunar cycle. Tides go in and out. There is a cycle to life. We are born, we live, we pay taxes, we die.
We know that the church year begins with Advent 1 and ends with Christ the King. So in the cycle of our year, we start out contemplating God’s coming to humanity, God’s arrival on Christmas, we then have the Christmas Season. Then we move into a period called Lent, in preparation for Easter. Then we have Pentecost, then the summer, which is called Ordinary Time. Then we build up to when we celebrate the redemption of creation, where Christ rules, on the Feast of Christ the King, which is what we celebrated last week. So we have a cycle here. All of us have been through this year after year after year.
Thee is a story about a man who had the rare opportunity to talk with God, and his name was not Moses. I do not remember his name. He said, “Is it true, God, that a day is like a thousand years to you?”
God said, “Yes.”
He said, “Is it true, God, that a million US dollars is like a penny to you?”
God said, “Yes.”
He said, “God, may I have a penny?”
God said, “Sure, in a few days.”
My second point is this, that while we know the cycles of life on earth, we should not expect that they, in any way, suggest God’s cycle. It is a completely different time thing.
Let us move on to the third, and final, section of today’s reading about the necessity for watchfulness. “Beware; keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.”
We have a problem here. Based on the history of the church for 2,000 years, you and I will probably die before the coming of the Son of Man. Remember in the context of the reading, it was promised to happen before this generation passes away. But we do not want to get to the point where we are so complacent that we are like the turkey that develops trust, a bond and even some love for the farmer who feeds it every day. Then, one day, the time will come for Thanksgiving.
Whether it is at the time of the coming of the Son of Man, or it is the time of our death, which not one of us knows when that will be, we need to be prepared.
Let me tell you that from a pastoral perspective, in working with people who are approaching death, let me assure you that there is a big difference between those who are dying and have prepared for such, and those who have not.
There is a story told about a young monk whose responsibility at the monastery was to take and visit the brothers who were close to death. So he would go each morning to visit two in particular. Let us just say that the first was called Brother James. He would walk into Brother James’ room, Brother James would be lying there with a big smile on his face. “Good morning; it is great to see you. How are you doing? Wasn’t it a wonderful day yesterday? Did you hear NPR yesterday afternoon?” You now the type.
Then he would go see Brother Joseph. He would walk in and say good morning, and then Brother Joseph went into a litany of “My bed is too hard. Breakfast was cold. Wasn’t it too sunny yesterday?” You know the type.
The young monk, when he had his regular meeting with the Abbott of the monastery. He told the Abbott that he was quite bothered by this and wanted to know how people end up like that. The Abbott said, “Let me tell you, Son, how you live today, what you value, the choices you make, will determine how you will be at that point in your life.” I think that is very true.
Those who have struggled with their faith for a lifetime have a much different experience of death and of those who have died than those who expect, out of the blue, that they are, at the last minute, going to find unbelievable comfort, courage and strength in either dying or mourning. It does not work that way.
The fact of the matter is that we are here for a purpose. I would love for the people who are not here to hear this. That is part of the reason we get together every week.
My third point is this: do not put off to tomorrow what you need to do today to strengthen your faith for the last day – whether it is the coming of Man or death.
In summary, later this morning we will make a statement of our faith: Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.
So here are my three points to consider from today’s Gospel:
We know the Son of Man will come.
We know the Son of Man will come in due season, according to God’s good time.
We know that we are to continue to wait and to watch for the day the Son of Man comes.
May God grant us the grace and patience to do so. Amen.
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