This is the first Sunday in the Advent season which is a time of announcement of the coming, the birth of the Savior, but the Gospel Scripture for this Sunday contains a different kind of announcement – the Second Coming. Each of the three synoptic gospels contains warnings about the end times. Some contain references to the destruction of the temple which was probably an accomplished fact when the gospels were written but here Luke’s words are more general. But first to set the scene:
• Recall a time of crisis when the world around you seemed to be coming apart. Were there some things that seemed out of your control? What could you control and what resources helped you find your way through?
Now Luke’s recording of Jesus’ announcement with his words of caution and advice about his return:
Luke 21:25-26 “It will seem like all hell has broken loose—sun, moon, stars, earth, sea, in an uproar and everyone all over the world in a panic, the wind knocked out of them by the threat of doom, the powers-that-be quaking.
27-28 “And then—then!—they’ll see the Son of Man welcomed in grand style—a glorious welcome! When all this starts to happen, up on your feet. Stand tall with your heads high. Help is on the way!”
29-33 He told them a story. “Look at a fig tree. Any tree for that matter. When the leaves begin to show, one look tells you that summer is right around the corner. The same here—when you see these things happen, you know God’s kingdom is about here. Don’t brush this off: I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for this one, too—these things will happen. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out.
34-36 “But be on your guard. Don’t let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap, for it’s going to come on everyone, everywhere, at once. So, whatever you do, don’t go to sleep at the switch. Pray constantly that you will have the strength and wits to make it through everything that’s coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man.”
From The Message Version
• What are the signs of the time of the coming of the Son of Man ? How are people reacting to these signs? Can you see any of these kind of events in our world today? Do you think that fear and foreboding by people because of disastrous events is unique to our times?
*Is Jesus’ returning an important part of your theology? See the article below by David Lose which looks at both the idea of a second coming and living our real lives today.
• How is Jesus portrayed as returning? How would you imagine it happening if it occurred tomorrow, where might it happen and how would it received? Revelations prophesies in this fashion:
21:1 I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.
2 I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.
3-5 I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”
From the Message Version
What are some of the major themes of the Revelations scripture? Are any of them meaningful to you?
• Jesus uses the analogy of springtime to speak of signs of his return – of the spiritual renewal of the world. Have you had times of spiritual renewal? What prepared you for the experience? What triggered it? If not are there signs that you should seek renewal?
• Can times of trial be a part of our journey to redemption? Have you discovered things about your faith because of hard times? Did signs of God’s presence come through as you experienced the difficulties?
• Jesus tells us not to get distracted, to pay attention, to be alert, that we can miss the signs if we forget we are on a faith journey. What is your experience in maintaining a faith focus in hard times? What helps and what hinders a faithful journey when things are really bad for us?
• Jesus seems to say that these events will happen in the lifetime of those he is speaking to? What do you make of this prediction some 2000 years later, what do his words mean to you as a person of faith today?
• Much of scripture and certainly this one are about the faithfulness of God to the promises God made to humankind. For those of us who live in the real world the events in our lives, the lives of those around us and the ongoing injustice, famine, war and natural disasters can test this certainty. So we must rely on faith and the writer of Hebrews gives us a very brief but wonderful definition of faith:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
From The New English Version
This is indeed the human condition, connected to the mysterious infinity by faith alone.
Closing Litany (from Psalm 25)
Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.
Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.
Amen
Next Week’s Scriptures: Luke 3:1-6, Philippians 1:3-11, Luke 1:68-79, Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4
From WorkingPreacher.org
Apocalyptic texts come across to most of our hearers as alien, strange, even off-putting. Truth be told, whatever worries we may occasionally harbor about, nuclear or environment holocaust, most of us express little day-to-day concern about the end of the world and even less about Jesus' second coming. In this respect, we may feel that we live at a great distance from Luke's audience.At the same time, we are as intimately acquainted as they were with the challenges presented by waiting for an event that seems late in coming. We may be waiting for an event on a national or global scale like economic recovery, an end to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, or concerted international action to reduce pollution. Or we may be waiting an event on a personal level like the results from a biopsy, a letter from an estranged child, or the safe return of a loved one from a tour of duty. Whatever the case, we know the challenge of waiting, the stress of waiting, the anxiety of waiting.
In this context, Luke offers us a perspective that, while it will not remove our waiting, it may affect its character. We live, according to Luke, between the two great poles of God's intervention in the world: the coming of Christ in the flesh and his triumph over death. In this regard we should not forget that these verses serve as the hinge between Jesus' teaching and his passion – and the coming of Christ in glory at the end of time and his triumph over all the powers of earth and heaven. This "in-between time," though fraught with tension, is nevertheless also characterized by hope as both the beginning and the ending of the story of the Church – and therefore of our story –which has been secured by Christ. We are therefore free to struggle, to wait, to work, to witness – indeed to live and die – with hope because we know the end of the story.
From Moses to Martin Luther King, Jr., history is full of examples of those who, because they had been to the mountaintop, had peered into the promised land, and had heard and believed the promise of a better future, found the challenges of the present not only endurable, but hopeful. We, too, amid the very real setbacks, disappointments, or worries of this life, can "stand up and raise [our] heads" because we have heard Jesus' promise that our "redemption draws near."
David Lose
Marbury E. Anderson Biblical Preaching Chair
Luther Seminary
St. Paul, MN
