Text: Mark 13:24-37 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
The Coming of the Son of Man
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
The Necessity for Watchfulness
32 “But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Take heed, watch;[a] for you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35 Watch therefore—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Watch.”
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
“I believe because it is impossible.”
This is a quote from the early Christian writer Tertullian, who was born in 160 AD and died in 220 AD. He was a prolific writer who had a tremendous impact on the development of Western thought.
Yet, he knew that – as duty-bound as we are to try to understand our faith – neither he, nor the rest of us, will ever fully comprehend it, because we are finite; God is infinite. As G. K. Chesterton put it, “It is only the fool who tries to get the heavens inside his head, and not unnaturally his head bursts. The wise man is content to get his head inside the heavens.”[1] In other words, for all of our study, thought, and doctrines, and as much as God has revealed Himself, especially through Jesus, at the end of the day, we say with Tertullian, “I believe because it is impossible;” we recognize that our faith is a mystery.
One of the greatest and most sublime of God’s mysteries is the Incarnation. It doesn’t matter how many times we celebrate the event of Jesus’ birth – when we let the enormity of that event sink in, it still rocks us back on our heels. Think about it – God, the Creator of all that is, took upon Himself our human form, and not just our human form, but the weakest and most vulnerable human form, that of a baby. And God did it to reconcile us with Him, to close the gap that had developed between us and Him. With that event, the entire trajectory of human existence changed. The Babe in the Manger saved the world.
As Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola write, “What was God’s answer to saving the world and righting all wrongs? God became small and dirty … Great power resides in the small, spare, simple. … A little town birthed the Messiah. And a small room on the lower level (a dirty room called a stable) cradled the Son of God.
“Little is large if God is in it.”[2]
But, oddly, our lesson for this first Sunday in Advent 2017 says nothing about that Babe, or about what happened before that, like the angel appearing Mary, or Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, or anything else we’re familiar with when this time of year rolls around. In fact, I think we can all agree with Prof. Karoline Lewis who asserts that “[t]he Gospel text for the first Sunday in Advent is certainly not anticipated and most likely not welcome.”[3]
The text for today is taken from what’s been called the “Little Apocalypse,” based on its similarity to the Great Apocalypse found in the Revelation of John.
We understand the word “apocalypse” to mean a catastrophe, or a disaster, or destruction on a massive scale. The Revelation of John, the best example of an apocalypse, talks about nothing less than the utter annihilation of the world in the Last Days.
Richard Niell Donovan writes the following: “Apocalyptic literature usually comes out of difficult times. For example, the book of Daniel comes from the era (165 B.C.) when Antiochus Epiphanes profaned the temple and tried to impose pagan religious practices on the Jews. The book of Revelation comes from the era (95 A.D.) when Christians were being persecuted because they refused to worship the emperor. While apocalyptic literature might seem strange to us, the word apocalypse means unveiling or revelation. Apocalyptic literature typically proclaims a message of hope in coded language not understandable except by insiders and therefore unlikely to draw the ire of hostile authorities.
“Apocalyptic literature usually reflects a strong dualism––good against evil. It presents dramatic visions full of symbols––numbers, colors, and animals––codes that must be explained or interpreted. It sees time, not as cyclic (as the Greeks thought of time), but as a linear movement toward God’s final judgment. It regards present troubles as mere birth pangs that will lead to the final consummation of God’s reign. It holds out hope for the faithful who are suffering now, but who will receive a Godly reward in the end…
“At the time of the writing of this Gospel, Christians were experiencing persecution. Jerusalem had been destroyed. This chapter presents Jesus’ promise that time is moving toward the coming of the Son of Man, who will gather all the people together and make all things right.”[4]
Apocalyptic thought, and the literature that springs from it, runs like a red thread through our history – from those prophetic writings in the New Testament to other non-Scriptural books; from Nostradamus to 19th-Century writers like Richard Jeffries, Ignatius Donnelly, and H. G. Wells to 20th-Century science fiction writers like Philip K. Dick (whose novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was the basis for the movie “Blade Runner”) and Nevil Shute to recent works like Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (also recently made into a movie). There have also been many apocalyptic groups – the Heaven’s Gate cult springs to mind, as well as other cults that had leaders with an apocalyptic bent – David Koresh, Jim Jones, Harold Camping (not exactly a cult leader, but he did make a career of predicting the exact date and time of the End of Days…but in 2013, his days were ended instead). And one of my all-time favorite TV series was “Millennium,” which had a its backdrop the potential upheavals that would result from the calendar going from 1999 to 2000 (they didn’t take into consideration that the millennium actually would start in 2001…oh, well. Still a great show).
There has always been something deeply satisfying for many people about having the inside track on upcoming events, and being able to read the signs so as to escape the calamity to come. “Forewarned is forearmed,” as the saying goes. And, as we talked about last week, there’s also something really appealing about hearing somebody tell you that all “those people” who’ve done bad things to you are going to get it!
But when Jesus talked about wars and rumors of wars, He wasn’t making any prophecies of his own – he was just referring to attitudes and concepts that were already present in order to make his points.
The first point is: When you hear people telling you that the end is right around the corner, don’t believe them, because nobody – not the angels in heaven, not even the Son, knows when that will happen. Don’t waste your time with predictions, in other words. Leave it in God’s hands.
Not worrying about just when the other shoe’s going to drop really frees us up for the second point – watch. “Watch therefore—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.”
The focus of this time should not be on the dramatic imagery; the essential fact is not all the turmoil. It is the certainty that Jesus will return. We need to concentrate on that. So we need to be vigilant.
This is no surprise to any of us. The most familiar theme of Advent is waiting. The word “advent” comes from the Latin “adventus,” and literally means “coming,” “arrival” or “appearance.” The Christian Church has been setting aside the four weeks before Christmas as a time of preparation, waiting, and watching since the fifth century.
“Watch therefore … lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.” The thing that’s always nagged at me about this statement is that it certainly could make us nervous and anxious. And this season is already anxiety-producing enough without adding constant watchfulness on to it!
But these words aren’t meant to give rise to fearful and hysterical expectation. I think they’re meant as more of an invitation. The clue that that might be the case is in Jesus’ own statement about the blossoming fig tree being a sign that spring is coming; spring is when the world warms up after the long cold winter and new life sprouts up all around us. We’ve all heard the phrase “In waiting there is fulfillment.” I think that is at the heart of this season. I also think that our kids – especially the younger ones – can teach us a lot at this time of year about what that old phrase means.
So as we live into the next few weeks of promise, let’s replace anxiety with joyful anticipation!
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
[1] Chesterton, G.K., quoted in Barclay, William, The Gospel of Mark, The New Daily Study Bible, Louisville, KY, Westminster John Knox Press, 2001, p. 369
[2] Sweet, Leonard and Viola, Frank, Jesus: A Theolgraphy, Thomas Nelson, 2012, pp. 55-56
[3] Lewis, Karoline, “Commentary on Mark 13:24-37,” November 27, 2011, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1145
[4] Donovan, Richard Niell, “Biblical Commentary (Bible Study), Mark 13:24-37,” SermonWriter.org, https://www.sermonwriter.com/biblical-commentary/mark-1324-37