Will Fitzgerald
November 30, 2008
Isaiah 64:1-9; Mark 13:24-37
Today is the first day of the Christian liturgical year, the first day of Advent. Advent, as you probably know, means “arrival” or “coming.” It’s a time when we are expecting the arrival, the coming, the advent of a new thing, a new age. Of course, because Christmas is now just a few weeks away, our attention is drawn to the arrival of the baby Jesus; or, perhaps more honestly, to the arrival of Christmas meals and celebrations and presents. But in our time of worship, it’s likely that we will be focused on the story of the coming of the Christ child: Jesus’s first advent.
But you will of course notice that our Scriptures today do not speak of the coming of the Christ child. Well, perhaps we can find it in the Isaiah passage: “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down!” As in Christina Rossetti’s poem:
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, love divine—
Love was born at Christmas;
Star and angels gave the sign.
Well perhaps. Reread that scripture: “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presences as when fire kindles brushwood and the first causes water to boil.” The events of Christmas do start the world boiling over with change and chaos: The loud singing of the angels, the flight to Egypt and murder of the innocent children. It’s not what we usually think of, though: we like to think, as in Rossetti’s delightful poem, lovely thoughts in Advent.
But the passage in Mark’s gospel is darker and more in concert with Isaiah’s vision of earthquakes and fire:
But in those days, after that suffering,
The sun will be darkened,
And the moon will not give its light.
The stars will be falling from heaven,
And the powers in heaven will be shaken.
Then, they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds” with great power and glory.
This is a passage about Jesus’s “Second Advent,” Jesus’s Second Coming. The heavens tear open, he appears in the sky with all of his angels, and gathers up his followers from every place and time. It’s the end of the world.
The season of Advent is about as much about this second coming as it is about the first. And about this second advent Jesus is very clear what he wants us to do. And, as followers of Jesus, we pay close attention to what he tells us to do, and try, with Spirit’s help, to practice that.
What does he tell us to do? He tells us four times, in three different ways in my translation:
(1) Beware; that is, be aware (v. 33)
(2) Keep alert. (v 33)
(3) Keep awake. (v. 35)
(4) Keep awake. (v. 37)
As Americans living in the age of the “Left Behind” books, we may be tempted to think of this watchfulness as “discerning the signs,” trying to understand what the creation of the state of Israel means, and the European Union, and so on. I know this occupied a fair amount of my time as an older teen-ager. But the passage is clear that the signs of his coming will be unmistakable and unambiguous. When the European Union expands or contracts, the “Left Behinders” have to jigger their theories about the ten-horned beast of the Revelation. But when Jesus comes in glory gathering his elect—this sign will be as clear as it was unpredictable: “about that day or hour no one knows, not the angels in heaven, not the Son, but only the Father.” Frankly, if Jesus didn’t know when he was to return, I don’t expect to be able to guess the date of his return. Certainly every Christian group that has predicted his imminent return have been wrong so far. The best guess of when Jesus will come again is during a time when no one is expecting his return. One might say that a reason Jesus hasn’t yet returned is that people keep predicting his return, and the Father will have none of that. Perhaps the best way to open up the possibility of his return is to stop predicting it.
So, “Watchfulness,” which Jesus enjoins on us again and again in this passage doesn’t mean matching up socio-political events to fit some theory of how the last days will play out. But what does it mean?
“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. Therefore, keep awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come: in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn.” (v. 34-35)
This passage, and others like it (such as the parable of the talents and the ten virgins we looked at briefly a couple of weeks ago) enjoin us to be about our work, and our work, as was Jesus’ work, is to do the will of the Father. Whatever God has given you to do, do it with all of your might. The job of the doorkeeper in the parable is to look for God to appear. Similarly, our job is to look out for where God is at work, and then our job is to do that work with God.
There have been times and seasons in my life when I have felt more aware and awake about what God is about. I must confess that these days I don’t feel it so much; I feel a certain lethargy in my spiritual life. And I need something or someone to wake me up; I need to wake myself up. It’s been difficult writing this teaching just because I want to encourage people to be watchful, to be looking out for the work of God, but I’m not sure I actually want to do it myself. Jesus isn’t very fond of hypocrites, so, well, it’s not hard to understand my reluctance.
So, “watchful” means
(1) having an increased awareness of how God is active in my life and in the lives of others
(2) “watching out” so that the work we are doing is likely to be less ashamed about what we’re doing with Jesus does come “in the clouds.”
(3) Mantaining an awareness that he might arrive at any time, about his actual return, so when he comes it is not a surprise.
Whole religions have been founded around the idea of being aware, of being “mindful.” And, I suppose we could found a little Christian movement around this idea (the Lord’s Supper would have an important place in this movement). And I want, at this time to open this time up for a discussion and sharing ideas of what practices we engage in that keep us awake and aware of the work of God. Perhaps this is just me asking the question: what can I do to get myself out of my spiritual lethargy? So, let’s talk: what keeps you watchful?