Advent 1, November 28, 2021 at Old First Reformed Church, Brooklyn

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Luke 21: 25-36

Jesus said, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, which marks the traditional beginning of the church year. It’s fitting to be back in our building, making a new beginning today as a community.

Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, and it is a season when we remember how it feels to wait. Finally we are done waiting to be back together in person,

But now in Advent we are waiting for something new.

We are waiting for Christmas, and in the coming weeks we will remember the Christmas story. I remember as a kid, how agonizing was the wait for Christmas. But sometimes we just have to wait. 

A few years ago I was on a long airplane ride. 

We were a few hours into a flight, when the novelty of being airborne, of looking out the window at the clouds, had worn off, and you realize you’re just sitting in cramped seats for several more hours.

And there was a family with young kids in the row behind me.

And one of the kids really wanted something, maybe a cookie, 

And she asked her mom for the cookie. The mom said no.

And the kid asked again. 

I felt the emotional energy escalating, and I wondered where this was gonna lead.

And the mom said to the kid, “Ok. I’m going to give you a choice. You can have the cookie later. Or you can have it never. Which do you choose?”

The kid said “I’ll have it later.” 

And that was that. 

In Advent we are waiting not only for Christmas,

But we remember that the story of Jesus is not over, because we are waiting for him to come back “in a cloud with power and great glory,”  as he says in today’s Gospel reading.

To be precise, Jesus says “the Son of Man” will come in a cloud, but the church has often understood him to be talking about himself.

The Church has been waiting a long time for Jesus to come back.  

And every week in our liturgy we remember that we are waiting for Jesus to come back

In the communion liturgy we sing the mystery of the faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. And in the communion liturgy when we say, Maranatha, which means, Come our Lord, in Jesus’s language Aramaic. And in the Apostle’s creed, we say, “he will come again to judge the living and the dead.” So we are waiting not only for Jesus to come back, but we are also waiting for the judgment that he will bring.

It was illuminating and helpful for me when I learned that in the Hebrew Bible, the same Hebrew word mispat is translated judgment and justice. I wonder when we consider the judgment of Christ, if we could also say the justice of Christ. So we are waiting for Jesus’s return as the day of justice, when God’s justice finally extends throughout all creation and in every human heart.

But, is justice something we have to wait for? We may long for God’s justice to come on earth. Although I wonder if it’s dangerous to think that we can have God’s justice now. Especially if I think I know what God’s judgment is upon another person. And if I am tempted to demand others conform to my understanding of justice.

As Christians we are called to be witnesses of God’s justice in our communities, even as we wait with longing for God’s justice to come on earth. It’s uncomfortable to wait.

But let’s do it for a moment. I’m going to hold a moment of quiet, and I want you to imagine the perfect justice that Jesus will bring when he comes back. What does that justice look like to you? Close your eyes if you want, and just notice how it feels to wait for that.

I don’t like waiting. I want it now.

But I wonder if it’s good to sit in that discomfort sometimes, to remember that we are still waiting for justice. In waiting for justice, we remember how to want justice.

I want to look closely now at the Gospel reading from Luke today.

Jesus is talking about this time when the Son of Man comes on the clouds and brings the kingdom of God.

Jesus tells us that we will know it is drawing close to the day of judgment when we see distress and confusion among nations, and terrible signs in the forces of nature, the roaring of the sea.

The powers of the heavens will be shaken. People fainting from fear and foreboding.

It sounds an awful lot like our world at the moment.

And Jesus tells his followers, when this time comes,

Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

And do not be distracted with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life. But keep awake, and pay attention.

Distraction and worrying are common ways of coping with stressful times. 

“Well, if the world is ending, let’s just party and have a good time.”

Or in contrast, we might be tempted to worry and fret, imagining that by worrying we can change something.

Jesus offers us another way, when we see signs of distress and turmoil in the world— pay attention. And not only that, stand up straight, don’t be afraid, and trust that your redemption is near. 

I wonder also what it means to interpret Jesus’s words in a more spiritual way,

Not only about the turmoil of literal nations, and the roaring of the actual ocean,

But spiritually, when the powers in our hearts and minds are shaken or disturbed,

When we are tempted to submit to terror because things are changing unexpectedly in our lives, in our families, in ourselves, in a way that feels out of our control.

Are there any signs in your life right now that are tempting you to faint from fear and foreboding?

Ultimately, on our journey with Christ, sometimes we just have to take a leap of faith.

I suppose you all are here because you have taken some kind of leap or step of faith,

Or at least you’re curious about taking one.

And here’s my invitation of faith to you today

In times of turmoil,

When there is distress in the world, or in your own soul,

When it feels like the world is ending,

I invite you to believe, that this is the time when Jesus is drawing close to you.

So when you are most distressed, pay attention for Jesus, because your redemption is near.

There’s a story about a person of faith, who is stranded in a terrible flood, with the waters rising fast. They climb up to the roof of their house. Someone comes by on a boat, and asks if they need to be rescued. The person says, “Oh no, I don’t need your help. God is going to save me.” And so the boat leaves.

The waters get higher. Another boat comes by, and the person on the roof says, “No, I don’t need your help. God is going to save me.” And they stay on the roof and keep waiting.

A third boat comes by, and the same thing happens.

So the waters keep rising, and finally the person dies.

In Heaven they meet God, and say “God! What the heck? I kept waiting for you, how come you didn’t help me?”

God says, “I sent you three boats and you refused! What more could I do?”

Waiting for God is a spiritual discipline.

And so is recognizing that God is here.

I love the parable that Jesus tells, about the fig tree.

Watch the branches of the fig tree, he says— when it begins to sprout leaves, you know that summer is coming. So also, when you see all these signs of terror and confusion, you know that that the kingdom of God is near.

This image confused me at first. If Jesus is talking about the end times, why does he use an image of the spring, when new leaves are growing on the trees?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to compare the turmoil and chaos to the fall and winter, when the leaves on the tree shrivel and die, and fall off?

But maybe Jesus is inviting us to change the way we think about times of turmoil:

Not as the ending, but as the beginning:

A time of new growth.

Growth and change can be painful and scary. 

All the more reason we can trust during times of turmoil, that God is here, and God is doing something new.

Jesus points to the fig leaves as signs of his coming.

The sprouting of the fig leaves in spring are not a one time thing:

Each year they die and fall off the tree, and each year they grow again.

Jesus could have pointed to a singular, one-time event as an illustration of his coming again.

But he chooses the coming of spring, something that happens every year, a natural cycle.

I wonder if that’s a clue as to what Jesus’s return will be like. Maybe it won’t be a single event that happens one time only. Maybe when Jesus returns, it’s in a cycle, like the springtime. 

The wait for Springtime in New York is agonizing. 

By the time February is here, I’m already checking every day for the signs of spring, looking for the green shoots of little flowers poking up through the dirt, waiting impatiently for the daffodils to pop open. 

But do you ever feel that springtime happens too fast?

There is an extravagant burst of color and life, all the trees and flowers come to life at the same time, but then it’s over in a flash. Even after I’ve waited so long for spring, I often feel like it’s over too fast, and I wish I had paid more attention to the beauty while it was here.

Maybe it’s similar with the coming of Jesus into the world, into our lives—

We wait for God,

And maybe God is also waiting for us to pay attention.