When Are We Going To Be There?

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
Manassas Presbyterian Church
Manassas, Virginia
December 3, 2006
The First Sunday in Advent

When Are We Going To Be There?
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Luke 21:25-36

Today marks the beginning of Advent for us,
the wonder-filled season that leads us to Christmas.
It is my favorite time of the year.
December is filled with singing and lights, gifts and joy;
Smiles are more apparent,
and there is a lightness in our hearts,
even as we find ourselves busier than ever
juggling jobs, homes, families,
decorating, shopping, and travel.

It seems a bit paradoxical, then, even a little unfair,
that the lectionary text for this first Sunday
in such a festive season
sounds so bleak, so dark:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth distress among the 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.”

These are not the words of some wild-eyed prophet;
these words come from our Lord Jesus Christ himself!
The one who was born to bring us hope
seems to be throwing a bucket of cold water
on our festivities before we even get the Christmas tree
straight in the stand.
Where is Joy to the World?
Where is peace and goodwill to all?

We have to remember what Advent is all about:
The next 22 days are not a countdown to Christmas,
not a reminder of how many days we have left
to get all our shopping done,
all our cards written, all our homes decorated.
Advent is a time for us to focus
on more than the birth of our Lord:
Advent is a time for us to remember the promise,
a time for us to reflect on the promise:
the promise that the Christ
who came into the world in Bethlehem,
is the Christ who will come again,
come again in glory,
come again to bring the world to its fulfillment.

It is easy to overlook the second coming of Christ;
even for ministers, focusing on the birthday party
is a lot more fun.
And we should celebrate with joy
the birth of our Lord – absolutely!
We should celebrate with lights and decorations,
with carols and cheer.
But even as we look back on that night
when love was born in the stable in Bethlehem,
we are also called to look forward,
look to the future,
the future that WILL come someday,
when Christ will come again, come in all his glory.

That’s what Jesus was talking about in our second lesson.
The text comes near the end of the Gospel according to Luke.
Christ’s death on the cross was just a few days away,
and he knew it.
He knew that the days and months following his death
were going to be difficult for his disciples.
But even has he spoke bluntly to prepare them
for the struggles that lay ahead,
he also wanted to give them a message of hope.

He reached back to the prophet Daniel
to assure his followers that the day would come
when “the Son of Man [would come] with the clouds of heaven.
…[And] to him [would be] given dominion and glory and kingship,
that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.
His dominion [would be] an everlasting dominion
and [would not] not pass away….”
(Dan. 7:13-14)

This is the message of hope
that Jesus wanted his disciples to hear.
It is the message that Jesus wants us to hear today.
Our first Advent candle conveys this message of hope,
this message of expectation,
and anticipation,
for that day that we know will come:
when Christ will come again,
come to make all things new.

We use the word “eschatology” to describe this coming;
It is a rather fancy word that means “the end time”.
We do not know when that time will arrive.
Even Jesus himself didn’t know.
But what Jesus tried to teach his disciples,
and what Jesus is trying to teach you and me here and now
is that we should always be watching, waiting,
ready, alert,
prepared,
as we await with hope,
for that day that will come,
as Jesus reminds us,
“like a thief in the night.”

Of course, we’d like to think that
we’ll have a little bit of advance warning,
a little time to get ready.
Even the most socially-challenged guest knows enough
to telephone first to give you an hour or so
to straighten up the house,
take a shower, and put on clean clothes.
Jesus understood this need in us.
So he talked about signs and portents.
But then what do we do with them?
We spend so much time talking about the signs
that we risk not being ready when that times does come.

When will that time come?
We don’t know; it is that simple.
What signs shall we look for?
There are many followers of Christ who look to events like
war in the Middle East,
natural disasters,
or pandemics and say,
“These are clear signs of the end times!”

I have two problems with folks who busy themselves this way.
First, Jesus tells us again and again
that when the time comes,
it will come like a thief in the night,
suddenly, immediately, bang, it’s here.

Second, how does such a picture
fit with a God of love, a God who is love,
a God who so loved that world that he gave his only son,
a son who taught that it is by our love for one another
that we are known as his disciples?

Perhaps, just perhaps,
the signs we ought to be looking for are
as Jesus suggested in our lesson if we read more closely:
like blossoms on a tree that are about to burst forth in full fruit:
that the eschatological signs we should look for are
the absence of war,
the eradication of poverty,
the elimination of ignorance,
the end of racism, sexism, and ethnic conflict;
when children no longer go to bed hungry,
when the elderly no longer feel alone,
when young and old alike no longer live in fear:
When all can look to a future filled with hope,
filled with expectation,
filled with anticipation.

When we as humans,
we as humanity, bear rich fruit,
because we have built as much of the Kingdom
as we can humanly hope to build.

We Christians are like the child
on a long trip who constantly asks
“When are we going to be there?”
God’s response to us is no different
from that any other parent:
“we will be there when we get there”.
Our job, our calling, is simply to work to prepare ourselves,
to make ourselves ready for that time when we get there,
And the surest way to be ready,
the surest way to keep alert
is to work for the Kingdom
to work on building it with conviction and persistence,
energy and enthusiasm.

O Come O Come Emmanuel!
Those words reflect a promise,
a promise filled with hope,
a promise made in that stable so long ago,
a promise that God will keep.
The question Advent sets before us is not,
“are you ready for Christmas?”
The question Advent sets before us is:
"Are you ready for God to keep his promise?"

AMEN