1 - Our Shocking Hope
Notes
Transcript
Advent - Adventure
Advent - Adventure
The word Adventure comes from the word Advent - nothing to do with the Christmas Season - but the meaning is important.
It has to do with new arrivals and new beginnings.
I like the idea of a new adventure.
Celebrating thins - ‘about to happen’, from advenire ‘arrive’.
Happened, Happening and Still to Happen
Happened, Happening and Still to Happen
Because Advent is the four Sundays before Nativity - the birth of Jesus - we might get confused.
Thinking that it is all and only about Jesus being born in a stable - 2000 years ago in Bethlehem.
And of course that is important.
That is the celebration of what has happened.
But Advent is more about the ‘Still to Happen’
What has God got in store for us next.
The Happened - Jesus Born.
The Still to Happen - God’s Future.
The Happening - What God is Doing Now.
The Still to Happen - and the What is Happening Now - all hinge on what happened when Jesus was born 2000 years ago.
But during this season we focus on what we expect.
Our Spirits Wait
Our Spirits Wait
I get excited when I go to someone’s house for dinner and I see they’ve put the special spoon at the top of the table setting.
The knife, the fork - and then at the top - a spoon - and its not a soup spoon - its an ice cream shaped kind of spoon.
The promise of something sweet and delicious with which to end the meal.
Our Spirits Wait - Expectantly - because we have seen a sign - a sign of something more - and that sign is something as simple as Jesus - born in a manger.
Jesus - the Son of God - his life then - his witness - then - echoes through to now like that desert spoon at the table.
Saying to us - There is more!
And so - during this season of Advent we will reflect on 4 themes:
Our Shocking Hope
Our Just Peace
Our Fierce Joy
Love that Transforms
Today - we reflect on our Shocking Hope.
The Shock of Hope
The Shock of Hope
In Mark 13:24-27 Jesus describes what looks like the end of the world:
Mark 13:24–25 (NRSV)
24 “But in those days, after that suffering, 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.
…the sun will be darkened
…the moon will not give its light
…the starts will fall from heaven
…powers in the heavens will be shaken
Jesus is describing cataclysmic events - the sort that the world seldom expects to see.
I’m not such a great astronomer - but if you leave me looking at the sky for a bit - I’ll find the Southern Cross - and probably Mars… And my favourite - Orion’s Belt.
I don’t see the stars so clearly in Cape Town - but growing up I always loved looking up to see Orion’s belt and say to myself - O Good - I’m still in the same universe.
Back in Old Testament times and Jesus times - without really knowing what the Moon, Stars and Sun were - any thing that made them change was considered a bit scary.
Asteroid showers - Would be terrifying.
Eclipses of the sun or moon - would seem like the end of the world.
I got a huge fright one day when I looked out to see that the moon was a bright red - only to realise that the mountain was on fire - and the smoke in the atmosphere was making the moon look strange.
It made me realise that much of the language in the Bible - about the moon turning to blood - reflects what happens to the moon at times of battle… when things are on fire - and smoke fills the atmosphere.
The moon turns to blood.
Darkened Sun, Moon Not Giving Light, Starts Falling from Heaven = World Falling Apart
We’re talking about shocking hope.
And what Jesus describes is a great shock to the system.
A world falling apart.
And sometimes - our world needs to fall apart a bit to shock us out of our complacency.
I’m not saying that God makes tough things happen to ‘wake us up’.
But I know that God can use our shocks and frights to wake us up.
Nothing like waiting for the results of a blood test to make you think about the value of life.
Or that car that nearly hit you - to remind you to ride your bicycle more carefully.
Great shocks can wake us up.
And we can receive them as opportunities to learn - re-learn - rediscover what is MOST important.
What is LEASST important.
Who we are - what our priorities are and should be.
Here is your shocking wake up call...
Christmas is 22 days away. Just 3 weeks to go.
What happened to 2023 - did you enjoy it, make the most of it - grow closer to God (intentionally). Did you improve your life and that those of others?
Probably not as much as we wanted.
Don’t wait for the world to fall apart for your wake up call.
Falling Apart / Held Together
Falling Apart / Held Together
Mark 13:26–27 (NRSV)
26 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. 27 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.
When it is all falling apart - God is on his way to put it back together.
Mark uses language like that of Daniel 7:13-14 which describes a day when “One like a Son of Man” or “One who looks human” is given power and dominion over all the nations of the world.
It is the coming of the Kingdom of God. It is the promise of all the world - all its peoples - put to rights.
He doesn’t describe just Jesus doing this - but Jesus sending out his angels to do this - to gather together all of his people.
27 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.
I mentioned just now the sense of time that we are trying to think about in terms of Advent & Nativity -
The Happened - Jesus Born.
The Still to Happen - God’s Future.
The Happening - What God is Doing Now.
Now this part might seem confusing - is the gathering: “from the ends of earth to the ends of heaven” a future something?
Or maybe it s a current something.
Something that God is doing even now.
27 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.
God at work - in every moment - gathering us - sending his angels - drawing us together.
Maybe we just need to learn to see it.
To be shocked by our Shocking Hope.
Our trust -
That God is at work in the world.
What God has Done - Sent his Son Jesus
And this means we know - that What God is doing - putting us back together when all is falling apart - gathering us in to safety.
And What God will Do
Finish the work that he has begun. So clearly revealed in Jesus - God’s beginning is the promise of God’s end.
Our Shocking Hope
Our Shocking Hope
Our gospel for today - points to the world falling apart.
And we all have that from moment to moment.
The stars that we trusted - the placemarkers around which we oriented our lives.
The things we thought we knew for certain.
The sun darkened, the moon is load shedding - even the stars falling out of the sky.
26 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.
Perhaps it is only then that we will ‘see’ the Son of Man coming…
What Daniel saw - is what God is doing all the time.
But when things fall apart - we be so overwhelmed by what is falling apart that we fail to notice what god is doing.
Gathering us together from the ‘corners’ of the earth.
Signs
Signs
From the world falling apart - to Jesus’ return - Jesus’ returning - our being gathered together - consolidated by the angels.
Jesus reminds us to keep a look out.
And he uses the Fig Tree as an illustration:
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.
These poor fig trees end up carrying a lot of weight in Jesus final week -
He speaks of one tree that bears no fruit - an dthe famer threatens to pull it out. But the gardener says no - lets water it, compost around it - and see if it does better.
He curses a fig tree- that has leaves - looks like it should have fruit - but has none. He curses it and dies.
But this tree that he speaks of; its branches become soft and green - as life rushes to the tips to begin producing the sweet fruit.
The sweet fruit that is delicious. The shade that is a refuge from the summer heat. A sign of prosperity and peace.
when the fig tree produces fruit - you know that the summer is near.
Signs of the coming of God’s Kingdom.
Keep Alert
Keep Alert
Our Shocking Hope - is a reminder to us to sit up and pay attention - see what God is doing.
Maybe we need the chaos sometimes - to be reminded out of our complacency - by God’s goodness.
So Our Spirits Wait - With Shocking Hope; For a Just Peace, Fierce Joy & Transforming Love