What shall
endure? We have our answer in the text. Still, as often as Advent comes around,
the beginning of the Liturgical year, the anticipation of marking the beginning
of Jesus’ life on earth, we contemplate the end of all things and it never
stops being jarring – and downright gloomy.
Of course
this is meant to remind us that we aren’t just ritually awaiting the
celebration of the Incarnation. We are also awaiting the second coming; the end
of all days, the final judgement, and the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God.
And so we do indeed have the question before us, what shall endure?
It is the
Word that endures. And it is our hope that being the body of the word, we will
have our share in the enduring Glory of the Lord. And I think we could all use
some hope these days. Especially as we are quite possibly facing, if not the
end of all things, the end of humankind – or at least the end of life as we
know it.
It truly is
the end of all things that’s being described in our Gospel; notice that Jesus
is verbally reversing the creation story. Remember in creation the earth was
brought forth from the sea and lights were put in the dome of the heavens. And
that’s all being reversed.
All of that
will pass away…
The image of
the seas rolling in does make me think of global warming and melting ice caps. People
will surely faint from fear and foreboding when that comes to pass. And that
will happen. The earthy powers are clearly invested in NOT preventing that.
Honestly, I’ve resigned myself to mankind’s self-destruction. If it’s not
global warming than it will be the nuclear waste problem. That’s a trigger we
pulled ages ago - it is its own time bomb of destruction. These disasters take
time to manifest, though – not as much time as we’d like perhaps, but how long
can we put the consequences of our actions off? We don’t know the day or the
hour.
Our text
tonight does bring up a passage that throws a bit of a wrench in knowing when
the end is near, “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until
all things have taken place.” So what happened? Did God change their mind? Did
something go wrong? Did the apostles mishear or misunderstand this statement?
In the 4th
chapter of 1 Thessalonians the one that follows what we read tonight, Paul
addresses the concerns of the Thessalonians who are grieved by the deaths of
their siblings in Christ. Perhaps they had some of these same questions. Paul
wants to inform them that those who have fallen asleep will be raised at the
coming of the Lord, even before the survivors. He reminds them of their Hope in
sharing the Glory of the Lord.
It’s clear,
however, that Paul believes that this coming in Glory will happen while at
least some of those he’s addressing will still be alive - So much for
immediacy. Most of us have lost any expectation of the end. 2000 years after it
was supposed to happen it’s easy to imagine that the end times are very far off
indeed. And while concern for impending disasters makes sense, worrying about
it won’t hasten nor delay it. Besides, as Jesus reminds us, sufficient unto
today are the evils thereof.
But that
doesn’t assuage any gloom, frankly. Honestly, where I most struggle with hope
is in feeling powerless over the systemic slaughter of black people, in the
slow deliberate starving of the poor, in the denial of access to healthcare, in
laws that prevent feeding the homeless, in the astonishing heartlessness I see
all around me; heartlessness that perpetuates Evil. It’s very gloomy to see so
many Christians be that heartless, especially considering Jesus asked us to be
radically compassionate, forgiving, peaceful and especially loving. How do you
follow Jesus and not listen to his words?
And that is
what Jesus tells us will endure, His words; God’s words from God’s Word. The
Psalms, Isaiah, Peters letters, the other synoptic Gospels, all speak of the
Word of God outlasting the heavens and the earth. And it’s this kind of phrase
that can jolt one into remembering that we’re not talking about literal words
here. If there are no tongues and books, what words could be left?
We’re
speaking of the second person of the Trinity. Word is a metaphor, the
non-created non-being spoke via the begotten, not created God; things that are
quite beyond our comprehension. How do we find Hope in that which we can’t even
really know?
Our little
light of hope that shines as we begin the dark season of Advent, as the days
get shorter and shorter, is that the word made flesh retained some semblance of
His human form. That’s something we can grasp, something we can understand. And
it is through the reality that God has incorporated human form into Herself
that we can imagine a hope that we will somehow share in the Glory of the
Lord.
And so we
Hope in that which we can’t fully understand. Yet, to hope for anything else,
to hope in that which we can know, will inevitably lead to disappointment. Our
authorities, our systems, or friends and family, and yes even our pets will let
us down, will fail. Even the heavens will eventually desert us. Creation is not
the creator. Some may think that hope in that which we cannot fully know or
fully understand is foolishness. I say that to have hope in what you can know
and understand is true foolishness.
Yet we need
hope to function, to carry on. Hopelessness leads to despair and
self-destruction. That, I am positive is not what God wants from us. Hope is
one of the Christian virtues. I believe it’s a virtue because it requires a
leap of faith, a trust in what we cannot see over what we can. And so we trust
in the witnesses of the Glory of God; witness that has not been just handed
down for 2000 years, but witness that still continues. God continues to reveal
God’s self to us. Some of us here have had our glimpses of that Glory. Whether
we have had a glimpse or not, we have all been promised a share in that Glory. We
can even tap into it now, live into this other reality that we have inherited.
We can draw not on our own strength, but on Christ’s. Christ who shall endure,
who can be trusted. I encourage you to put your hope in the Word.
Readings:
Jeremiah
33:14-16
Psalm
25:1-10
1
Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke
21:25-36
