Welcome to Advent! A time we anticipate and wait for the arrival of baby Jesus, the coming of God into the world in flesh and body. God’s incarnate love dwelling with us swaddled in a manger. Some might say this time is about our credit cards swaddled in the chip reader or clicking “instant purchase” on Amazon. Some might call that the second advent, preparing for what everyone will unwrap under the tree rather than preparing our hearts and minds for the arrival of God’s precious Son. If we are honest, we seem to have two things going during advent. Our spiritual preparations for our Savior and Lord and our material efforts for a happy Christmas. You’re on your own for the material purchasing, I hope you have a wish list, while in worship we will be seeking to embrace the wonder of this season and preparing our hearts for baby Jesus to arrive.
Advent as you know means coming, initiation, arrival. We are waiting, preparing for the birth of Jesus. There is also another kind of advent, a second advent. Not about material things, but about Jesus’ second coming. Jesus second arrival. In our gospel lesson today, Jesus is speaking about his second coming.
No John the Baptist, no angels or shepherds.
This is his last message before Passover and the end of his earthly ministry. He has told of the destruction of the Temple, wars and insurrections, persecution for following Jesus.
Hear now Jesus’ words to you.
Certainly not a first advent text, no baby, no Mary and Joseph, no Holy Spirit. But it is a Second Advent story, declaring Jesus will come again and we are to be ready, we are to raise up our heads because our redemption is near. Advent involves preparing for two comings: God coming to earth in the infant Jesus whom we await at Christmas, and the Christ returning to earth at a time we do not know.
So how do we find wonder and hope in this apocalyptic passage? One commentator likened this cosmic event to Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night. “The painting exhibits the bold colors that van Gogh is known for and the post-impressionist style he helped to make famous. Van Gogh was the son of a Dutch pastor and for a time an evangelist to the poor himself, so he was likely familiar with this text. (As you recall) the painting depicts an apocalyptic sky, like that described by Jesus. There are swirling clouds in bold yellows and white on deep, dark blue and black. There is a bold and bright yellow moon and very bright stars…
(Here it is to refresh your memory) In the background is a small town, with the church steeple as its most prominent feature. In the foreground, a foreboding flame like image connects earth and sky. Art historians take it to be a cypress tree, which in van Gogh’s time would have been associated with graveyards and mourning. (When I gaze at this painting, I see the roaring seas and waves washing through the sky.) The famous painting elicits differing reactions from those who admire it. Some see it as a daunting image of a frightful sky, others as something bold and beautiful, others as a glimpse of God.” Like van Gogh’s great painting, Luke’s apocalypse elicits different reactions from those who admire it; frightening, bold, a beautiful glimpse of God” (Feasting of the Word, C1, p. 23).
The second coming can feel frightening, chaotic. I don’t want distress among nations or the powers of heaven shaken. But it is into this chaos that the Son of Man will come, when Christ’s power and glory will shine. As we look around seeing chaos and uncertainty in nature with devastating fires and hurricanes, in politics with poisonous principles and pundits, we long for hope, for God’s guiding hand. We seek order. But often we find ourselves in chaos. Barbara Brown Taylor, one of my favorite theologians, writes in a book about science and religion, “There is no order without chaos. There is no chaos without order. They give birth to each other, again and again” (The Luminous Web, p. 98). This is a promise of hope, of salvation history unfolding and God’s people finding their redemption in Jesus Christ.
But you cannot anticipate the second coming without being immersed in the first.
In God boldly breaking into the world, into creation, emerging from the dark birth canal and greeting humanity with a new born cry.
Every time we hear a new born baby holler, we are in wonder of the miracle of birth and in awe of a God who created and co-creates still. Right alongside wonder is chaos. I am sure Mary and Joseph had their share of chaos, the shame of an unconventional pregnancy, traveling while with child. Cling to their strength as we face our own uncertain and chaotic times.
Leaving your home, the home you love, to be near to your family so they can keep an eye on you. Moving to a familiar place but having to start all over.
Being alone at the holidays and wanting to be known and loved.
Your chaos might dwell in a mysterious diagnosis or consuming addiction.
As we journey through Advent, our losses our chaos can hold you back. Especially when you are missing a loved one. Join us to Blue Christmas service on Thursday December 13 as we honor our grief to make space of Christmas joy. Whatever your chaos, find comfort in the magnificent wonder of God’s creation. Cry out with the psalmist, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human being that you are mindful of (us).”
God is not only mindful of us, God boldly dwells with us. Jesus cried at his birth, Jesus knows the pains of life, Jesus died for our sins, Jesus reigns with God until he returns to us.
“The good news of Advent is not simply that Christ is coming, but that his coming means we can hope, despite all that is falling apart in our lives, our communities, and the world around us. Just as the leaves on the fig tree offer hope in late winter that summer is coming again, so God’s word, in Jesus, promises us new life. Advent offers us (wonder) and hope for something new. ‘Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’” (Feasting on the Word, C1, p. 25).
My hope is that we can be in wonder this Advent season, seeing the miracles around us, the beauty of God’s creation and the way we are blessed to be completely loved by God through Christ.
Bill Brown who is a professor at Columbia Seminary wrote, “Genuine faith is all about ‘going marveling’ in God’s world of wonder” (Sacred Sense, p. 3). He sees wonder at the intersection of science and art. Quoting Albert Einstein, “The experience of wonder or mystery stands at the cradle of true art and true science” (Ibid, P. 10). Science can never tell us when Christ will come, and art will never fully capture a glimpse of God. But maybe through faith we can go marveling in God’s world of wonder. Wonder at its root is relational, because it is all about encounter. This Advent let us prepare to encounter God in the awe- inspiring and wonder-filled birth of our Savior and Lord. Amen.
