INTRODUCTION: Today’s Scripture reading is one of the traditional readings set by the lectionary for the First Sunday in Advent. It comes from the Gospel of Matthew, from the last section of Jesus’ teachings that scholars refer to as “The Judgment Discourse.” In this final section of teaching, which sounds quite foreign to modern ears, Jesus lets his disciples know that after his death and resurrection, he will come back one day to set up God’s Kingdom on earth. May the Spirit speak to us through these challenging words.
Scripture: Matthew 24:36-44
36“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
Sermon: “Awake and Ready”
Last year at this time, when I was at home working on my sermon for the first Sunday of Advent, our doorbell rang. I put my computer down and went to the door, expecting to see my cousin who was due to arrive for a visit-- only to discover, when I opened the door, that there were two women standing on our front porch, one holding an iPad, and the other a set of print brochures, which I was pretty sure I recognized as the Jehovah’s Witnesses “Watch Tower” publication. I thought to myself, “Oh no, I don’t have time for this.” But they were standing there, smiling, and I didn’t want to be rude to them, so I stepped out and joined them on the front porch. (Okay, let me be honest: I did actually want to be rude to them, but I didn’t think Jesus would want me to be rude, so I decided to behave with civility.)
“Hello,” I said. “My name is Marlayna.” They introduced themselves as Kayley and Rebecca, complimented me on my beautiful dog who was by this time standing behind me in the doorway, and Kayley asked if I wanted to see a short video about my future. “A video about my future?” I repeated, surprised at this new use of technology and wondering what they meant exactly. “Yes,” Kayley said, “Your future and the end of the world,” she said, ominously. “Is this a religious thing?” I asked, and Rebecca answered, “Yes, we’re Jehovah’s Witnesses.” “Ah,” I said. “I thought you might be. I am a Christian Pastor, and I already have a relationship with Jesus, a connection to God, so I don’t need to see a video--but I wish you well with your ministry. May God bless you.” They didn’t say another word; they just quickly backed away, off our porch, and continued on to the neighbors’ house. “Oh well,” I thought, “back to my sermon writing.”
But as I went back into the house I had to smile at the timing of their visit. They arrived when I was struggling to write a sermon on the Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Advent, the reading that Alan just shared with us, that talks about the end of the world as we know it--the same thing the Jehovah’s witnesses wanted to talk to me about! “Dang,” I thought to myself. “Maybe I should have watched that video after all. Perhaps I could have gotten some material for the sermon out of it!”
But no. I decided it would be better to stick with my usual resources for sermons, including commentary from respected professors of theology whose scholarship reflects the values our religious tradition holds dear: rational thinking based on research that takes into account historical context and scientific understanding as well as faith.
This passage from Matthew’s Gospel is an odd passage of Scripture, and not all that easy to interpret. It’s a genre of writing called “apocalyptic.” The apocalyptic genre, as you may know, uses a lot of ominous metaphor and symbolism to talk about the end of the world--or the end of the world as we know it. Our passage for today describes the Second Coming of Christ, a belief--originating in the first century--that at the end of time, Jesus will literally come to earth again, in bodily form, not as a baby this time, but as our resurrected Lord and Savior, to fully set up God’s Kingdom on earth. This apocalyptic passage--or one like it from another gospel--is read every year on the first Sunday of Advent. The word “advent” comes from the word adventus, which means “coming” in Latin, and our Scripture reading describes the belief that Jesus will come to us, not only as a sweet, little baby on Christmas, but also, at the end of time, as God’s Messiah to set things right, once and for all, to renew and replace what is broken in our world.
And, I have to say, that while I LOVE the promises* found in apocalyptic literature--the renewal of our broken world sounds absolutely wonderful, doesn’t it?!-- I really could do without the ominous, judgmental details in this genre. I mean, couldn’t the writer, writing under the name of the disciple Matthew--who put together this Gospel from the words and stories of Jesus-- have skipped the reference to flood waters sweeping people away in the time of Noah? Couldn’t he have--if not skipped--then at least softened the implication that only half of the people present on earth when Christ comes again are going to make it into God’s Kingdom? When he puts it like that, it makes God sound very judgmental--and it makes me wonder what happened to God’s Love and Grace that is the main theme in other parts of this Gospel--and in the Bible in general.
Given those questions, this is probably a good spot to give a little historical background on the Scripture text. Matthew’s gospel was written in the last quarter of the first century A.D. It was written 50 or 60 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, when followers of Jesus were beginning to be persecuted for proclaiming their faith. Oddly enough, this passage that sounds so ominous and judgmental to us was meant to give a disheartened and persecuted group of Christians hope, assurance and encouragement. Hope that Christ had not forgotten about them, assurance that they would not be left behind, and encouragement to stay faithful to Christ’s teachings. For the Kingdom of God in all its fullness really IS coming--in fact, Matthew reports, it could come at any moment--none of us knows when it will get here, and those who persevere in faith will not only see God’s glorious kingdom, but will get to live in it forever. Matthew is reminding his persecuted church that their current fear and pain and experience of injustice will soon pass. “Your time on earth is finite,” he says, in effect. “Suddenly, out of nowhere, in the blink of an eye, Christ will come again and the world will be set right. Things will be good. And they will be good forever.”
In the meantime, Matthew tells his people to keep awake and be ready--make your time on earth count. In other words, keep following the teachings of Christ. Keep loving your neighbor as yourself. Or, as one commentator --Professor Eugene Boring--puts it, “[Keep] doing deeds of mercy, forgiveness, and peace” so that you will be found faithful when Christ comes. And, by doing this, you will pave the way for God’s kingdom. (New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII, p. 448)
Those must have been incredible words of hope to the church of Matthew’s day, and nearly 2000 years later, his words still speak hope to us today, even if we view them more as metaphor than as literal prophecy. Although our situation is different than that of Matthew’s community, we still experience fear and pain and injustice in this world. This Scripture passage still reminds us that our experience of fear and pain and injustice will also pass. Our time on earth is finite--our lives will end one day. Time itself will end one day, so, like the people in Matthew’s church, we too need to make our time on earth count. We too need to keep following the teachings of Jesus. We too need to allow the Love of God to work in us-- and through us-- so that we can find the strength to love our neighbors as ourselves, to do deeds of mercy, forgiveness, and peace. Because, imperfect though we are, in these days before God’s Kingdom is fully established, we are God’s instruments for blessing God’s world. REPEAT: We are God’s instruments for blessing God’s world!
This Advent Scripture invites us to take that responsibility to heart: to be awake and ready for ways God can use us—each of us-- to make a positive difference in the world. Each of us has been given gifts and talents-- and time in which to use them. Are you using your gifts and talents and time to their fullest? Am I? Are we consciously acting as God’s instruments of blessing in the world? In other words, are we consciously looking for ways to love our neighbors as ourselves, to do deeds of mercy, forgiveness and peace? Or are we more or less unconsciously just going along, doing our own thing?
In this Covid crisis, all of us have been impacted emotionally and materially, some more than others. And I dare say all of us find our energy sapped by the virus and its ramifications. And when our energy is sapped, it is hard to find the emotional or material resources to reach out and help people beyond our immediate circles.
I dare say that Matthew’s community, with the persecution it experienced, was in the same boat--BUT Jesus still called them to reach out and share God’s love with the world, AND Jesus still calls us to reach out too. Let me be clear: I don’t believe Jesus calls people to give more than they have, or to exhaust themselves, or go into debt in order to make grand gestures to help others. What Jesus calls us to--first and foremost--is a change in perspective. Jesus calls us-- each and all-- to lift our gaze from our own immediate circumstances in order to better see the circumstances of others-- to be awake and ready to find ways to use what we already have--our time, talent and treasure--to help people in need.
Let me give you an example. In my second church there was a man who identified himself as a recovering alcoholic. He told me that when he was younger, he had made a lot of bad decisions that hurt other people, but when he got older and got sober, he worked hard at making amends. And his amends involved not just an attempt to make restitution for the hurt he had caused the people he knew, but also involved actively looking for ways to help others in need whom he didn’t even know. For instance, although he didn’t have a lot of money, once a month he brought cold-cuts and bread into church, and at coffee hour, he invited the Sunday School kids to help him make sandwiches for the homeless. As I reflected on this man’s example, it occurred to me that the value of his example lay not so much in the material ways he made restitution, but rather primarily lay in the change of mind and heart he exhibited for all to see--from the self-centered perspective of “What can I take to help myself when I feel desperate?” to “What can I give to help others when we all feel desperate?”
In this Covid time, may we allow this person’s example to inspire us to ask the same question: “What can I give to help others when we all feel desperate?”
This Advent may our daily prayer be this: “O God, help me to be awake and ready to see the needs of others. Show me how I can be a blessing to someone today.” Amen.
(Sermons on this Scripture--using some of the same words--were preached on Nov 28, 2010 in York, ME and again on Nov 27, 2016 in Manchester, NH and on December 4th, 2017 and Dec 1, 2019 in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA)
*Read through commentary by Prof. David Lose. The concept of “promise” was in his writing found on website: http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=2893