Luke 21:25-36
Today is the first Sunday of Advent which means it’s the first Sunday of the new church year. It’s the day the lectionary—that is the set of readings we use in church—switches to a new Gospel. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels, and they make up the three year cycle of the lectionary: Years A, B, and C, with John interspersed throughout. Today we transition from Year B to Year C, from Mark to Luke.
Scholars date Mark as the oldest Gospel to about 70 AD. Most think the authors of Matthew and Luke each had a copy of Mark handy when they were writing their Gospels about 20 years later. This accounts for much of the overlap in the three. Matthew and Luke also have word for word overlap that must be from another source. It’s never been found so scholars call it the Gospel of Q, for “Quelle” the German word for source. This Q Gospel contains what is believed to the oldest material and is perhaps simply quotations of Jesus that people memorized. It’s things like the Beatitudes and the Lord’s Prayer and some short parables. And Matthew and Luke each have material unique to themselves: like the Wise Men in Matthew’s Christmas story and the shepherds in Luke’s.
Now the passage we heard this morning may sound familiar because we read Mark’s version just two weeks ago. You may remember from that Sunday that we explored how this teaching about the future may not be about the apocalyptic end of the world as much as about the new creation that is being birthed out of the old world of sin.
One of the things about these kinds of passages is that they seem to have been written with the apocalyptic expectations that were common in the early church. But if we sift through the expectations of the Gospel writers and prayerfully discern the meaning of the texts in light of Jesus’ overall teaching about the Kingdom of God, we might be able to decipher more clearly what Jesus historically meant.
Episcopal priest and contemplative teacher Cynthia Bourgeault sees Jesus as a wisdom teacher more than an apocalyptic preacher. In her book The Wisdom Jesus, Cynthia makes the case that Jesus’ primary teaching had to do with the transformation of consciousness. To her, Jesus seems much more concerned with a changing lives and spiritual growth than with predicting the end of the world or starting a new religion. If we understand Jesus as a Wisdom Teacher, like Cynthia and other modern contemplatives like Thomas Keating and Richard Rohr, then we begin to see such passages in a new light. We see that Jesus is talking about a new way of seeing which he called the Kingdom of God. That is where heaven and earth overlap and the divine realm is made manifest in the physical realm. As we explored two weeks ago, this Kingdom of God is fully manifest in Jesus and is also the promised future for the whole world. And while many in the early church understood the coming of the Kingdom as an apocalyptic event that was going to be happening in the very near future, Jesus’ original teaching on this subject seemed to be more about his disciples’ spiritual growth. Teaching them to reach that level of spiritual maturity. Helping them learn to see this Kingdom for themselves.
When we look at things this way, what confuses most Bible scholars becomes clear. When Jesus says something like “Truly I tell you some of you will not taste death until you see the Kingdom of God” he doesn’t mean the end of the world will occur before the first generation of disciples dies off. He means that some of them will see the Kingdom before they die. They will experience it for themselves. They will reach that level of spiritual awareness. They will see the Kingdom of God everywhere.
Personally I don’t need to make sense of this statement in order to have faith in Christ. Maybe Jesus was simply wrong about the end of the world being so close. But I think what makes most sense, in light of what we know about his teaching which focused primarily on the Kingdom of God, is that what he’s referring to here is not the end of the world but the realization of the Kingdom in his disciples. That’s why this passage is always paired with the teaching to Be Alert and Keep Awake, because that’s what Jesus was talking about when he originally said these things. Those spiritual practices of keeping awake, of being mindful, of focusing our attention are the very things that transform our perception so that we see the Kingdom of God for ourselves.
Advent is a season of keeping watch and waiting. Of being mindful and present and attentive for the Lord’s coming. We wait for the Lord’s coming like those who longed for Messiah’s birth 2000 years ago. And we just as eagerly wait for the coming day when God will be all in all and the new creation born. And in addition to these past and future longings, we are called to be mindful of the present. We are called to keep awake and to perceive the Kingdom of God (that unification of heaven and earth) all around us here and now. That is how we follow Jesus’ spiritual teachings to see the Kingdom of God present.
And remember that as important as spiritual practices are, the lesson of Advent is that Christ comes whether we’re prepared for him or not. We are called to prepare ourselves yes. But Christ comes whether we’re ready or not! Christ will be born in this world. Christ will be born in our hearts. Christ will bring to birth the new creation. It’s not about our efforts; it’s about God’s promise to come. We the church are certainly a part of the process, but this is God’s work being done. We do however, have the gift of taking part in it.
And so this Advent, let us be alert to the Holy Spirit’s movements in us. In each of us individually and in the Body of Christ collectively. When the world is rushing around shopping and caught up in the consumerist frenzy of the season, let us be alert to the workings of the Holy Spirit in us. Let us wait expectantly for the coming of the Messiah. Both his birth 2000 years ago and the coming of the new creation many years in the future, and likewise the coming of the Kingdom of God in this present moment if only have eyes to see. All three past, future, and present deserve our attention and our longing. So let us be alert, let us keep awake, let us put on the mind of Christ as we await our Savior’s birth in the manger and his birth in our hearts. For his coming is certain and his day draws near.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pastor Brian | December 1, 2024 | First Sunday of Advent
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