Advent starts in 2 weeks, a time when we focus on the arrival of Christ: first remembering that Christ promised to return and then turning to Jesus’ birth.
As we anticipate Christmas, we often hear about Mary. In Luke, her story includes a song about God coming in and turning the world upside down: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior… He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.” Our first reading is similar: Hannah is one of Elkanah’s two wives. The other wife, Penninah, has multiple sons, but Hannah had no children. Then, after years of praying for God to intercede and let her be with child, Hannah conceives and bears a son whom she promises to dedicate to God: the boy Samuel. The boy who thinks he hears his mentor Eli’s voice when God calls him three times. The prophet who finds and anoints Saul, the first king of Israel, and who later anoints David as king. David, the ancestor of Jesus.
Like Mary, Hannah’s song talks about how God turned the world’s expectations on their head: the mighty’s weapons are broken, but the feeble have been strengthened. The Lord lifts up the lowly and brings down the mighty. Even when everything seems desperate, God is at work. So don’t be surprised when things go according to God’s plan instead of the world’s.
And then there’s the gospel reading: the little Apocalypse, as it’s sometimes called. In the Revised Common Lectionary, the first Sunday of Advent often focuses on the same theme- Jesus coming back. That doesn’t mean that I’m actually comfortable with these little apocalypse scriptures. For years I’ve focused instead on Advent Worship Series that start with Isaiah or the beginning of Luke. It’s scary to picture the end of the world in violence and war, to hear people predict who will and won’t be part of the new heaven and the new earth. And there have been so many predictions. Ever since Jesus ascended into heaven, people have expected the end of this world to happen within their lifetime. Is it any wonder? We read of wars. We hear rumors of wars. There are famines and earthquakes, as well as shootings, hurricanes, fires, and floods.
It’s not too surprising that we use these events to predict the end. Even the disciples wanted to know when, asking Jesus “[W]hen will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?”
Mark’s gospel was written during a time of great turbulence. The year 66 AD saw the biggest of the Jewish revolts against Roman rule. “The Jewish freedom fighters were successful for a while. Jerusalem, the center of local collaboration, had now become the center of violent resistance to Rome. It took Rome four years to reconquer Jerusalem. [But in 70 AD Jerusalem was destroyed, and the great temple along with it. The temple that the disciples are in awe over. The temple that was the center of worship- this is where you came to worship God!] The whole period was a time of great suffering for Jews, including Jewish Christians.”
Have you ever felt like the world was ending? Have you ever felt like everything was falling apart and prayed “e’en so Lord Jesus, quickly come”? Three years ago, I preached on this gospel text. I’d been here less than a year, and Covid was raising its ugly head again. Three years later, things are a bit different. But we always seem to have reasons to be nervous: sometimes it’s personal reasons, sometimes far bigger than us.
When those days hit and it seems like everything is falling apart: consider the circumstances that Mark’s audience was in. As Rev. Dr. David Lose noted one year, "Mark’s people were literally caught up in ‘wars and rumors of war’ [so they] probably found comfort in the belief that Jesus had already anticipated this and was offering words of encouragement to them through this Gospel.”
This text, as uncomfortable as it might make us, brought comfort to the original audience. Ultimately, this text and all of what’s called apocalyptic literature serves as a reminder of our hope- that the end will come, the end in which Jesus is victorious. As Lose continues, “When it comes to our own day and age, that kind of encouragement is still valuable, for though our wars may be different… we are still harassed at times by a fear that the world is falling apart. To twenty-first century believers, just as to first century disciples, Jesus says the same ‘do not fear.’”
Once again, we’re told that God is in control. So don’t be surprised when the world doesn’t end, or when it does. It’s in God’s time, not ours. And when there are wars and rumors of war; when the world doesn’t look like we’d expect: don’t be surprised. Don’t assume that the world is ending, for, as Jesus says, this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. God remains in control. And our calling hasn’t changed.
A few years ago, Rev. Fran Pratt commented that in Mark’s gospel, “I hear Jesus’ frank admission, with an accompanying shrug and an incline of the head, that we are going to encounter a lot of chaos here. But we … ‘rest secure.’ We don’t need to be ok to be ok. We are still ok, still safe, still cared-for, even when the world is burning down. There is nowhere else to go but the love of God.”
So keep the Lord before you. Stick with Jesus and embody His care and love. And God goes with us, ever faithful, even in the midst of chaos. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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