Year C
Luke 21:25-36
The Rev. Denise Vaughn
The Good News of Advent
This time of year, it is possible to hear the gospel message even in the shopping malls. Amidst the easy sentimentality of seasonal favorites, you will sometimes hear some of the most profound theology of the Christian faith. As you go from store to store looking for just the right gift, you might hear someone sing, “Angles we have heard on high” or “Silent Night” or this beautiful hymn, “O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in; be born in us today.” Stores play such music to put us in the spending mood. But for those with ears to hear, the Good News is there: Christ is coming and we should prepare.
There is an amazing video that can be found at www.youtube.com, titled “Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus.” I believe I first saw the video on Facebook and I highly recommend watching it if you haven’t already. The video shows a scene in a crowded food court of an ordinary shopping mall. Shoppers are resting from their shopping and eating. Then suddenly, an organ breaks into the opening bars of the Hallelujah Chorus. A young woman stands, cell phone still to her ear and in a spectacular soprano voice, begins to sing. A young man stops chatting with his girlfriend and joins his tenor voice as more and more shoppers rise and join the chorus. When you least expect it, in the most ordinary place imaginable, the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of God and of his Christ!
The kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of God collide today in apocalyptic drama on this the First Sunday of Advent and the beginning of a new church year. If you have come to church today expecting Santa, Christmas carols and lighted trees as in the malls you will be disappointed. We won’t sing Christmas carols until Christmas Eve because the season of Advent demands a very different kind of preparation than the shopping malls recommend. And all the readings today, especially the gospel, set a very different tone than the cultural Christmas season that surrounds us outside this church. We hear Jesus speak of frightening images, confusing metaphors and shocking admonitions. It seems the whole universe is being shaken and turned upside down.
Vincent Van Gogh captures the mood of the gospel text in his most famous painting, The Starry Night. You have a picture of his painting on the front of your bulletin today. The painting exhibits the bold colors that van Gogh is known for. He was the son of a Dutch pastor and for a time an evangelist to the poor himself, so he was likely familiar with texts such as this one from Luke 21. The painting depicts an apocalyptic sky, like that described by Jesus. Apocalypse means uncovering or revealing something that was previously unknown. 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, described by one art critic as “rockets of burning yellow.” 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 causing this famous painting to bring differing reactions. Some see it as a daunting image of a frightening sky, others see a glimpse of God, and like van Gogh’s painting, Luke’s apocalypse elicits different reactions…frightening, bold and beautiful glimpses of God. Theologically, the apocalypse is the story of God’s ultimate triumph over evil which is good news. Yet, it starts out sounding bad. As difficult as it is to hear, as troubling as the text may make us feel, in it are treasures that help us focus on the true meaning and purpose of Advent. Jesus is challenging us, as he did those original hearers in the Jerusalem temple, to look up, pay attention, and be ready. God is coming to earth in the infant Jesus at Christmas and Christ is returning to earth at a time we do not know. It’s not a matter of if, the Second Advent is a matter of when, and Jesus wants us to be ready. To be ready means we are to keep alert and watch, constantly preparing, and putting our hope in our loving God, who comes to us in Jesus Christ.
The cultural celebration of Christmas can being anxiety and overabundance, but Advent lifts our eyes to a broader horizon and invites us to hope. On this day the candle of hope is lit. It is sometimes said that where there is life, there is hope. It may be that the opposite is also true; where there is hope, there is life. We find hope in believing there has to be a better world that will break into our broken world at some point in time. You may have read or heard about Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning. He was a psychiatrist practicing in Vienna, Austria, before World War II. As a Jew, he was arrested and sent to a concentration camp. In that dreadful place, he noticed that while there was ample reason for any prisoner to die, those who had a faith which provided a sense of hope and meaning were more likely to survive.
These included practicing Jews, believing Christians, and dedicated Communists. These people were more likely to be able to hope but if they lost hope, they would die almost immediately. Hope may be almost as necessary to life as food and drink. For all of us the one key need is always having a reason to hope and despite some frightening images, the Advent text from Luke offers not fear and damnation, but hope and expectation. God is Christ is coming because God loves us and wants to redeem us but the good news of Advent is not simply that Christ is coming, his coming means we can hope, despite all that is falling apart in our lives, our communities, and the world around us. Just as a budding tree is sign of hope that spring is around the corner, the cosmic upset Jesus described will usher in his return, conquer evil and establish God’s kingdom on earth. Advent offers us expectation and hope for something new.
Jesus tells us that the entire world is to be redeemed and transformed into a new reality with justice, mercy, and love ruling in all circumstances. How wonderful that day will be! And all Christ asks of us now, is to participate in a future that he has already begun with his resurrection and victory over death. We are to seek justice and mercy for others and to love one another as Christ loves us. We are to abandon our self-seeking ways and to serve Christ without fear. These actions prepare us for the fullness of God’s kingdom that will rule the world one day. We need Christ to come into our broken and sinful world, therefore we must take time this Advent to prepare to receive him. “Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”