Sermon for 1st Advent: Watching at the Gate

I’m preaching this sermon next Sunday, November 30, 2008, on the first Sunday in Advent for Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary.  It’s a strange text for the coming of Christmas…or is it?  Have a great Thanksgiving and a wonderful first Advent Sunday.  

Watching At The Gate

Mark 13:24-37

24“But in those days, following that distress, 
   ” ‘the sun will be darkened, 
      and the moon will not give its light; 
 25the stars will fall from the sky, 
      and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’      

 26“At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

 28“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

 32“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

 35“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ “

 

A Strange Story for Advent

The text we just read seems more like the end-of-the-world than getting ready for Christmas.  But, here we are again in the season of Advent — watching for the coming of the Christ into our world.

 

When Mark writes his short, powerful story of Jesus’ life, he devotes two chapters to the return of the Messiah to this earth.  Mark sandwiches this two-chapter discourse between Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the end of the last week in Jesus’ life.  It is as though Jesus knows his time is about finished for his earthly ministry, and he is reassuring his disciples that regardless of how things look in the next few days, or months, or years, that the Messiah of God, the Christ, will return again to this earth to finish the work he has begun.

In this passage, Jesus makes his point clearly.  First, he points out that there are signs pointing to the coming — the advent — of the Messiah — and that when we see the signs we know that the Messiah is near, right at the gate, the outside door: 

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 

Then, Jesus reminds the disciples that they are to watch, and gives them a real life example of the kind of watching for the master’s return that he expects: 

“It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.” – Mark 13:29, 34

And this servant who is assigned to keep watch is watching for the master’s return.  Why?  The master has already been there, he has already established his power and authority, he has already assigned his servants the roles they are to play.  Why do they need to watch for his return?  Why does one servant have the sole duty of watching at the gate, the outer door?

Let’s see if we can put ourselves in the place of those first century disciples, or those servants to whom Jesus referred, and imagine the scene Jesus is painting, the story he’s telling to those who are very anxious about the future.

The Door and the Doorkeeper

The first thing we have to do is get acquainted with the house of a person like the master that Jesus refers to.  While the homes of ordinary people were very simple, the house of a person who could afford servants would be a lot like the houses of wealthy people today — more spacious, more rooms, more square-footage.  

Typically, houses of the first century were walled compounds with a front entrance usually closed with a secure gate.  Outer doors, also referred to as gates, could be barred with crossbars, securing the courtyard from unwelcome intruders.  So, the servant who would watch for the master’s return, would watch at the front gate, or the outer door.

   

Because first century homes did not have video surveillance, or door bells, or other devices to alert the homeowner inside of approaching guests, the doorkeeper stood at the door.  The doorkeeper’s job was to monitor the door, open it for welcomed guests, and secure it against unwelcomed intruders.

The doorkeeper is referred to in Psalm 84:10 where the psalmists says –

Better is one day in your courts 
       than a thousand elsewhere; 
       I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God 
       than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

The doorkeeper was a servant’s job, not a privileged position.  An unlike the doormen in the famous hotels or apartments of New York City, the doorkeeper was not particularly rewarded for his work — he was expected to do his job.  

The Door To The Future

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but our daughter Laurie loved the movie, Back to the Future, when she was a teenager.  Actually, she loved Michael J. Fox, who just happened to be in Back to the Future.  And, she saw Back to the Future something like 14-times.  Way too much, because she was able to mouth the dialogue along with the actors on the screen.  This was what psychologist might call a bit obsessive.  Anyway, Back to the Future, to refresh your memory was about “Marty McFly, a typical American teenager of the Eighties, who is accidentally sent back to 1955 in a plutonium-powered DeLorean “time machine” invented by slightly mad scientist. During his often hysterical, always amazing trip back in time, Marty must make certain his teenage parents-to-be meet and fall in love – so he can get back to the future.”  (summary from The Internet Movie Database) Hence the name, Back to the Future.  

Now, Back to the Future wasn’t the first of these time machine movies.  H. G. Well’s book, The Time Machine, published in 1895 was actually a rehash of a previous book, The Chronic Argonauts, also about time travel.  Interesting that the term “chronic argonauts” didn’t catch on — wonder why? — but “time machine” did.  

Human beings have been fascinated by time travel probably since we developed a concept of time including the ideas of past, present, and future.  

When Jesus starts to tell the disciples about the future, they’re all ears.  ”How will we know, and what will be the signs of your coming?” they ask Jesus.  Jesus then tells them about the signs:

• The Temple will be torn down (13:2)
• Many false messiahs will arise (13:6)
• Wars and rumors of wars (13:7)
• Earthquakes and famines will occur (13:8)
• Followers of Jesus persecuted (13:9)
• The gospel will be preached to all nations (13:10)
• Families will turn on each other (13:12)
• All men will hate you on account of me (13:13)
• The abomination of desolation will occur (13:14)
• The time will be so hard that if the Lord does not cut it short, no one will survive (13:15-20)
• False Christs and false prophets will perform signs and miracles to deceive God’s people (13:21-23)

Then, Jesus combines quotes from Isaiah 13 and 34, where Isaiah describes God’s judgment on the nation of Babylon in Isaiah 13, and on all the nations in Isaiah 34 – 

24“But in those days, following that distress, 
   ” ‘the sun will be darkened, 
      and the moon will not give its light; 
 25the stars will fall from the sky, 
      and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

Then, Jesus says, 

26“At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

 

In other words, the key to the future is in the past.  Just as God came to vindicate his people and deliver them from the Babylonians, and others who opposed them, so God is coming again to deliver his people when similar governments threaten,when similar systems of oppression and unfaithfulness thrive.

After both the Isaiah passages that Jesus quotes, God shows up and vindicates his people.  In Isaiah 14:1 -

The LORD will have compassion on Jacob; 
       once again he will choose Israel 
       and will settle them in their own land. 
       Aliens will join them 
       and unite with the house of Jacob.  – Isaiah 14:1

And then from Isaiah 35: 

The desert and the parched land will be glad; 
       the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. 
       Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; 
       it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. 
       The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, 
       the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; 
       they will see the glory of the LORD, 
       the splendor of our God.
 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, 
       steady the knees that give way;
 4 say to those with fearful hearts, 
       “Be strong, do not fear; 
       your God will come, 
       he will come with vengeance; 
       with divine retribution 
       he will come to save you.”
 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened 
       and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, 
       and the mute tongue shout for joy. 
       Water will gush forth in the wilderness 
       and streams in the desert.
 7 The burning sand will become a pool, 
       the thirsty ground bubbling springs. 
       In the haunts where jackals once lay, 
       grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
 8 And a highway will be there; 
       it will be called the Way of Holiness. 
       The unclean will not journey on it; 
       it will be for those who walk in that Way; 
       wicked fools will not go about on it. 
 9 No lion will be there, 
       nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; 
       they will not be found there. 
       But only the redeemed will walk there,
 10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return. 
       They will enter Zion with singing; 
       everlasting joy will crown their heads. 
       Gladness and joy will overtake them, 
       and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

 

The point is, when things are at their worst for the people of God, God is not far away — God is at the door, close by, about to appear, again.  Just as he did in the Old Testament, just as he did in the ministry of Jesus, God is coming and we are to watch for him, watch at the gate so we can open the door and admit him without delay.

When The Master Returns Home

Often when the master of the house was gone activity at the house slowed down.  The servants went about their chores, it was a good time to paint, and take care of other routine maintenance, and there were still herds to be looked after, and household business to attend to.  

But when the master returned, he returned to a house ready to come alive again.  Ready to throw a party, to tell all the neighbors that he was home, ready to celebrate his homecoming.

 

Stories like the prodigal son, while not exactly the same, illustrate that point.  The homecoming of a son, even a wayward one, was cause for celebration.  Even more the homecoming of the master!  Plans were made, food was purchased, cooks were busy, invitations were sent out — it was a banquet for all who would come.  

Stories like the parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:15-24) are examples of this kind of celebration.  Invitations were sent and when those invited did not come, the master sent his servants to find those who would come because the feast was in full swing and nothing could stop it, not even ungrateful guests.

 

Another Door, Another Time

But there is another coming of the Christ, another way he comes to us, again.  In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus has given John messages for the churches.  The seven churches also represent the people of God.  

1. To the church in Ephesus, Jesus says, “You have forsaken your first love. Repent.”
2. To the church in Smyrna, Jesus says, “Be faithful to the point of death.”
3. To the church in Pergammum, he says, “You did not renounce your faith in me…”
4. To the church in Thyatira, he says, “Hold on to what you have until I come.”
5. To the church in Sardis, he says, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains…”
6. To the church in Philadelphia, he says, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have…”
7. To the church in Laodicea, he says, “I wish you were either hot or cold…”

Then Jesus says to all of the churches, representing all of the people of God –

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with hiim, and he with me.”  – Rev 3:20

Jesus is at the door, knocking.  But where is the doorkeeper?  Why is no one watching? Why doesn’t anyone hear his voice?  Why don’t we have the banquet ready?  Why aren’t the invitations sent?

 

And, that is what Advent is about.  Watching at the gate.  Looking for Jesus.  Not getting so distracted by all of the things in our busy lives that we fail to keep looking.  Keep hoping, keep waiting.  Keep watching.  

For just as he came in the form of a baby 2,000 years ago to a nation who was not looking for a messiah, so he comes today, in human form again.  Present with his people — the church.  Coming home to his great creation.  Coming again in and through the church, if we let him in.  If we hear his voice.  If we open the door.  If we watch at the gate.  

The words of John the Revelator ring in our ears and resonate in our hearts – Amen, come, Lord Jesus!  

Filed under: Lectionary Yr B, Mark, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, The Story, Worship, advent, sermon , advent, christmas, coming of Jesus, coming of the messiah, first sunday of advent, lectionary year b, mark 13:24-37, preaching, preparing for his coming, sermon, watching at the gate

Sent Into The Desert: A Lenten Meditation

Tomorrow I bring the lenten meditation for the second of our Lenten lunches. I hope this helps you find your own desert during this Lenten season.

Sent Into The Desert

Mark 1:12-13
¹³And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Seeing Lent from a new perspective

We are now in the second week of Lent, approaching the third. Lent is a 40-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, not counting Sundays, which is a time of confession, repentance, and reflection. The 40-days is taken from the 40-days Jesus spent in the wilderness after his baptism, but before he began what we call his “earthly ministry.” Rick Warren, in his best-selling book, The Purpose-driven Life, challenged readers to read one chapter of the book for a period of 40-days for their own life-changing experience. Warren cited the significance of 40-days in the Bible:

• the great flood lasted for 40-days and 40-nights;
• Moses was on the mountain of God for 40-days and 40-nights;
• Elijah spent 40-days fleeing from Ahab, but found God in the process;
• Jonah preached to Nineveh for 40-days;
• Jesus spends 40-days in the wilderness; and,
• Jesus appears to his disciples during a 40-day period after his resurrection.

So, this period of time — 40-days — is significant in the stories of the Bible, and so that gets a lot of attention. Add to the story of Jesus in the wilderness the fact that Jesus fasted all those 40-days makes it all the more impressive. At our house we have trouble going without food for 40-minutes!

But, as interesting as the significance of the 40-days is in all of these stories, I don’t think that’s the main point of the story that Mark tells us. Mark’s account of Jesus temptation is the shortest and most concise of the synoptic gospels — Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Do you know what I think the main point is? Are you ready?

I think the main point is that Jesus goes into the wilderness. Not forty days, not temptation, not the devil, but the wilderness itself.

Mark says the Spirit was at Jesus’ baptism, affirming God’s pleasure; and, then immediately, the Spirit “drives” Jesus into the wilderness.

Now, some folks might say, “But, Jesus goes there to fast and pray.” Well, he could have done that in the city, or in his hometown, or even the Temple in Jerusalem. To which others might say, “But, the devil had to tempt him.” And, that is certainly true. Jesus was tempted or tested, more accurately, by the devil. But, that could have been done in the city, and actually the devil and Jesus wind up in Jerusalem on a pinnacle of the Temple in the last temptation! So, Jesus didn’t have to be in the wilderness to fast or pray or be tempted or even encounter the devil.

But, the Spirit sends, drives, him into the wilderness. Mark says Jesus was with the wild beasts, was tempted by the devil, and the angels came and waited on him. All in the wilderness.

The wilderness as spiritual journey

So, it’s the wilderness, not the 40-days, that’s the main focus here. And, wilderness, or desert, has a history in the stories of the Bible as stellar as that of the 40-days.

• Moses is on the backside of the desert, avoiding God, when he encounters God in a burning bush;
• Israel wanders in the desert, taking a 40-year detour to the Promised Land;
• God feeds Israel manna in the desert;
• Elijah, on that 40-day journey to Horeb, goes to the desert where he meets God in the still small voice.
• Isaiah speaks of streams in the desert, and the prophets speak of the desert blooming like a rose.
• John the Baptist preaches in the desert, and multitudes flock to hear him.
• Jesus is led, driven, by the Spirit — by God — into the desert.
• The Essenes, one of the three prominent Jewish religious societies, establishes their settlement in the desert.

So, the desert, or the wilderness, figures prominently in spiritual formation in the lives of people whom God is calling. Even as the early church in the the 3rd and 4th centuries was already growing cold and lax, a group called The Desert Fathers — and there were Desert Mothers, too — left the great cities where church bishops vied for political power to find spiritual vitality in the deserts of Egypt and Syria and other parts of northern Africa.

Why the desert?

When the Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Piedmont, South Carolina, wanted a mural painted in their baptistry, they asked my grandmother to paint it. She and my grandfather had been members there for half their adult lives, and now they are both buried in the church cemetery across the road. My grandmother was a remarkable woman who had an 8th grade education. But, Marguerite Callaham Warnock was born with a sense of artistry and style that exceeded her formal training. She started collecting beautiful antiques — giant poster beds, massive sideboards, and museum quality tables — long before it was fashionable to do so. And, in her 60s she taught herself to paint.

So, when Mt. Pisgah needed a baptistry mural, Marguerite Warnock was called upon. But, she wanted it to be authentic, so she asked her son — my father — to send her photographs of the Jordan River from my parents’ latest trip to the Holy Land. From those photographs, she painted the baptistry mural. She did a marvelous job, accurate to the last detail. But, some of the church folks didn’t like it. Why? Because it looked like the desert. Most of them had images in their heads of lush greenery, verdant trees, palms, and undergrowth sprouting up from the banks of the Jordan River. But, the reality was, it was desert. A few scruffy palmetto-looking plants, a lot of dirt, and a small river.

Well, our idea of the desert in this story is just as wrong as the picture some of the members of the Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church had in their heads. We have often thought of the desert that Jesus went into as a bad place — a dismal place of deprivation, hardship, and temptation. But, the Spirit sends Jesus there. Why? Because he can be with God without distraction. No food, no crowds, no questions, no disciples, no interference from the Pharisees, nothing to keep him from God.

But, “I thought he was with the devil” you might say. Oh, the devil came around. But, Mark tells us he was really with the wild beasts. And, I don’t think the scene is a replay of Daniel in the lions’ den. I think Mark is making a theological statement here. Jesus was with the wild beasts, and he doesn’t get eaten. Jesus was with the wild beasts and they don’t attack him. Jesus was with the wild beasts and he’s safe. His only adversary in the desert is the devil, who ultimately takes him from the desert back to the city. The desert becomes the place that Jesus encounters the wildness of God’s creation in all its untamed glory. The desert becomes Eden again, fallen maybe, but not forsaken. The desert becomes the place Jesus begins to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

The wild beasts, the animals, leave him unharmed. The angels come and wait on him. The desert becomes a temple, the place where the purpose of God for his creation triumphs over the forces of evil, greed, depravity, and sin. The desert becomes the highway for our God that Isaiah spoke of, for it is not only John the Baptist who proclaims that prophetic word, but Jesus who fulfills it.

The desert in modern culture

We have long thought that wilderness, nature, the desert, was a place of spiritual renewal. John Burroughs, a naturalist and farmer of the late 1800s spoke of his “divinity school days in the mountains” which he said help us develop “sharp eyes” to see nature’s dramas, and the ability to interpret what we see. Back to the land agrarians like Wendell Berry echo Burrough’s sentiments.

And, adults aren’t the only ones who benefit from going into the wildernenes. In his book, The Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv argues that children are missing the wonder of nature, and connection with the mysteries of life because most no longer play outdoors. One child, when asked where he liked to play, said, “I like to play indoors better, ’cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.”

There was a time when we lived with nature as part of our daily routine. Now we do everything we can to insulate ourselves from nature. We close our windows, drive instead of walk, whiz past trees at speeds to fast to see them, and live our lives in what we think is the safety and security of controlled environments. But, we need the wilderness.

Our desert during this Lenten season

So, not only is this Lenten season a 40-day period, it is a time when we seek our desert. A time when we ask the Spirit to drive us into the presence of God in all his wild and glorious beauty. A time when we are stripped of the easy and the familiar and the distracting, and find the God of the universe who makes all things new.

I’m reading a book by Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America. Berry is a farmer, a Christian, and a writer who has been writing about the society in which we live for about 40-years now. One of the things Berry says is that when we quit caring about the land, creation, we began to lose our way as a people. Of the land, Berry writes –

This is the justice that we are learning from the ecologists: you cannot damage what you are dependent upon without damaging yourself. — The Unsettling of America, p 116.

If the Spirit drives us into the wilderness this Lenten season, it may be to reconnect with God by taking a walk in the woods, or watching the birds find new homes, or being whipsawed by the whirl of the winds of spring. But, undoubtedly, it will be to find God by living with his creation, rather than listening to ours.

Some folks give up things for Lent, feeling that by doing so they follow the experience of Christ as he fasted. But, my point today is that we have already given up too much. We have given up our connection with God’s creation, and now value nature as a scenic destination, rather than as God’s creation. Our prayer should be that we are driven into the wilderness to encounter God as Moses did in a burning bush, as Elijah did in the still small voice, as John the Baptist did in animals skins and a diet of locusts and wild honey. Until we spend time in the desert, with the untamed God of creation, we cannot come into his presence in the comfort of the Temple.

Filed under: Journey, Mark , 40 days in the wilderness, Christianity, devil, fasting, giving up something for lent, jesus, jesus temptation, lent, lenten season, Mark 1:12-13, reflection during lent, spiritual journey, temptation, the desert experience, wildness of god

Jesus, Help!

(We have a missions speaker this week, October 14, 2007, so I’m not preaching Sunday.  Here’s a sermon I enjoyed preaching last year on the story of blind Bartimaeus.)  Jesus, Help! mp3

Mark 10:46-52

 

The Story of A Blind Man

This is a story that is familiar to those of us who grew up in Sunday School. The story of “Blind Bartimaeus” is what my Primary teacher called it. It’s the story of a man who was reduced to begging because he was blind. Unlike our day, in the first century blindness meant you could no longer go about your trade. A blind shepherd could not look for sheep; a blind shopkeeper could not manage his wares; a blind carpenter was a danger to himself and those around him; a blind farmer could not plant, nurture his crop or see when it was ready for harvest. No guide dogs for the blind, no books on tape, no institutions for those who are visually-impaired. Blindness was a sentence of destitution and hopelessness.

Filed under: Lectionary Yr B, Mark, Sermons , blind bartimaeus, healing, jesus, miracle, religion, sermon, sight, spirituality, vision