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Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent – November 29, 2020

Mark 13:24-37

Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

There has been some good news lately. We haven’t had much good news in 2020, so some good news is very welcome. We now have three vaccines that have been shown to be effective against COVID-19. The infrastructure to mass produce and distribute these vaccines is already in place, and so the first shots should begin to be administered in a matter of weeks. The stock market is sometimes a secular barometer of what’s going on in our world, and it responded with elation, sending stock prices through the roof as investors looked to the future with renewed hope.

But then a measure of reality set in. As wonderful as this is, it is still going to be months before the vaccine is widely available to people, and in the meantime, COVID numbers are going through the roof. While the death rate has been mercifully low, hospitals are beginning to feel the crunch. And so while there is indeed good news, while there is much to look forward to, while the end of this pandemic does indeed appear to be in sight, in the meantime we are being encouraged to beware, to not get complacent, to remain vigilant.

Our gospel reading on this first Sunday in Advent is full of good news. The apocalyptic language we hear Jesus use sometimes doesn’t sound like good news to people, but if you understand what Jesus is doing here you can see that it is indeed good news. When Jesus uses the language of cosmic calamity – the sun going dark, the stars falling from the sky – he is quoting, just about word-for-word, the metaphoric language Isaiah used to describe the impending destruction of Babylon and Edom, the enemies of God’s people. When he talks about the Son of Man coming on the clouds, he’s quoting, just about word-for-word, from the book of Daniel as he described the coming of the Messiah to save his people. When he talks about the elect being gathered from the four winds, from the ends of the earth and the ends of heaven, he is doing a sweet remix of passages from Deuteronomy and Zechariah and, again, Isaiah, which describe God bringing his people home from exile, repatriating them to their homeland after being held in captivity to enemy forces.

Jesus isn’t dropping dark clues to try to match up with current events. He isn’t describing literal calamities to watch for. Jesus is repurposing the language of the prophets to say that when he comes again, every enemy we face as God’s people will be destroyed. Sin, death, and the devil will be vanquished at last. They will be wiped off the face of the earth. He is saying that when he comes again it will be to save his people once and for all. He will come to gather them together into his eternal kingdom, to bring them home from exile, to bring them out of every captivity and repatriate them to their true home. Good news, right?

But it continues. In case the apocalyptic language from the Old Testament is too confusing, Jesus offers another image. He encourages people to look to the fig tree. Everyone in Jesus’ time knew that when the fig tree started to sprout leaves, they were about to get something good. It was almost time for some Fig Newtons! Seriously, figs were basically the candy, the sweetener, the treats of the ancient world, something everyone looked forward to. And not only did those fig leaves signal the coming of Fig Newtons, they also signaled the coming of summer. And who doesn’t love summer? Look to my future coming in the same way, Jesus is saying. It is good news!

But then we have a bit of a reality check. Jesus says that this generation will not pass away before these things take place, and it turns out that “this generation” is not referring to a human life span but an entire era in human history. We have some waiting to do. Nobody knows when this new day is coming. You should therefore reject anyone and everyone who comes along with a date they have come up with. They are either religious charlatans or they are deluded. Either way, you should avoid them. The truth is, as Jesus himself says, NO ONE knows the day or the hour.

In the meantime, we wait. In the meantime, sin, death, and the devil continue to be a threat, and so we are called to beware. We are called to not get complacent. We are called to be vigilant.  “Beware,” Jesus says. “Keep alert.” “Keep awake, for you do not know if the master will come in the evening, or at midnight, or at dawn. You don’t want to be asleep when he comes suddenly, so keep awake!”

We are indeed called to beware, as our enemies are not completely vanquished yet. But we need not be afraid of the future. We can live in hope and even in joy because he is coming again, and this is good news! And the fact that it is good news can actually help keep us spiritually awake and alert.

As a dad I’ve noticed that my kids sometimes have a hard time getting up in the morning on school days. I also have a hard time rousing them out of bed when we have an early morning work project. But you know when they have no problem waking up at 4am? Christmas morning! You know when they wake up right on time? When we’re going fishing! You know when they are alert and bright eyed and bushy tailed early in the morning? When we’re going to Disneyland!

There is an element of caution in Jesus’ warning here, to be sure. We need to beware. We need to be vigilant as we await his coming again. He doesn’t want us to be lured into spiritual slumber by the world, the devil, or our sinful self. He doesn’t want us to become spiritually lazy or complacent. And so, as heaven and earth pass away all around us, we tenaciously cling to his word, which will not pass away. We cling to his word to stay sharp, and to ward off our enemies.

But the best motivation for staying awake is knowing that his coming again is good news. The best motivation for being spiritually alert is knowing that when the new day comes, all our enemies will at last be vanquished, our savior will come to bring us the fullness of his salvation, we will be gathered in from the four winds, from every place of exile and captivity, and brought to our true home.

Who doesn’t want to be awake for that?

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer

Oak Harbor Lutheran Church