Advent 1 B

““But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”” (Mark 13.24–37 NRSV)

So, here we are: the moment you’ve been waiting for. The moment I’ve been waiting for: the first Sunday of the Church year — the beginning of Advent and the church’s calendar. Or, did you think I meant something else? Actually, it is a little funny (to me, at least) that you, as a congregation, and I, as a pastor, have come through the past year (or more) of waiting and waiting… and your Call Committee and Council have done hard work, and all of it has brought us to this moment together to begin what really is the first Sunday of the year according to the Church calendar.

And knowing these things, you could be forgiven if you thought that today’s Scripture, after all that waiting, might say something like this:

And, lo, Jesus told them, “Good job guys! Your hard work and patience have been rewarded! You shall have peaceful, easy livin’ from here on out.

But the Bible today, or ever, says no such thing. Instead, Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Mark:

Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.

Doesn’t Jesus know it’s my first Sunday?

That’s right, as we begin our ministry together, my first sermon is not about how you’ve clearly made the right decision, about how our future is perfectly clear, and that we can all just put our heads back down and call it a day. Instead, today, we are talking about waiting. And being alert.

Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.

When Jesus says ‘beware,’ I think it means for us, “pay attention.”

This Gospel lesson with which we begin our time together, and which begins the church year is from the Gospel of Mark, and it’s all about paying attention. Sometimes it’s nicknamed “Mark’s Apocalypse.” Now, I know the word apocalypse sounds pretty scary…and it can be, Jesus talks about the sun darkening and the moon not giving light and stars falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens being shaken. Which is serious stuff. But, he also talks about buds blooming on a I want to tell you a secret. The word apocalypse, by itself, doesn’t actually mean ‘end of the world,’ or explosions, or war. The word apocalypse simply means to ‘peel back’, to ‘uncover the truth.’ That’s exactly what Jesus was doing as he spoke about the buds blooming and stars darkening. Revealing the truth. Not just about something in the future, but the truth about what was going on right then and there in his time. Pay attention, he says.

The people to whom Jesus was speaking lived in a world that was longing for truth. They had a government that barely tolerated the Jewish religion, and eventually would outlaw it. They heard a lot about peace, but the way peace was kept was extremely violent. Think of crucifixion if you want one example. Jesus met folks who were disabled or very poor — and for those reasons considered to be worthless.

He also met folks that were sick, and folks that were grieving the loss of a loved one. Are their stories sounding familiar to you, yet? And to each one, Jesus revealed truth. Apocalypse. In fact, you could think of Jesus’ entire life and ministry as an apocalypse, an uncovering of this truth, this apocalyptic message from verse 29:

“So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that [God] is near, at the very gates.” (Mark 13:29 NRSV)

You see, as real and as close as these other things were: violence, sickness, and death…Jesus was revealing something to them even more real, and even closer: the presence of God. So pay attention, he told them.

And us? What about us? If we pay attention, will we find the presence of God? In the midst of violence, sickness, and death in our world, in our lives; in the midst of new beginnings here at Good Shepherd; in the midst of the holiday season…are we alert to what God is doing?

And here we find the trap… Because: I wonder, what happens to you when a preacher tells you you need to find God? One of my favorite bumper stickers in the world says, “Look busy, Jesus is coming.” When I’m anxious about whether or not I’m on the right track to finding God, or whether I’m a good enough person, my temptation is to do more, to stress more, to buy more. My temptation is to be more and more busy. And busy makes me feel like I’m paying attention.

But busy is the opposite of paying attention. Busy is the opposite of paying attention.

See, the truth that Jesus desperately wants to apocalypse, uncover before our very eyes is the same truth that he offers in the Gospel of Mark: that God is, at this very moment, already near to us. When Jesus says, be alert, pay attention, it doesn’t mean ‘go do a bunch of stuff because you’re anxious about God.’ It means ‘stop, because God is already here.’

God is near. At our very doors.

And I know that it’s hard to see that sometimes. It’s a truth that needs constant uncovering. It gets covered up so easily in our world. Between all the pressure to ‘do the holidays right.’ Watching commercials of perfect families in perfect candlelit homes, it’s hard to feel like your to-do list will ever be done. Or maybe you’ll be missing someone who won’t be here this holiday season. It can sure feel like God is far off when you’ve lost someone you love.

And looking a little broader, we see and read about places like Ferguson, MO where the truth of God’s nearness is covered underneath layer and layer of fear. All God’s children — afraid of each other. This is not just a problem ‘out there.’ Surely each and every one of us has fears that can blind us to the nearness of God. I know I do.

But hear the words of Jesus, “send[ing] out the angels, and gather[ing] his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” In other words, no matter how buried the truth is, no matter how far you feel from finding God, God will stop at nothing from finding you. From uncovering the truth that the Kingdom of God is near. Here and now, and beneath the violence, sickness, and sadness of our lives, the truth is that God has already come. There’s no need to ‘look busy’ because Jesus is already here.

We don’t have to do more. We don’t have to stress more. We don’t have to buy more. God is already here. We stop. We pay attention to what God has come to do. And then we join in.

Here at Good Shepherd, I look forward to us rolling up our sleeves together and getting to work in God’s kingdom. But we’re not here to do busy work.