Our Advent Hope. My last sermon at Parow Wesley

Our Advent Hope

This sermon was based on the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Gospel reading for the first Sunday in Advent (28/11/2010). It was my last preaching appointment at Parow Wesley Methodist Church, where I served for 4 years.

Text: Luke 21:25-36

The reading set for the first Sunday in Advent begins with these verses:

There will be strange things happening to the sun, the moon, and the stars. On earth whole countries will be in despair, afraid of the roar of the sea and the raging tides.

People will faint from fear as they wait for what is coming over the whole earth, for the powers in space will be driven from their courses.

What is being prophesied here? Is this what is going to happen when I leave Cape Town and Parow Wesley Methodist Church?

There will be strange things happening to the sun, the moon, and the stars. On earth whole countries will be in despair, afraid of the roar of the sea and the raging tides.

People will faint from fear as they wait for what is coming over the whole earth, for the powers in space will be driven from their courses.

I think not.

Verse 27 makes things a little clearer:

Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in a cloud with great power and glory.

Jesus here in his last teaching in Luke's gospel is talking about the fact that he will come again.

The season of Advent, which begins today, is a season which is meant to remind us that Jesus came, that Jesus comes, and that Jesus will come again.

So it is a season of waiting.... which is a very good spiritual discipline to learn in this age of instant everything.

It is a reminder that after 1000 years of waiting, Jesus, the promised and prophesied Messiah, came to his people, to Israel..... at last.... eventually!

It is a reminder that the Jesus who came to his people, comes to his people still........ in ways of course that are too many to mention...... he comes and meets us in the sacrament of Holy Communion; in reading the Scriptures faithfully, Jesus comes to us; in prayer, Jesus comes to us; in service to others, Jesus comes to us and through us, to others; etc, etc, etc.

So Advent reminds us that Jesus came, that he comes...... and of course Advent reminds us that Jesus will come again and much of Jesus teaching, and most of the rest of the New Testament, and I would hope nearly all of my preaching, is all about how to live as we expect and prepare for his Second Coming.

So, verse 27 reminds us that Jesus will come again.

Then in verse 28 Jesus says:

When these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your salvation is near."

Hang on a moment, I thought that my salvation was here already, that I am saved, that I am born again, not that I will only be saved and be born again and be a Christian when Jesus returns.

And here we see one of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God that shouldn't, but does confuse so many. The Kingdom of God has come, it came with Christ, and it comes in you when you turn to him (remember the Greek word I've taught you..... metanoia.... changing your mind, often translated as repentance, but really meaning changing the way you think and therefore live). So the Kingdom comes when you turn to him, and it will come in those who you are praying for when they eventually come to think differently (repent) and are born-again, and of course the Kingdom will come in all its fullness when Jesus returns; then every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

We call this the “already and not yet” aspect of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God prophesied by the Old Testament prophets has come in Jesus, it is here, and it is near, so that people can step into it, but it is not yet here in all its fullness. In a sense it is like the weather at the moment here in the Cape; Summer has come, it has arrived, but we all know that it is not yet here in all its fullness....but come in all it's fulness it certainly will! So too the Kingdom of God.

And one of the things we realise each year as we mark the beginning of Advent is that the coming of the Kingdom of God, the coming of the reign of God, depends on us. What we do, what you and I do, will either hasten or slow down, the coming of the Kingdom of God into the world around us. By our actions, our good works, God's Kingdom comes to the world around us. By our lack of actions, our lack of good works, or our refusal to act in certain ways, God's Kingdom is hindered, prevented from coming.

And so Jesus tells them the parable of the fig tree:

Then Jesus told them this parable: "Think of the fig tree and all the other trees.

When you see their leaves beginning to appear, you know that summer is near.

In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that the Kingdom of God is about to come.

Here Jesus points out another of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; he says look at all the trees; there are times when they are dead, and then..... you see leaves appearing, and then you know that summer, and more leaves and more shade, and even fruit, is on the way!

He is reminding us here of a mystery he would teach in many different ways during his ministry, that in this Kingdom, things often have to die, before their can be new life. In this parable, and on so many occasions in his ministry, he reminds us that death and decay are never the last words in this Kingdom. He taught that truth in many ways, and he demonstrated that truth in raising children and Lazarus from the dead.

And that, if anything, sums up the Advent hope, and the Kingdom truth:

The best is always yet to come, the dead looking fig tree is not the end of the story;

The dead looking marriage is not the end of the story.

The dead looking career or job is not the end of the story.

The decaying, dying, dead looking country, is not the end of the story.

The dead looking church is not the end of the story.

The tortured, dead, buried Jesus is not the end of the story.

This is all very good news, isn't it?

Friends, think of the fig tree and all the other trees, their leaves will appear and spring followed by summer, will happen.

That is the truth!

So this is our Advent hope: the Jesus who came, will come again and until he comes again, he will continue to come here and now in prayer, in sacrament, in Scripture, in fellowship, in worship, in service to the least among us, and so on and so on and so on. Until he comes again, he will continue to come!

He comes!

And so Jesus ends his teaching ministry the way he began it, talking and teaching about the Kingdom of God and showing us a way to live whereby his Kingdom comes where-ever we, born-again Christians, find ourselves.

I end my preaching and teaching ministry here in Parow Wesley Methodist Church, in the same way, talking about the Kingdom of God and how we are to live in it, here and now, in Parow.

One can do all kinds of things with computers nowadays, so I did a search on Friday of the Gospels and I looked up the things Jesus spoke most about:

I looked up sin: in the four Gospels, Jesus mentions it 18 times;

I looked up repent and repentance: In the four Gospels, Jesus talks about these 19 times;

I looked up the save and salvation: in the four Gospels, Jesus talks about these 45 times;

I looked up kingdom: In the four Gospels, Jesus talks about kingdom 127 times!

That word more than any other was on his lips and in his actions.

I hope that that word has been on my lips and in my actions more than any other.

My last 'preaching' words to you therefore from this pulpit are words that John the Baptist said, that Jesus said and that I say:

The Kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the good news.