Merredin Uniting Church

Texts: Jeremiah 33:14-16, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, Luke 21:25-36

It’s Advent – the beginning. It’s a season of anticipation and hope, not just for the remembrance of that event in history when God came amongst us in Christ but also for the time when Jesus shall come again in glory.

“The days are coming, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he will do what is just and right in the Land.”

Stop with me and let’s think about it for a while.

What does it mean to us now, this promise of God, that He will cause a Righteous Branch to spring up?

• What does it mean too when Jesus says to us that there is a day coming when the Son of Man will come to us in a cloud with power and great glory?
• What do these promises mean now in the midst of our busy lives and hectic lifestyles?
• What does it mean for me right now when the harvest is ripe and my header is broken?
• What does it mean when there is so much to do and so little time or energy to do it?
• What do these promises about the future mean when we are caught up in trying to do all we can do right here and now in the present – what do they mean when we are struggling to live one day at a time – when we are trying to be all things to all people?
• What do they mean when we watch the news or read the newspaper and discover that senseless horrors continue throughout the world; that crime and starvation and terrorism and war and earthquakes and floods abound and indeed seen to be increasing?

I think that they mean that we should rejoice and stand up and watch and pray

• that I might escape all that is about to happen
• and pray that I might be ready for Christ’s return
• and pray that I might be able to stand before the Son of Man
• and, to pray for revival in Christ’s Church, for that is the only way in which we can help other people to also be ready to enter into the fullness of God’s Promise

The promise of God – the promise of Christ – is that the future is not going to be like the present.
His promise is that those things that we see that are wrong in this world, those things that we hear of that are evil – will perish away, and that a new heaven and a new earth will come upon us – a heaven and earth of everlasting peace and justice, joy and love.

And I think that this anticipation and the preparation for a future hope is important.

And so does Jesus. That is why he talks about the future – that is why he mentions the signs of His coming, how the stars and the moon and the sun itself will appear to go off course and terror will be felt among the nations, and fear among the peoples.

And that is why he says:

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

Be careful, be ready, be prepared … for the day will come upon you suddenly like a trap …
When we are not anticipating that which is to come, we can slip easily into careless walking. We will dissipate – waste away by careless living, we will seek pleasure in selfish indulgence and we will be distracted by the anxieties of life.
We will be trapped!

And the thing about traps is that they don’t hunt us down – they just wait for us to come on by … happily not paying attention.

I once heard a story of a man who was having a horrendous week. His wife was expecting a baby. He had a million and one obligations to take care of. He felt rushed off and his feet and distracted and unable to appreciate what was happening around him.

He wrote this, “I’m trapped. I have been so caught up in everything that I had no idea what else I missed. I was feeling sorry for myself, and for my wife. I was grumbling and hard to get along with.

I missed the excitement of my kids when their uncle, my own brother, came to visit. I didn’t thank God for the smiles and support other people were giving us as we waited for the baby. I didn’t watch for what else God was doing around here this past week.” And then he asked – “Now how about you? I’m curious, what one thing or couple of things do you tend to be so focused on that you kind of lose your context?”

Well, for me it’s my work. I can get so involved in it, so caught up in it, spending hours before the computer, and then rushing around doing visits and getting ready for meetings and then going to them – that I forget what it is that I am actually meant to do – that I can miss my family’s joys and the way in which God is actually touching people’s lives all around me,

What about you? What busy-ness keeps you from the joyful anticipation of what God intends for you?
Is your love weakening rather than overflowing? Are you feeling guilty about your lack of attention to God and to the people round about you?

In our reading from Thessalonians, Paul prays that these things would not happen to the church there in Thessalonica and he prays that the way would be clear for him to come to them to supply to them what is lacking in their faith – perhaps it was the focus on the distractions of everyday life. He is coming to build up their faith in the God who came in Christ and who will come again in glory.

Jesus tells us in today’s gospel reading not to be distracted by the big issues: warfare, floods, famine, creation seeming to fall apart. But rather to see them as signs of what is to take place.
But he is also telling us that personal things can be more distracting than any civil war halfway around the planet.

It’s those personal events – the anxieties of life – that are so dangerous, because they are subtle and sneaky. We don’t realise what is happening until it is too late. All of a sudden we’re trapped, feeling sorry for ourselves, working so hard, being so focused on one thing, that we miss the bigger picture.

That’s why Jesus tells us to be alert. To watch. To not get so caught up in the everyday things or the big tragedies that we lose sight of the larger scheme, that we fail to look down the road, that we fail to see the presence of the Kingdom looming towards us with all its hope – all its promise.

The kingdom is coming. A righteous Branch has sprouted from David’s line; and he will do what is just and right in the land. He has come – and he is returning. We are called to be ready for him when he does, to be praying and loving and doing the things he has commanded us to do.

And that is the attitude of Advent. To be alert to what is going on around us. To understanding the signs around us and to anticipate the fulfilment of God’s word in our midst. Out of a sure hope to be readying ourselves by prayer and faithfulness. Readying ourselves by having in us the holy hope od Emmanuel – God with us – a hope that is promised to us and to those around us.

Jesus doesn’t tell us about the signs of the end and the coming time of judgement in order to frighten us, but rather to assure us that God is keeping his promise – and that the time of his rule is at hand.

He tells us about the signs of the coming of the kingdom so that we might get ready..
That we might be careful and, with our heads held high, to walk the road towards the approaching Kingdom in prayer and in hope, in righteousness and in love, knowing that as so many of promises of God were fulfilled at the birth of Christ, so the rest will also be fulfilled – to His praise and his glory.

Keep focused, don’t give up, hold fast to the promise, live as if it is already fulfilled – for it already is .. and will be .. in all power at the coming of Christ.

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