Standing at Skyfall

December 2, 2012 Luke 21:25-36 Standing at Skyfall First Sunday of Advent Year C Theme of skyfall for advent God’s words of wisdom come to us in many unexpected ways and in unexpected places. My theme for advent came to me in late September, driving in my car, when I first heard to theme song to the new James Bond movie – Skyfall. This is the end Hold your breath and count to ten Feel the earth move and then Hear my heart burst again For this is the end I've drowned and dreamt this moment So overdue I owe them Swept away, I'm stolen Let the skyfall When it crumbles We will stand tall Face it all together At skyfall, what does that mean? Where is skyfall? Is that a planned event? Chicken Little gave us sky fall – when a rock fell on her head, and she went to tell all of her friends that the sky was falling, she saw it with her own eyes, she felt it , and the king must know that the sky is falling. We all know the moral of the story – the sky is not falling, chicken little is driven more by her fears, than what is really going on, and she is able to convey her fear to everyone else and they all run for their lives, just based on what chicken little said. Skyfall is real The title of my sermon this morning is standing at skyfall. In the story – we all know the sky did not really fall. But I think that in our lives there are times, when the sky does fall, when our world comes to an end. I think that there really are days that we can stand and look at the broken pieces of our lives, and know for sure that the world had ended around us. As a matter of fact, I can guarantee you, there is a skyfall in every life. Have you watched the news lately? The politicians are talking about the financial cliff – the point at the end of the year when all that we have worked so hard to achieve will fall apart unless the politicians come to some sort of agreement. And then there was the announcement last month that all of the united methodist cokesbury stores would be closing, just as borders and many other bookstores have done in recent years, people just are not going to the store to buy books anymore, since amazon will send you any book you want right to your front door. And the one that I had to laugh at this month, the closing of the hostess plant. People all over the world are in a panic because they wont be able to buy twinkies anymore – it is the end of an era. What is so funny to me is that everyone is so upset about not being able to buy twinkies anymore - whereas if twinkies were something that people actually bought on a regular basis – the company wouldn’t be going out of business. The world has changed since we were kids, we now know that twinkies are not healthy for us, not only do they make us fat, but that crème in the middle – that stuff doesn’t go away – it last longer than most of us will be alive. That cant be a good thing to put in our bodies – it is okay for them to go away. The whole premise of the movie skyfall is that the world that we live in is falling apart before our very eyes. The enemies that we used to be afraid of – don’t exist anymore. The way we used to do business is gone, they understandings that we had in life have evaporated, and all of us in many ways are still stuck in a world that doesn’t exist anymore. Our world is literally falling apart around us – we are standing at skyfall. But you know that one that gets me the most – is the death of the church. People arent coming to church anymore, not to worship at least. They will come for what we offer them for free – but don’t want to hear anything about Jesus. We are not attracting our your people, and our young families. In today’s world Sunday is not the day that you come to worship, Sunday is your free day to stay at home and do what you want. Even in giving, I have received all kinds of letters from all kinds of good organizations that ask for our money – money that used to go just for the church. It as if the world doesn’t need church anymore – things are not getting better, things are getting worse. We are not attracting new members, and those who are the most faithful are dying off. How much longer before the church falls in the same category as the twinkie, and the bookstore, and the concept of james bond – not much longer if we look at the signs of the times. Christians are literally standing at skyfall. As a matter of fact, we always start advent at skyfall – at the despair of the world, at the hopelessness of the situation, at the end of the world. Jesus always reminds us that the world is coming to an end. That the endtimes will be a time of distress and confusion. That we will go through many tribulations. The bible says that no man knows the time or the hour, but we as Christians have been predicting the end of the world since the last time jesus walked the earth. And just like the stuff in the middle of the twinkie, we are still here. Still standing on the edge. I wanted to show you a clip from the movie skyfall, but even the trailer advertisement was so full of sin and bad language, that it was not a good idea for church. But long story short- James Bond is fighting a villian on the top of a train, one of is fellow agents shoots at them both and hits james bond. He falls into the water and the spy agency assumes that he is dead. It takes him awhile to come back to work. When he returns – his boss ask him where the (expletive) has he been? He says he was enjoying death. One of his colleagues ask why didn’t he just stay dead. It had to be much easier then facing reality. You know I think that there are a lot of us in church – we are a lot like James Bond. When the world as we know it is falling apart- it is easier for us to choose to die with it, rather than stand in the miracle of resurrection. I knew that I had to go see the movie skyfall, when the villian tells James Bond that everyone has to have a hobby – and he asks what is your hobby – James Bond responds resurrection. Wow – coming back to life, after you have died – resurrection. For Jesus resurrection wasn’t just a hobby – it was a way of life. and following Jesus means that resurrection is a way of life for me too. Advent reminds us that Jesus was not just born once, but that Jesus was born twice. "Jesus Christ was born twice. The birth at Bethlehem was a birth into a life of weakness. The second time he was born from the grave – the first born from the dead – into the glory of heaven and the throne of God." It is that second birth that makes all of the difference in the world. And it is that second coming that we await in advent. In the meantime – we wait, we survive what life brings at us, we move forward in faith, we await our resurrection. We don’t have any more control over our death, then we do our life. if taxes go up at the beginning of the year. We will just have to find a way to pay them. When the world falls apart – we find a way to face it. The end of the world as we know it is no big deal. Advent reminds of that it is time for us to give up the comfort of our world, and be prepared to start all over again. For the faithful the world ends every year at the beginning of advent, and we are asked to stand and wait for a new year. Every beginning starts with the end. Sometimes my world does not end every year, sometimes it is one day at a time. Where everything that I worked for falls apart and I have to start all over again from scratch. I like the ways Adele puts it Skyfall is where we start A thousand miles and poles apart Where worlds collide and days are dark You may have my number, you can take my name But you'll never have my heart Let the skyfall (let the sky fall) When it crumbles (when it crumbles) We will stand tall (we will stand tall) Face it all together In Luke 21 – Jesus is predicting the end of the world. He says that we should be able to look at the signs of the times and see it coming, and to know that this generation will not pass away until it all happens. Jesus reminds us that the end of the world is a scary thing for those who don’t know Jesus. But for those who know god it is a time for us to sit and to wait. To prepare and to have hope. Hope in hope is useless. Hope in Jesus, in the power of resurrection is what matters. Resurrection is the work of God, not us. The church may very well go the way of the bookstore and the twinkie if we are not careful. But God’s word is like the crème in the middle – it never goes away. Scripture says heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. The message for advent is for us to be alert at all times, praying that you have the strength to escape all these things that will take place and to stand before the son of man. We are the lights of the world During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives: On May 19th, 1780 the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, "The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought." Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful till Christ returns. Instead of fearing the dark, we're to be lights as we watch and wait. Resurrection is the work of god. The work of the people of God is to watch, wait, and promise to live in the light. Is the church dying? Is the work of God’s people finish? If we have breath, and the world still has sin, I think not. Let us pray, and this advent let us prepare – for the world to begin anew – with the coming of Christ into the world….. A. J. Gordon was the great Baptist pastor of the Clarendon Church in Boston, Massachusetts. One day he met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, "Son, where did you get those birds?" The boy replied, "I trapped them out in the field." "What are you going to do with them?" "I'm going to play with them, and then I guess I'll just feed them to an old cat we have at home." When Gordon offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed, "Mister, you don't want them, they're just little old wild birds and can't sing very well." Gordon replied, "I'll give you $2 for the cage and the birds." "Okay, it's a deal, but you're making a bad bargain." The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon wa lked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue. The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ's coming to seek and to save the lost -- paying for them with His own precious blood. "That boy told me the birds were not songsters," said Gordon, "but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, 'Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!'" This is Advent. And the message of these times is the song of those wild birds… TELL THEM OUT LOUD Scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer once said "The best way to send an idea is to wrap it up in a person." The theological word for all of that is incarnation, meaning "in the flesh." Jesus was the incarnation of God. Jesus was the way that God sent His "idea" to humanity; there was and is no better way! Like the little girl who said, "Some people couldn't hear God's inside whisper and so He sent Jesus to tell them out loud." From Stephen Sheane's Sermon "God With Us" How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ’tis easier to keep holidays than commandments. — Benjamin Franklin A. Years ago an interesting sign was seen hanging in a store window during the Christmas season. The original message stated, “Let’s make this the best Christmas ever.” Underneath, some perceptive person had scribbled a legitimate question: “How will we top the first one?” God has promised an event that will easily overshadow the events that surrounded the first coming. B. Anyone who knows the history of the Adventist church knows that our founders started out believing they knew when Jesus would return. As they studied the prophecies of the Word of God, they became convinced that His return was imminent. When it didn’t happen as expected – that day we mark as the Great Disappointment on October 22, 1844 – many began to doubt and fall into discouragement. It was a few weeks after the Great Disappointment that William Miller wrote these words to the discouraged Advent believers: “Although surrounded with enemies and scoffers, yet my mind is perfectly calm, and my hope in the coming of Christ is as sure as ever…. I have fixed my mind upon another time, and here I mean to stand until God gives me more light. – And that is To-day, TO-DAY, and TO-DAY, until He comes, and I see Him for whom my soul yearns.” I can remember one late winter’s day when I was about 7, my grandmother had taken a cousin and me to the grocery store. When the shopping was done and the brown paper sacks were in the car, we headed home. On the way, grandma had to stop off at another store for a few minutes, so my cousin and I stayed in the car. Well Grandma took more time than she thought, so what was about to happen was all her fault. Back then, they put prizes in laundry detergent boxes as an incentive for people to buy. Well, we had two giant boxes of soap because Grandma bought everything in bulk. Well I had discovered that you could pop the ashtrays out of the doors in the back seat and when you looked down into them you could see a big black hole. So, we popped both ashtrays out, opened both boxes of soap and began to pour in the soap. Before we knew it, the boxes were empty and we had a nice little coffee cup and a nice little salad dish. It was then that we realized what we had done. I know that we have not been together long, but trust me on this: There is no way to make a soap box look and feel like it ‘s never been opened once you’ve poured all the soap down an ashtray hole in a car! It was all Grandma’s fault anyway! You can get into a whole lot of trouble while you wait! Especially if there is no purpose in your waiting. Quote: Andrew Murray: The official, dictionary definition for epiphany is “to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." However, we better understand the word as suddenly “getting” something. We jokingly call “aha” moments an “epiphany.” When my son realized that he really did have to take out the garbage everyday or lose privileges... that was an “epiphany.” When high-level executives were indicted in the last few years for “cooking the books” and when they realized they were not above the law—that was an epiphany.