Crisis Literature

November 29, 2020 Mark 13:24-37 Crisis Literature 1st Sunday of Advent Year B Opening Song Welcome Opening Prayer Almighty God, as we begin this season of Advent remind us again that in the midst of our darkness you are bringing us peace, to calm our anxious spirits and hectic lives. Turn our hearts again toward you. Make us ready to receive your Son our Savior. Slow our pace, and give us the blessing of feeling your peace in our spirits. For we ask this in Jesus’ precious Name. AMEN. Lighting the Advent Candle Stewardship Moment The beginning of the season of giving – giving our hearts Scripture This is the first Sunday of the lectionary new year. Not all churches follow the lectionary. I grew up in a free church tradition, but I really appreciate the lectionary, because I have found that the scriptures of the week always magically address whatever issues that need to be mentioned. Following the lectionary allows me to have some structure to my devotional time. It also keeps all of the different people who play a part in the service on the same page, headed in the same direction even though we don’t all agree with one another. Of course there is a gospel lesson. There are four gospels, but only three lectionary years. The gospel for year B is Mark. Mark is the shortest of the books, so we also read parts of the Gospel of John. Mark is the earliest of the gospels. It is obvious that both Matthew and Luke used the book of Mark as a reference. We are not really sure of who Mark is, it seems that he was a follower of both Paul and Peter. A lot of his writings seem to come from Peter’s sermons. Mark was written in 70 AD, just a little before the temple of Israel was destroyed. Mark may have followed the disciples, but he did not think very much of them. Mark writes for a gentile audience, unlike Matthew and Luke who are both speaking to Hebrews. One of the themes of Mark is the messianic secret. Mark’s Jesus constantly tells those who deals with not to tell anyone what they witnessed. Mark is my favorite book. Mark is very down to earth and tells it like it is. Mark believes in magic and talks a lot about angels, demons and ghost. But he also has a great understanding of human behavior and does not have a problem calling out people’s dumb behavior. The church would not have been developed when Mark was writing, so there is not a lot of church tradition in his writing. There are only 16 chapters in the book. It is believed that the last 4 verses that talk about the mission of the church to spread the gospel throughout the world was added later. Mark has no need for the birth stories – because the beginning of our faith is the resurrection of Christ. Mark starts his book off with the prophecy of the one to come. In chapter one he talks about John the Baptist and Jesus getting baptized by his cousin. This starts his year long ministry before he is killed. The book ends with his resurrection appearing to the women at the tomb and later to the disciples. By now many of you should have got your worship bags. Included is a advent reading plan of Mark. I thought it would be good to read it in this season, so that when you hear the stories in a sermon you are familiar with them. Since Christmas is not Mark’s thing, as we get closer to the 25th – we will read about the prophecies of the messiah and the birth stories in Matthew and Luke. The first Sunday of advent always starts with the second coming of Christ. It always starts with God noisily breaking into the chaos and confusion of our world. So this Sunday we are reading Mark 13. Mark may have been a gentile, but he understood how to speak to the Hebrews. He uses a lot of popular text of the day. Mark 13 is apocalytptic literature – meaning it speaks of the day of the lord at the end of time. The books of Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel are examples of apocalyptic literature. It is written to address a crisis, and to show how God will rescue the faithful from the effects of that crisis. In Mark 13 the crisis is personal for Jesus – he is preaching and teaching things that put him at odds with the leaders of the day. He says that the temple will be destroyed, those are fighting words for a building that is the foundation of their lives. Mark’s advent message is that we do not know when the day of the lord will come. But we can expect it in our generation. We need to stay alert, pay attention, and wait on God to transform the world. Mark 13:24-37 Common English Bible 24 “In those days, after the suffering of that time, the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. 25 The stars will fall from the sky, and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Human One[a] coming in the clouds with great power and splendor. 27 Then he will send the angels and gather together his chosen people from the four corners of the earth, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven. A lesson from the fig tree 28 “Learn this parable from the fig tree. After its branch becomes tender and it sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that he’s near, at the door. 30 I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away. 32 “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the angels in heaven and not the Son. Only the Father knows. 33 Watch out! Stay alert! You don’t know when the time is coming. 34 It is as if someone took a trip, left the household behind, and put the servants in charge, giving each one a job to do, and told the doorkeeper to stay alert. 35 Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know when the head of the household will come, whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows in the early morning or at daybreak. 36 Don’t let him show up when you weren’t expecting and find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to all: Stay alert!” Sermon – Crisis Literature Today I want to read to you a poem that is based on a rather famous poem about Christmas called ‘Twas the Beginning of Advent’. It is by a friend of mine - Todd Jenkins. It will tell you a little bit about this season we celebrate. 'Twas the beginning of Advent and all through the Church Our hope was all dying-- we'd given up on the search. It wasn't so much that Christ wasn't invited, But after 2,000 plus years we were no longer excited. Oh, we knew what was coming-- no doubt about that. And that was the trouble-- it was all "old hat." November brought the first of an unending series of pains With carefully orchestrated advertising campaigns. There were gadgets and dolls and all sorts of toys. Enough to seduce even the most devout girls and boys. Unfortunately, it seemed, no one was completely exempt From this seasonal virus that did all of us tempt. The priests and prophets and certainly the kings Were all so consumed with the desire for "things!" It was rare, if at all, that you'd hear of the reason For the origin of this whole holy-day season. A baby, it seems, once had been born In the mid-east somewhere on that first holy-day morn. But what does that mean for folks like us, Who've lost ourselves in the hoopla and fuss? Can we re-learn the art of wondering and waiting, Of hoping and praying, and anticipating? Can we let go of all the things and the stuff? Can we open our hands and our hearts long enough? Can we open our eyes and open our ears? Can we find him again after all of these years? Will this year be different from all the rest? Will we be able to offer him all of our best? So many questions, unanswered thus far, As wise men seeking the home of the star. Where do we begin-- how do we start To make for the child a place in our heart? Perhaps we begin by letting go Of our limits on hope, and of the stuff that we know. Let go of the shopping, of the chaos and fuss, Let go of the searching, let Christmas find us. We open our hearts, our hands and our eyes, To see the king coming in our own neighbours' cries. We look without seeking what we think we've earned, But rather we're looking for relationships spurned. With him he brings wholeness and newness of life For brother and sister, for husband and wife. The Christ-child comes not by our skill, But rather he comes by his own Father's will. We can't make him come with parties and bright trees, But only by getting down on our knees. He'll come if we wait amidst our affliction, Coming in spite of, not by our restriction. His coming will happen-- of this there's no doubt. The question is whether we'll be in or out. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Do you have the courage to peer through the lock? A basket on your porch, a child in your reach. A baby to love, to feed and to teach. He'll grow in wisdom as God's only Son. How far will we follow this radical one? He'll lead us to challenge the way that things are. He'll lead us to follow a single bright star. But that will come later if we're still around. The question for now: Is the child to be found? Can we block out commercials, the hype and the malls? Can we find solitude in our holy halls? Can we keep alert, keep hope, stay awake? Can we receive the child for ours and God's sake? From on high with the carolling host as he sees us, He yearns to read on our lips the prayer: Come Lord Jesus! As Advent begins all these questions make plea. The only true answer: We will see, we will see. Todd Jenkins, quoted by Richard J. Fairchild, "T'was The Beginning of Advent" I did not write that story, it was written by Todd Jenkins. It seems that we are off to a great start to the advent season. Decorations are coming up everywhere, some people have been decorating since September. It is obvious that people need Christmas this year. We are seeking that feeling of home. We need to feel safe, comfortable and loved. Christmas is about coming home. We need to put aside the chaos and confusion and trouble and find some sense of peace. There is a story of a young child starting school – after a few hours he started to cry. The teacher asked if he was home sick. He said not I am here sick. There are a lot of us who are sick of here. Sometimes home is not where the heart is. This Christmas season is definitely calling us all home. We dream of a world where we are all happy, we have a spirit of community, we want to help and reach out to others. We want to sing the songs, we want to see the lights. We want to celebrate. Being home begins with the condition of our hearts. If we need Christmas more than ever, we also need advent this year. We need to be prepared for God to come and straighten this all out. 2020 had a lot of hope, but in reality we have all been challenged. And there is a lot of blame on the year itself, as if when 2021 comes all of this is going to disappear. That might not happen, I don’t think trouble has a calendar to know the date. And yet as I take my advent vacation, I feel God calling me to sit still, be quiet, to listen a little more, to walk a little closer to God in prayer and study – to get ready for a brand new journey. I need to do what I can to move forward all the while trusting God. We all miss our church, we all miss being in the sanctuary, we miss being all together. We will get back together. But when that day comes, we may have to work harder to be a church, we will have to be more determined to fulfill our mission to be disciples of Christ that are an example to others. We may have to be the change we are looking for. More importantly we will have to be alert to see the change. There was a young women from Chicago who loved the Cubs. She waited for years for them to win the championship. The year they won, she had moved to London. Because of the time change she was asleep when they finally won the game. When the day comes when we can meet safely, we too want to be spiritually prepared to be the church. For now, our job is to watch for God, to work for change, and to wait for things to get better. What are you waiting for? More importantly what does you waiting look like? Advent is the time to find out. Let us pray… Advent Prayer Prayer for the waiting O God we are waiting for your creative spark to ignite us and transform us. We are waiting for your healing and comfort for lives taken by coronavirus, for the damage done to our earth and the violence that has ripped through too many communities. O God, we wait in hope. We are waiting for your justice to sway the rich and powerful to care for the poor, the lonely, the orphaned and the immigrant but also know that our hearts and hands must act for change. O God, we wait in peace. We are waiting for the whole world to tilt away from death and destruction toward play and imagination. O God, we wait in joy. We are waiting for love to come again and remind us again that it does not require any talent on our part, for you do your work. O God we wait with love. Help us, O God to paint and dance, to sing and scribble, to use our hands to create your realm even as we wait. Amen. Song for Reflection People Look East UMH 202 Announcements Benediction 1 Community Time Benediction 2 The light of the Candle of Peace goes before us, offering hope and healing to a darkened world. Go into the world, confident in God’s presence with you. Bring the words and actions of peace to all God’s people. And the blessings of God, the love of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit be with you always. AMEN.. Children’s Moment An unlit candle Additional Illustrations Sermon Opener - Getting Ready - Mark 13:24-37 It is hard for us to understand Jesus' delay in his coming. God's time clock is certainly out of sync with ours as Little Jimmy learned one day as he was laying on a hill in the middle of a meadow on a warm spring day. Puffy white clouds rolled by and he pondered their shape. Soon, he began to think about God. "God? Are you really there?" Jimmy said out loud. To his astonishment a voice came from the clouds. "Yes, Jimmy? What can I do for you?" Seizing the opportunity, Jimmy asked, "God? What is a million years like to you?" Knowing that Jimmy could not understand the concept of infinity, God responded in a manner to which Jimmy could relate. "A million years to me, Jimmy, is like a minute." "Oh," said Jimmy. "Well, then, what's a million dollars like to you?" "A million dollars to me, Jimmy, is like a penny." "Wow!" remarked Jimmy, getting an idea. "You're so generous... can I have one of your pennies?" God replied, "Sure thing, Jimmy! Just a minute." Little Jimmy wasn't ready for that response was he? Our text this morning seems an unlikely scripture for Advent. It has nothing to do with Mary and Joseph, the Wise Men, of shepherds watching their flock. Instead it is story about a wealthy landowner going on a trip. The servants left behind were given charge of the estate and when the master returned he would check on their stewardship. It is a story about being prepared, getting ready. In that sense then this is an Advent story, for this is the season of preparedness. Consider with me a moment that... 1. God Identifies with the Human Situation. 2. Advent Is Time to Get Ready for the Return of Christ. Stay Awake! - Mark 13:24-37 A young professional woman from Ohio decided to seek her fortune, discern her vocation, and potentially change her life for the better by moving to England. She relocated to London where she began to pursue an advanced degree, seeking new opportunities in the work world. One of the things she took with her from the Midwest was an insatiable love for the Chicago Cubs professional baseball team. She followed the games on the internet, listening to the live feed. The problem with this arrangement was that, when the games began, often around seven or eight o’clock in the evening in the United States, it was one or two o’clock the following morning in London. That made for a very late — or early — bedtime. In the year when the Cubs were on the cusp of qualifying for the World Series, she eagerly tuned in to listen to the games that would decide who would qualify. But she’d been listening to every Cubs game that year, all broadcast in what was the middle of the night where she lived. After tuning in to the game that was to seal the Cubs’ fate, the inevitable happened. She fell asleep and awoke only in time to hear the post-game wrap-up. The Cubs had won. They were in the Series. She had missed all the excitement. On her Facebook account she lamented, “I’ve waited years for a moment like this, and of course I slept through it!” Is there a moral to this story? One might be: Try to get more sleep. Another might be: Try to order your affairs in such a way that you will be alert when events transpire that you believe to be of critical importance to you. In this young woman’s defense, once the World Series began, she stayed awake for every game. Her comment was, “True Cubs fans never give up.” And, in demonstration of her commitment to her favorite team, she remained faithful to the last out — staying awake for all of it. The writer of the gospel of Mark sets the tone for the Christian season of Advent with appropriate advice.... Jesus Is Coming! One of my dearest friends applied for a position that required him to instruct and inspire younger people. His interviewer and evaluator asked him, "Tell me about your walk with Jesus." My friend replied, "You know, everywhere I go, no matter where or when, I find that Jesus has arrived there first. Wherever I go, Jesus is already there." The evaluator made no reply; he had no idea what to say, and my friend was never offered the job. Was his response too theologically subtle? Jesus is not the Lord whom we discover or define or claim. Jesus comes to us. We do not summon Him by any action of our own. Jesus is God's gift. While we were yet sinners, he was born, died, and raised again for us that we might inherit new life. Advent announces that Jesus is coming and not through any action of our own. We do not deserve it. Advent happens. Advent means that Jesus comes again and for all time, at Christmas, this Christmas. Edward S. Gleason, In the Time of This Mortal Life A Distinguished Guest There is a passage in the old Jewish book of Zohar, that goes like this: "Whenever the Jews on earth rejoice in their festivals, they give praise to the Lord. They put on fine clothes and pile their tables with good food. So the angel asks, 'Why do the Jews pamper themselves so much?' And God answers, 'They have a distinguished guest today. I am with them.' "Today is a very special day. We are preparing for a very special guest. It is the first Sunday of Advent. Our celebration begins with the word "Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." John A. Stroman, God's Downward Mobility Disappointment at the Chaos For a little while when I was a junior in Akron North High we had a substitute English teacher, and she was almost always late for our class, which met on the third floor. She usually arrived with her arms full of books and papers, out of breath, scolding us, good-naturedly for the most part, into silence. One awful day she was later than usual, and the class was noisier than usual. Erasers were flying, books were sailing. It probably doesn't do any good to tell you that, truthfully, I usually did not take part in the chaos, although I can't say I didn't enjoy it. Anyway, on this fateful day one boy-- Stanley M -- produced a cherry bomb from his pocket. The room got very quiet. Stanley lit a match and we held our breaths. The windows were open-- they were the kind that the middle pane swung out from the top. Stanley evidently intended to light the bomb in the classroom and throw it out the window toward the athletic field two stories below. We couldn't believe it-- but Stanley lit the bomb-- and threw it-- and it hit the window pane above the open window and bounced back into the middle of the room, under the desks, hissing. Just at that very moment our teacher came breathlessly into the quiet room-- quiet except for the hissing-- with her arms full of books. But before she had a chance to worry about why we were quiet, or what the hissing sound was ---KA- BOOM!-- the cherry bomb exploded, and instantly the room was full of smoke, and then there was silence again. Our teacher did not drop her armload of books. She did not miss a step. She simply went over to the desk and sat down and put her face on the books and papers she had been carrying. I think it may have been a full five minutes that no one said a word, no one made a sound. I imagine today the police would been called and someone would be expelled from school, and there certainly would be a lawsuit. But her awful silence, and the fact that we were all shocked and stunned was punishment for us all, even Stanley the bomb-thrower. More than forty-five years later I still feel that little woman's pain and disappointment at the chaos that greeted her coming. Russell F. Metcalfe, Jr., Gifts before Christmas ive Us a Little Longer Prudence Phillipson of England uses this analogy. When her children were young the floor of their playroom often became messy with games and toys strewn everywhere. Prudence got her children to clean up their toys and games by telling them she was going round the corner to the shop. "When I come back," she warned, "everything should be in its place." She would then give each child a task before she left. The oldest child would be given more complicated tasks while the simpler ones would go to the younger children. Then she would leave. The children would either do as she told them or else disregard her instructions. When she returned, sometimes she would come quietly up the stairs and see through the half-open door that they were quarreling or fooling around or just absorbed in something. Then there were other times when she would see that her children were not quite finished with their task so she would creep away to give them more time. Sometimes she would shut the front door with a bang and hear sudden noises of bustle as they hurried to get the room straightened. At such times one of the children would call out, "Not just yet, Mummy. Give us a little longer." In thinking about her children, Prudence writes, "Each Advent I recall this experience with my children and wonder how many times the Lord has been close at hand, seeing the chaos of our world and longing to come, but waiting, sparing us judgment a little longer." Perhaps we are given more time to get our lives in order. King Duncan, Collected Sermons Twas the Beginning of Advent A-lert A young girl asked her Sunday school teacher, "What's a-lert?" "A what?" the teacher asked. "A lert?" she said again. "Why do you want to know?" asked the bewildered teacher. "Because the pastor said that we should 'be alert,' so I want to know what a lert is, so I can be one?" Brian Stoffregen, Exegetical Notes Working and Waiting When we wait, we admit there are some things that are not under our control. Most of us like to believe that we are in control. We imagine that we are masters of our destinies. If we work hard enough, if we are sufficiently prepared, if we just concentrate, we can make life work. And we can. To a point. There are some things, however, that can't be hurried. Recuperation from surgery, the grief process, a young person learning responsibility. Shakespeare put it like this, "How poor are they that have no patience. What wound did ever heal but by degrees?" John R. Claypool has wisely said, "Let's face it, there are two kinds of reality in this world of ours. There are the things you have to work for, and there are the things you have to wait for." Claypool is right. But we don't want to wait. Collected Sermons, King Duncan