Sermon 3rd December 2023 – 1st Sunday in Advent
Text: Mark 13:24-37 – Be alert but not afraid
As we look at the world around us it’s easy to feel that Jesus could
return any day now if not today. In scripture Jesus prophesied about the signs
we would see: In Matthew’s Gospel he says: You will hear of wars and rumors of
wars but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the
end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these
are the beginning of birth pains. “Then
you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be
hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the
faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear
and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of
most will grow cold, Isn’t that what we are seeing today?
Paul always told Timothy about what to watch out for: There will be
terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of
money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful,
unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal,
not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Isn’t
that what we are seeing today?
And in today’s Gospel reading we hear of more signs of the end time: 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. We can say that this one will probably
the very last sign as Jesus returns.
But there is one final prophesy that must be fulfilled before that end
comes: The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a
testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Now one could say that
that last prophesy, along with all the others previously quoted, has been
fulfilled. In this Post-Covid era with Live Streaming and Video Recordings of
sermons along with the Internet, the Gospel has reached well beyond the 4 walls
of churches and to the whole world.
So what does all this mean? What is this to motivate us to do? To fear? To
go out and preach warning people of this impending doom? What would the result
of that be? More fear? And what happens next? When Jesus doesn’t return and
things start to turn around then people begin to drift away again and often
become more cynical and perhaps we’ve lost them for good. Yeah, we fell for
that last time – not again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on
me.
Just look at previous generations and what they have gone through where
many truly believed they were in the end times. Those who lived through World
War 1 and 2 and other wars prior to the ones we are currently living through, There
are those who have been through recessions, extremely high interest rates and
unemployment. We even had threats of an ice age before our current threat of
global warning or recently referred to as global boiling. We’ve had massive
bush fires – earthquakes – and who could forget the massive Tsunamis in
Indonesia and Japan. So often people will use these as doomsday clocks to
frighten people to convert before Jesus returns. Not sure if you’ve ever heard
of the doomsday clock which began in 1947. In 2021 and 2022, because of Covid, it
was set at 100 seconds to midnight. In
2023, because of the war in the Ukraine, the Clock was moved to 90 seconds (1
minute, 30 seconds) before midnight, the closest it has ever been to midnight –
representing the end of the world. Believing this is how close we are to the
end of the world.
And those who believe in what is called a Rapture create even more fear
saying that any day now Jesus will take all Christians out of this world and
you don’t want to be Left Behind to face the Great Tribulation and Armageddon
which many believe we are seeing the beginnings of in the fighting in the
Middle East. Jesus says differently. He doesn’t say to fear that day but to
remain alert and to live in hope. 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.
What does being alert mean? It means living in faith so when that day
comes we’re ready to welcome it because we live in hope. Jesus says to use
these signs like we use weather events to determine the seasons:
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. Red at night shepherds
delight – red in the morning, shepherds warning – is how we often determine the
signs in nature. So Jesus wants us to use the events in the world as a sign to
keep alert and be prepared like those who might take an umbrella with them even
though the sky is currently clear. So you live without fear if the rain should
come tumbling down. So it’s not about using the events in the world to create
fear but as a reminder that we are on a journey and the destination is not here
but the Kingdom prepared by God since the foundation of the world. Whether
Christ returns today, tomorrow or in a hundred years, today is and always
remains the day of salvation. And we don’t fear because we live in hope –
certain hope of Christ’ return and whenever that is we are assured that God is
faithful and he will keep us blameless until that day.
As we look closely at the signs of the times, they point to the One who
holds all the answers to all that causes problems in the world. Christ’s mission to the church remains as
clear today as when he first sent his disciples into the world. To remain
watchful and alert and above all – live in hope that God is faithful. So
whether Jesus returns today, tomorrow or in a hundred years, today is and
remains the day of salvation. The signs of the times point to the One who holds
all the answers to all that causes fear and doubt in the world. The one who
holds us in his hand. So Christ’s mission for the church remains the same today
and always. To faithfully proclaim hope through God’s love and hope for all
creation until Jesus returns.
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