First Sunday of Advent 2021

 Jeremiah 33:14-16

33:14 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

33:15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

33:16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: "The LORD is our righteousness."

Psalm 25:1-10

25:1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.

25:2 O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.

25:3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

25:4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.

25:5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

25:6 Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.

25:7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!

25:8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

25:9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

25:10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

3:9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you?

3:10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.

3:11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.

3:12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.

3:13 And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Luke 21:25-36

21:25 "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.

21:26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

21:27 Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory.

21:28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

21:29 Then he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees;

21:30 as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near.

21:31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

21:32 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place.

21:33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

21:34 "Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly,

21:35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth.

21:36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

I’m gonna start with dull, historical stuff. If you want insight and some nugget to take with you, you’ll have to wait for it. Or just slog through the setup first.

These are fairly classic Advent texts. Advent means arrival. The season of Advent is preparation for an arrival, just like Lent is a preparation for death and then resurrection. But Advent prepares us for Santa Claus; or at least the Magi or the Christ child to bring the gifts. Except the church doesn’t prepare for Santa Claus, and Advent is the preparation of the church. Advent prepares the church, again, for the beginning of the end.

Not for the end of the year; not for the final feast and celebration of the year (which, if we were doing it right, would consume all the last six days of the year and the first 6 days of the new year. All time is God’s time and God is good, as is God’s creation, so why don’t we spend 12 days in joy and celebration? Six days to end, six to begin again; is it too much to ask?). The preparation is for the end of all things. Every year the church begins the year remembering it has already ended; that the basileia tou theou is here, now. But we still don’t see it; we still aren’t alert.

Getting there yet? At least, we’re getting closer. The nugget, I mean; we’re getting closer to the nugget.

These texts are presented together, so let’s link them together. First Jeremiah says the “righteous Branch for David” will execute justice and righteousness in the land. I suppose you were expecting peace and prosperity and milk and honey, but you can’t have those without justice and righteousness, so what would that look like?

Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.

 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!

I've been reading the Psalms as part of an on again/off again daily practice, and I'm struck (again) by how personal they are, and yet not "personal" in our modern sense, at all.  The Psalms never speak of "me" without speaking of God, and putting their "me" in that context.  Go back to the beginning of Psalm 25: three verses about the singer's enemies.  And the worst he (she?) wishes on them is: "let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous."  Which is pretty much:  let them reap what they have sown, while (the psalm continues) I remain steadfast to the Lord, and plead with God to be merciful to me, despite my sins.

Okay, brief "history" lesson, because those words connect with Jeremiah's prophecy that justice and righteousness will be the salvation of Israel.   Not vengeance, not power, not the restoration of the monarchy:  justice and righteousness, which is all the psalm seeks.  It is what the psalm trusts in, and the psalm also expresses humility: "[God] leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees."  Failing to keep those decrees is what lead to the situation Jeremiah promises recovery from.  In our end is our beginning.

So Jeremiah addresses justice and righteousness; and the psalmist praises God for mercy and steadfast love.  And Paul praises his church in Thessalonica, and offers a reminder of the lesson of Jeremiah and the psalmist:  return, again and again, to God.  

3:10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.

3:11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.

3:12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.

3:13 And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

That we need each other to remain faithful, to hold firm to our trust, to increase our love for one another (how does one love alone, in isolation?), to see God strenghtening our hearts in holiness so we are prepared for the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.  Or, as Jesus puts it:

"Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near."

Jesus, as usual, is much more elliptical than we usually give him credit for. These "things taking place."  Are they signs of the end of time?  Or signs of the present?

Consider:  when you see the trees sprout leaves, you know, what?  That another season is about to make its annual appearance; that the world is actually running in an orderly and predictable manner, human behavior notwithstanding.  How do you know the kingdom of God (basileia tou theou) is near?  The same way you know summer is coming.  Because the seasons are always with us; as is the basileia tou theou.

But:

"Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

And when will you have to do that?  When you will see " 'the son of Man coming in a cloud' "? Jesus (or Luke?) is quoting Daniel 7:13-14:

 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (KJV)

Which brings us back to Jeremiah:

 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

Now these kinds of things are often read as predictions of what God is finally going to do (having never intervened so directly in human affairs before; God didn't even stop Israel from abandoning God and letting both Israel and Judah fall, or the children of Abraham go into Exile) at the end of time.  But what about right now?  And why then, and not now?  Daniel is offering an apocalyptic vision to a people in Exile who have no hope left.  John of Patmos did the same thing under the Roman persecution (the destruction of Jerusalem, among other things), in a book we call "Revelation."  But the Greek word John used is "Apocalypse."  And it means not death, destruction and despair, but revealing; revealing at the hand of God, of what the true state of affairs is in this world.  Like the trees which bud in spring and sprout leaves for summer; the apocalypse that God is always present and always in charge.  And this will be a sign unto you.  

Just stay on your guard and don't weigh your heart down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life.  Be alert at all times, because the world needs more lerts (sorry!).  But staying alert?  Avoiding dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life?  Sounds like good advice for right now, or any time.  Besides, the Son of Man may show up at anytime; even in your daily life.

"Lord, when did we see you?"  It won't always be in clouds, with power and great glory.  It's those encounters you really need to be ready for.  The basiliea tou theou is already here.  It's at your elbow.  It's in the person before you, whom you could help.  Are you alert to it?

Aye, there's the rub.  But Paul gets the last word: May God so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you, too, may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. Or whenever you may come across him.