Finding Faith ... in that even when the times seem ominous, there is always hope

EDITOR'S NOTE: On Oct. 23, 2021, I was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and installed as pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. I also served the same church for four years from October 2017 to October 2021 a synodically authorized minister. The journey together these past four years has been an amazing one, full of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on Nov. 28, the First Sunday in Advent.

This week's gospel: Luke 21:25-36

The Coming of the Son of Man

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. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

29 Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30 as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Exhortation to Watch

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 does not catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 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.”

The message:

Well, that certainly is an ominous gospel text isn’t it?

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

Ominous, for sure ... and unfortunately, I think, those words ring true for so many these days. ... Because so many feel some level of fear and foreboding about what state the world is in today.

Some might even say the heavens ARE shaking!

Day after day, developments in politics, in the pandemic, and even in our church, lead us to feel that maybe the writer of the Gospel of Luke is right: Maybe, just maybe, the return of the “Son of Man” will come sooner than we expect.

This particular piece of scripture comes from the “apocalyptic” tradition of writing in our Bible, which from its very tradition can sound frightening.

But while modern culture has misappropriated the term “apocalyptic” to mean the end times, its actual definition is “an unveiling” … or to pull back the curtains on the situation.

So, rather than letting today’s text worry us, maybe we could understand it from another perspective … the perspective, perhaps, that the writer of Luke is actually just pulling back the curtain on the current situation.

Maybe the writer is just reminding us that even 2,000 years ago ... people were feeling much the same as we are today.

And what was causing all of the turmoil and tension in Jesus’ time? … Well, in the first century, when Jesus entered his ministry, the Jewish people were living under the thumb of an oppressive Roman empire that stripped them of all their rights, most of their wealth and much of their dignity.

Here you have a people, the Israelites, who had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, only to escape and find themselves consistently generation after generation, without a land. Or when they did have a land, they were consistently overrun by more powerful nations coming from the East.

Until one day, when finally the Roman Empire took control of all of southern Europe, most of northern Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa. … Essentially, they controlled much of the known world at the time. … With an emperor who was thought of as divine, and who ruled with an iron fist.

And then this young, unknown rabbi comes along … to shake up everything that is known here on earth. … He preaches about God’s grace and love and abundance. And he teaches that he will return, and when he does, he will upend all of the earthly kingdoms that exist … even the Roman Empire.

Which meant that he was deliberately poking his finger in the Roman Empire’s eye. … Jesus is not taking the safe and easy route here. He could have toned down his preaching; he could have on multiple occasions toed the Roman line or even the line of the Jewish chief priests; and he could have stuck to social ministries.

Yes, he could have played it out safe, and then he might have even lived. … But Jesus didn’t because he was placed on earth to show the people a different way. He was born to experience the pain of everyday life and what it was like to face the brutality of 1st century living to give us hope.

And he was also born to oppose the empirical oppression, and the thousands of years of authority and domination that had subjugated so many people.

He was born not to skirt under the radar; he was born to be a lightning rod. … He was born to bring his sword and shield and overthrow life as we knew it here on earth. ... He was born to prepare us for the ushering in of a new age, and for all of his believers in the 1st century … that WAS terrifying.

And so you’ll have to excuse the writer of the Gospel of Luke if he comes off as a bit alarmist in today’s text. … Because frankly Jesus’s followers WERE terrified.

Not only did they live in fear because of their beliefs -- for they could be killed just for being Christians -- but they also lived in trepidation of Jesus’ return. … Because you have to remember that Luke was written toward the end of the 1st century … or about 50 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

And all the Christian leaders of the time thought Jesus’ return was imminent. That it would happen in their generation, or the next at the latest. … And so the gospel writers wrote with urgency.

Including Luke in today’s gospel: “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not 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 so, if you hear a sense of fear and foreboding in the writer’s words, and if those words describe what you might be feeling during this similar time of turmoil in our world, then you’re not alone.

Christians 2,000 years ago felt what you are feeling today, and this hasn’t even been the most contentious time we humans have lived through during the past two millennia. … Not even close to the most contentious time.

But take heart, dear faithful. … While the text is ominous … and it may feel like we are living in perilous times … this text brings us to the season of Advent, a season in which we faithful turn to the joyful birth of Jesus Christ our Savior, whose birth promises us that we are never alone on this journey.

And also during this season of Advent we turn to the anticipation of Jesus’ return when all of creation will sing in chorus at the dawn of a new kingdom, God’s heavenly kingdom.

Earlier in the service, we lit the first of five ceremonial candles that we will light over the course of the next five weeks. ... The first four candles represent the four weeks of Advent, which then leads up to the lighting of the fifth candle, which is the Christ Candle.

But for today, let’s focus on that very important first candle of Advent. … We know it as the symbolic “Candle of Hope,” and if you remember earlier, ????? read these words as they lit the candle: “We hope that God will save us from hard times and painful lessons. Hope is the shape of our work and our words, while we wait for a future that only God knows.”

I ask you … could there be more fitting words this Advent season, as so many of us are beseeching God to save us from ourselves, to save us from the division and conflict that riddle all aspects of our lives?

Right, you can’t miss it: We can’t seem to agree on anything from politics to religion to justice to the care of creation. … It just makes one want to run from the news and abandon social media.

Meanwhile, back here in Advent, Christians have been celebrating a season of both joy and expectation for centuries. … As the practice of Advent developed, it became a season in which Christians both celebrated the coming birth of the Christ child, and also simultaneously it is an act of waiting expectantly for Jesus’ second return. … Advent is a season of duality.

So we are not only joyfully celebrating Jesus’ birth, but we are also preparing ourselves for Christ’s return. ... We celebrate the now and the future presence of Christ here on earth. … And both are acts lived in hope, the most uniting of common human emotions.

Because in a time when we can’t seem to agree on the simplest of things, our common hope leads us to believe that there can be a better tomorrow. … Our common hope leads us to celebrate the birth 2,000 years ago of a Christ child who came to teach us mercy and tenderness.

For about 2 billion Christians worldwide today, we will light a candle symbolizing the hope that one day we can all agree to restore God’s creation, to feed the earth’s hungry, to clothe those who are naked and to care for the widow and orphan.

Because for hundreds of years, even when the world lived through its darkest days, it’s that hope that has carried us through.

Faith Family … We gather here today in that hope. Because what other reason is there to gather here every Sunday? … For according to earthly logic, it is silly to think that we can find hope in such a contentious world.

But, in spite of that earthly logic, we continue to gather here in community. … Because we know that it is in community that we find our hope.

Jesus has taught us that we are supposed to live in relation to each other, and he has taught us how we are to treat our neighbors … how we love our neighbors. … And it is in those relationships that we find Christ.

And so even during these dark times, Faith Family, when it feels like “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.” …

Even when the times are ominous, we have to remember that there is always hope. … That, as Jesus says, we are to always: “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly.”

And that is the Good News for this Sunday, the first Sunday in Advent 2021. … Amen.