Sermon for December 1, First Sunday of Advent

Sermon for December 1, 2024 First Sunday of Advent

First Sunday of Advent Luke 21 Stand up and raise your heads

Did any of you grow up in the 50s or 60s doing “duck and cover” drills in school in case of nuclear attack? They started those drills in 1952. What do you remember??? I remember doing earthquake drills in school. It was the same thing, you’d climb under your desk and hunker down. My daughter grew up doing active-shooter drills in school. I remember I was visiting the elementary school across the street in Tacoma and got stuck there for 45 minutes when they had an active shooter drill. We all had to get on the floor and they turned off the lights and locked all the doors. We seem to know instinctively that there is a right time to “duck and cover.” If we think there is danger or imminent threat, get your head down, maybe hide or take cover, turn out the lights. You know, these are normal ways, best practices, training and even our God-given instincts all telling us to duck and cover. And so it is notable, even backwards or at least counter-instinctual, when Jesus tells his disciples, amidst all the destruction and chaos, to, quote, “stand up and raise your heads,” the very opposite of duck and cover, right? He even says it twice in our text, that on that day you may “stand before the Son of Man.” When everything else in the world tells you to duck your head and take cover, Jesus tells his disciples to raise our heads; not hide in the dark, but to stand tall. And so in the face of the tumult and turmoil of this world, Jesus instructs you and I to a faith that is backwards-ly courageous, that trusts God even in the most uncertain and anxious times. Amen?

The Gospel text for this morning, the First Sunday of Advent and the new church year, actually began several weeks ago with Jesus at the Temple. Remember the story of the widow’s offering, where she drops in the two pennies? After that one of the disciples is marveling at the large stones and impressive structure of the Temple to which Jesus replies, “Truly I tell you, not one stone will lie upon another.” That gets his disciples all worked up and Jesus launches into a long sermon about what Jeremiah calls in our first reading, “The days are surely coming saith the Lord…” The end times and the great Day of the Lord. And it is full of imagery that is troubling if not terrifying: wars, earthquakes and today’s text says even the heavens shall be shaken, signs in the sun, the moon and stars, and distress as the sea and waves roar. I heard someone point out that what is being described here by Jesus is the undoing of creation, the undoing of Genesis chapter one. In Genesis God is ordering the lights in the sky, setting the sun, moon and stars; but as we sing today in our sermon hymn, in the end times the stars begin to fall. Again in Genesis God orders the waters, setting the boundaries for the seas and the waves that they may advance no further; yet here in these end times texts the sea and waves roar and foam, causing distress as they violate the boundaries established in creation and return to chaos. These texts are not what we would call Good News! Actually, they have every characteristic about them that ought to send us, with good reason, to “duck and cover.” Instead though, what are Jesus’ very next words? “When these things begin to take place…stand and raise your heads.” Don’t duck and cover, not my disciples, you are to be a sign for the world; let them see you stand high and raise your heads. Why?Why? Because, Jesus says, (and here is the Good News!), “because your redemption is drawing near.” Your redemption is drawing near.

Jesus uses popular Advent language today like “Stay alert!” “Stay awake!” “Be on guard!” language that reminds me of the night-watchman on the walls. That night-watchman’s job is to stay alert for invading armies or enemies, but here Jesus tells us we are watching not for danger but for our redemption. It is not an invading army we are watching for, but for the returning hero, for our champion. And so while the world hunkers down in fear and picks sides and arms themselves (you know gun sales have increased since the election?), what are Christians to do? What are we as disciples of Jesus Christ called to do? Stand tall and lift up our heads because this isn’t about fear, this is about faith; this is about our redemption. Martin Luther has a great way of putting it that always brings it back to the death and resurrection of Christ. In the face of the turbulence and turmoil in these texts, Luther brings us straight to the tomb of Christ and calls it the “strange and dreadful strife when life and death contended.” That those three days Christ laid in the tomb life and death themselves contended; that there is the most dreadful strife this world has ever known. The core of every human story, every struggle and every conflict, is this strife, the battle between life and death that played out in the very tomb of Christ. And not to ruin the end of the story if you haven’t read it yet, but do you know what happened? Do you know who won? Of course, Easter morning Christ emerged from the tomb victorious over death. Christ, in the midst of the greatest strife, raises his head and becomes our redeemer. So too he now calls you, in the midst of your own turmoil and fears, to raise your head for he, our redeemer, has drawn near.

These texts put a lot of things into perspective for me. Here I may fret about an election. I may be stressed about putting our house on the market or wondering where my next job might be. And to put it all into perspective Jesus talks about the very undoing of creation itself, the seas roar and stars begin to fall. Yeah, my problems aren’t that bad. Which means if I can face the end of the first creation with my head held high, I can probably go through the uncertainty of these next several months with my head raised in faith. Amen? I offer the same word to you, my very dear sisters and brothers at Immanuel as you too enter your own time of change and uncertainty. We soon come to the “farewell” part of this call and both of us enter a time of uncertainty called “transition.” I remember learning once that every emotionally charged reaction in times of uncertainty or conflict comes from fear, a fear of losing something important to us. And so pay attention to one another; listen to one another. Transition isn’t supposed to be easy; there is a reason we use the metaphor of “wilderness” when we talk about transition. There will invariably be heightened anxieties and with that often comes maybe not always our best behavior. Be kind. Be patient with one another. Listen to one another because chances are deep down we are all reacting to a deep fear of losing something valuable to us. But then let the word do its work; let the promises of Christ cut through the noise and the turmoil, “stand and raise up your heads” for Christ your redeemer is near. Even in the most uncertain and anxious times, hold fast to this faith, that in the empty tomb your redemption has come. Amen.