Sermon: “Not When, but How”

Text: Mark 13:24-37

1^st Sunday in Advent (B)

November 30, 2008

Scripture introduction.  Our second reading this morning is from the 13^th chapter of Mark’s Gospel.  These verses come just after Jesus’ lengthy teaching in the temple and just before Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection.[1]  As Jesus anticipates his own suffering, he also warns his disciples of the suffering they will necessarily endure.  Then he projects farther into the future, as he speaks of his second coming, although he never uses those exact words.  Rather, his language is indirect, mysterious, and couched in terms of Old Testament vocabulary.  You can’t see it in our bulletin’s version of the scripture passage, but if you look in the New Revised Standard Version, you will see that the first verses of our morning’s reading, which speak of signs in the sun, moon, and stars, are set off as a quotation.  Actually, they do not quote any particular Old Testament verse, but rather are a compilation of at least six Old Testament passages[2] that depict in figurative language the great “day of the Lord,” when God would take dramatic and final action to execute justice.  The same is true when Jesus uses the phrase, “Son of Man,” which he probably took from the Old Testament book of Daniel.[3]  Thus, rather than giving his disciples a literal blueprint for when his second coming would occur, Jesus was using symbolic language from the Old Testament to remind them that when it did come it would be unmistakable and unlike anything else they had experienced.

Sermon.  In the 1980s the supermarket tabloid newspaper, National Enquirer, ran a series of television ads, each one with the punch line, “Enquiring minds want to know.”  Who’s the latest romantic interest for Britney Spears?  Enquiring minds want to know. We have sayings about the curiosity of cats, but the human species is the most curious of all.  If there is something going on in our neighborhood, we don’t want to be the last one to know.  We like to solve mysteries, and we enjoy working out puzzles.  Just think of the phenomenal success of the book and movie, The DaVinci Code, an action-packed mystery involving secret codes found in art works.  And a pervasive curiosity prevails about the more mysterious aspects of the world religions—even, or perhaps especially among non-churchgoers.  Again, The DaVinci Code is a case in point.  Perhaps our greatest curiosity is about the future.  As I drive north on Third Street from the Honeycreek Mall, just as I start up the hill after crossing Hulman Street, just there on the right-hand side of the road is a sign advertising “Miss Nancy’s Readings.”  It has been there since I have lived in Terre Haute, and the establishment appears to be reasonably well-maintained.  I can only conclude that Miss Nancy has a good bit of business!  Apparently there is quite a market for someone who can tell our fortune—who can tell the future.  Thus we should not be surprised that people have been intensely interested in the second coming of Christ, which has all the elements of mystery, hidden religious knowledge, and seeing into the future. 

First-century Christians, too, were engaged by this topic.  From the four gospels, from some of Paul’s letters, and from other New Testament books, we may reasonably conclude that many early Christians believed Jesus would be coming back within their lifetime.  Indeed, in our text for this morning, Jesus is quoted as saying, “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.”[4]  But by the year 70, about a generation after Jesus’ death and resurrection, it was beginning to be very clear that the first generation was passing away and that Jesus had not returned.  It’s easy to see how this could have led to a crisis of faith for persons who fervently expected Jesus to have returned quickly.  I think the trick in interpreting Mark 13 is to realize that the author was using original sayings of Jesus as a way of addressing the concerns of his day.  Their concerns certainly would have included the second coming of Christ, which had been expected in that first generation but which by that time was being questioned. 

The chapter begins as Jesus concludes his time in the temple, telling the disciples that the day would come when not one stone of the temple would be left standing on another.  Then the scene shifts to the Mount of Olives, where four of the disciples ask Jesus when these things will be and what will be the signs that they are about to happen.  Jesus answers that they need to be careful.  Many will claim to be the Messiah, and they will lead people astray.  There will be signs: wars and rumors of wars, nations rising against nations, earthquakes and famines.  But these are only the beginning of the birth pangs—we might say “the beginning of the beginning.”  In fact, in the year 70, about the time that Mark was being written, the Roman legions ruthlessly suppressed a large Jewish rebellion, completely leveling the temple, and destroying all Jewish governmental, religious, and cultural institutions.  The author and audience for Mark’s Gospel were living through these very signs.  While there must have been a lot of speculation that now would be the time for Jesus to return, in Mark Jesus says “no, not yet.”

Back to chapter 13:  Jesus warns his disciples that they will be persecuted.  This, too, already had happened by the time that Mark was written.  Jesus spoke of the coming desecration of the temple, of suffering and violence in the land that would come quickly, from which the only relief would be fleeing to the mountains.  This, too, sounds a lot like the Romans.  But again, Jesus warned, “If anyone says to you at that time, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘Look! There he is’—do not believe it.”[5]  Apparently, these signs do not signal the coming of Christ, either.

Now comes our passage for this morning.  Jesus uses Old Testament language about signs in the heavens—in the sun, moon, and stars.  According to Jesus these signs do mean that the Messiah is at hand.  The problem for those who want to predict the future is that when these signs happen, the day of the Lord already has occurred.[6]  As Jesus says, as soon as these signs in the heavens occur, they will be able to see the “Son of Man coming in clouds.”  As our passage continues, Jesus uses the example of the fig tree.  Many of the trees in Palestine are evergreens, but the common fig tree looses its leaves in the winter.  When the fig tree begins to put forth its leaves, Jesus said, you know that the summer is near.  Well, that sign is clear enough, but again there is little warning.  By the time we see the leaves, the summer is already upon us.  And that’s what Jesus said:  “So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.”

In the final verses of chapter 13, Jesus clearly states that not the angels in heaven, nor even the Son, know the day and hour when these things will happen, but only God the Father.  So Jesus uses the example of the master who leaves his house and commands the doorkeeper to be on watch for him.  He could return at any time.  So the key is to be watchful always so that we will not be asleep when the master comes.

If we could paraphrase Mark, it might go something like this:  Yes, there will be signs, but don’t be fooled because some of them are signs only of the beginning of the end—or even the beginning of the beginning of the end.  In the troubles happening all around us, as the Roman boot comes down hard on our country, we can see some of these signs and we remember that Jesus told us we would have to suffer just like he did.  On the other hand, there are some true signs of the end, as were described in the Old Testament prophets and the book of Daniel.  But those signs are the event itself.  When we see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory, the second coming will already be in progress.  You won’t need any signs then because it will be too late to do anything about it.  We remember Jesus saying something about “these things” taking place before the current generation passes away.  We’re not exactly sure what he meant by “these things,” but we also remember him saying that no one—not even Jesus himself—knows when the day of the Lord will happen.  And so it is that Jesus taught us to live every moment as if Jesus could come right then.

If this is a correct reading of Mark’s message, then it stands against those who believe they can predict when Jesus will return.  Properly read, this passage is not a catalogue of the signs from which we can deduce the day of the Lord, but rather is a warning against that very endeavor.  As hard as it may be for us to give up our curiosity on this point, Jesus has told us we are wasting our time if we attempt to predict the time of his second coming.  Just as surely the passage stands for the proposition that there will be a second coming and that we need to be ready for it.

On Wednesday night there were a lot of people going about their normal business in Mumbai, India.  Without warning, the terrorists arrived and began spraying bullets in busy hotel lobbies, a train station, a Jewish retreat house, a bank, a café, and a nightclub.  Three days later the death toll stands at more than 170.[7]  The second coming did not happen on Wednesday, but for those persons who died so unexpectedly in the attacks, it might as well have.  The record of their lives has now been written, and no more chapters can be added.  For them, the master of the house has returned; and as doorkeepers they were either ready or not ready. 

It makes me ask myself, “If Jesus returned in my lifetime, what would I most like to be doing when he comes?”  I suppose it goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway): I would not want to be engaged in something immoral or clearly un-Christian when Jesus comes back.  But aside from those negative things, what would I want to be doing?  Would it be preaching?  Wouldn’t it be great if the skies would part on a Sunday morning!  I could stop my puny effort and simply let the heavens finish the sermon.  Or maybe I would want to be found praying.  Or perhaps I should be engaged in some mission work—assembling Christmas baskets, or attending a meeting of Terre Haute Ministries, or working on a Habitat house.  The truth is, I spend most of my time on the daily necessities of living, just my normal activities, so Jesus would probably come while I am eating breakfast or reading my E-mail or writing a Herald article. 

So for me the real question becomes, how should I live so that even my daily routine would be pleasing to Jesus when he returns?  On this first Sunday in Advent, as we not only look back to Jesus’ first coming, but also look forward to his second, let me mention three mental attitudes that I think we can maintain, no matter what we are doing in our daily routine.  The first of these is an attitude of thankfulness.  When we begin to count the ways that God has blessed us, thankfulness will certainly arise in our minds.  Truly God has been merciful to us and has shown love to us by satisfying our needs.  To be sure, there are those among us who are going through tough times.  But it is possible to be thankful for God’s blessings even in the midst of troubles.  The book of Psalms is a testimony to that.  Indeed, sometimes those who are suffering are even more convinced than the rest of us about God’s goodness and care because they feel it in spite of what they are going through and it comforts them.  The second attitude is humility.  When we live each day convinced that we are not the most important thing in the world, when we are certain that there is really a big picture going on and that it is not “all about us,” then we will be in the right frame of mind to relate lovingly with those around us.  We will know that their needs are as important as ours.  We will make both their sufferings and their joys our own.  And if we know that we are not the center of the universe, then it will be much easier for us to place God in the center.  The third attitude is expectancy.  In a sense that is what Advent is all about—waiting expectantly for what our good God will do next.  To live this way is to wake up every morning with the simple prayer, “O God, whatever you are doing today, please let me be a part of it.”

No need to visit Miss Nancy.  No need to piece together arcane verses from the Bible in an attempt to guess when Jesus will make his return.  He could come any moment.  And our lives could end at any moment.  All we have to do is to live every day faithfully, avoiding obvious bad behavior, and acting out of an attitude of thankfulness, humility, and expectancy.  Then we will be able truthfully to pray that great prayer of the early church, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”[8]