Reverend Ref +

SERMON
ADVENT 1B
MARK 13:24-37

Happy New Year!!

Today is the first day of the New Year on the Church calendar. Today is the first Sunday of Advent. This is Year B of the lectionary cycle, and the year that we primarily focus on the Gospel of Mark.

"Advent" means what?? It means the beginning or the arrival of something. This is the beginning of the Church year, and over the next four weeks we will prepare for the arrival of the Christ child. Isn't it interesting, though, that none of the selected gospel passages for either Years A, B or C begin Advent with the anticipation of the birth of Christ. Advent 1 of every year begins with apocalyptic stories of the end times.

Why do you think that is? It's because the first coming, the Incarnation of God has already happened. We live in the in-between times, the time between the already and the not yet. We are living in the present, anticipating the future, and Mark writes his gospel that way. One source says that Mark uses the present tense 151 times. That's important to know.

It's important because this allows us to read Mark as if he were writing to us. Mark didn't so much write a biography of Jesus, a record of historic facts, as much as he wrote on the topic of faith. Mark has written a story that is meant to strengthen the faith of the people who read it in the man we claim to be Messiah. We can read through Mark as if it were a story found in today's paper.

The apocalyptic aspect is there to remind us Jesus will come again. It's there to remind us that time will come to an end, but nobody knows the day or the hour. It's there to keep us from falling into a false sense of security. It's there to help us remember to live with that sense of anticipation that Jesus could return at any moment.

There is one major problem area of this passage though, and maybe you caught it. This is Jesus' description of the end times -- the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall, dogs & cats living together, etc. etc. -- and his statement that "this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place." Just what does that mean? Does it mean the generation of Jesus' time? Does it mean the generation of Mark's time? Does it mean the generation that is reading the gospel now? We don't know. I think Mark's intent was to present the end times as happening in the present so that "this generation" would remain watchful.

That is what this passage is really about, staying watchful and alert and awake. You have to remember that apocalyptic literature is very metaphorical and symbolic. It is also based in dualism, stark "good/bad" and "us/them" imagery is common. Because of that imagery, it's hard to take literally. I'm not saying that the end times won't happen like Mark describes, because they could; but you have to remember that this isn't a blueprint for the future as much as it is comfort to this generation.

It's comforting because, with Mark, as Jesus goes, so go the disciples. Jesus preached the good news, was handed over to the leaders, killed and raised. His disciples, you and me, are to preach the gospel, be handed over, killed, and raised. Things will happen, and if you are being persecuted it may seem like the end times. Persecution, however, doesn't necesarily equate to the end times.

But this is the image of the master of the house. When trials and tribulations and persecutions and all sorts of mean nasty stuff happen, we have a tendency to refer to them as dark days. The dark days of the Nazi regime are an example. Or the dark days of confinement and torture for Vietnam POW's are another. Or maybe it's on your own faith journey, the dark days of the soul. Notice that the master returns sometime during the night, during the dark. Jesus, through Mark, is telling each generation that you need to pay attention, stay alert and stay awake through those dark times.

Finally, Jesus says, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." Things pass away. They are eaten by time and the winds of change. Words, however, seem to be immortal. The Hellenistic world has passed away, but we still have the words of Homer and Plato and Socrates. The Roman Empire has passed away, but we still have the words of Pliny and Cicero and Caesar. Colonial America has passed away, but we still have the words of the Declaration of Indenpence. And we will always have the words of Jesus.

This is the comforting part of the Markan apocalypse, that despite wars and rumors of wars, Jesus is with us always. This is why this passage was selected for the first Sunday of Advent, because we may be facing difficult times, we may be persecuted, things may be passing away, but we know that we are living in the between times and we know that we need to keep watch.

Jesus is coming. Don't be lulled into thinking it already happened with a cute little baby in a manger. This year, read Mark with an attention to the present, and stay awake.