Apocalypse Now
“There
will be signs in the sun, moon , and the stars, and on earth distress among
nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves…people fainting from
fear…look at the fig tree…heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not
pass away….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.” Luke 21: 25-36
It’s
the First Sunday of Advent. We tend to misconstrue what the season is about,
and we also misconstrue what passages like this one from Luke mean to convey.
We need a key – or in this case keys –to unlock the purposely hidden contours
and meanings of such images that confront us this week.
First,
as to Advent: it is not primarily about preparing for Christmas or the birth of
Jesus. Shocking, to be sure, but from its inception it is meant to prepare us
for that longed-for day when Jesus, as he promises, will return to judge the
living and the dead. Adventus Rex
literally translates as the Coming of the King. What is often called, and is
referenced in the Nicene Creed, The Second Coming. Charles Dickens and the advent of Department
Stores are responsible for the commercial economic engine Advent has become.
When
confronted with this kind of scripture I recall what my first mentor and
teacher Dr. John Gettier taught us: The Bible is at once history, literature
and theology. Every passage needs to be assessed from each of these three
perspectives. This has served me well!
First
and foremost the literary dimensions
of these kinds of sayings in the Bible. It helps to know two words: eschatology
and apocalyptic. Eschatology, according to Brendan Byrne(The Hospitality of God- A Reading of Luke’s Gospel), eschatology is
teaching or speculation about the future, and specifically a final “end of
days” when the entire universe will be
transformed by the hands of God. Apocalyptic literally means “revelation”
meaning its content is revealed by an angel or a vision. Apocalyptic is
typified by vivid imagery depicting cosmic upheavals and often a battle between
good and evil. In all cases apocalyptic means to encourage a sense of hope and
faithfulness among God’s people that the current difficult and dangerous times
will ultimately be overthrown with the triumph of God. Meantime, we are to keep
the faith, or, in the words of the transcendent Chinese Book of Wisdom, the I
Ching, the message of eschatological apocalyptic might be summed up in two
words: Perseverance furthers!
The
historical context of this passage
in Luke is hinted at way back in chapter 17: writing somewhere in the decade of
80-90ce, Jerusalem and The Temple lie in ruins having been burnt to the ground
by the Roman Empire in the year 70. Although the gospel places this discourse
before the time of Jesus’ death, Luke means for his listeners to hear it in the
time of the Church which extends to our present day. It is a kind of double
message: 1) Yes, Jesus is coming –adventus- soon, but 2) do not be alarmed that
it is not just yet, more calamities and sufferings must take place before the
ultimate end. This “Yes, but not just yet” space is where we currently find
ourselves. These views are not conflicting but complementary.
The
theological construction of Luke
moves from Temple to Jerusalem to the Coming of the Son of Man: baby Jesus is
taken to the Temple to offer the appointed sacrifices, Jesus returns as an
adult to Jerusalem to confront the principalities and powers, and the time of
the Church anticipates his return to gather all things together into the reign
of God’s kingdom, a kingdom that is “not of this world.”
In
the meantime what are we to do? We are to “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 strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand
before the Son of Man.” That is, in this “Yes, but not just yet” time believers
are to continue our mission to others to the ends of the earth, which will mean
enduring the hostilities and sufferings of the present time.
That
this “generation will not pass away until all these things take place,” the
word “generation” can mean the twenty or thirty so years of a human generation,
but it can also describe an entire era marked by a certain quality which could
encompass all of human history. (Luke by Sharon H. Ringe) We can never know
just which Luke meant to convey, but the overall historical and literary
context suggests that we put an end to such speculation as to the “when” and
focus instead on our appointed mission and the assurance by our Lord and Savior
himself that we can remain confident in God’s faithfulness to all generations,
“according to the promises he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his
descendants forever.” (Luke 1:55)
For
us there is the macro context of what is happening in the world about us: wars,
indiscriminate terrorism, climate change with its attendant intensifying of
earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes and the like, not to mention
age-old problems of hunger, poverty and the increasing gap between the haves
and the have-nots.
On
the micro level, here at Christ church we have undergone calamities of bursting
pipes, a departing beloved rector, priest and friend in Jesus, difficulties
understanding the machinations of the church and diocese, and the always
occurring loss of loved ones, loss of jobs, and overall seeming loss of control
over our personal affairs and lives. To this Luke preaches a gospel of
encouragement in the midst of what seems like hopeless chaos.
The
uniqueness of the Christian story is that at its center is a God who chooses to
be with us in the midst of all that life throws at us, and an invitation to be
a community of love and hospitality amongst ourselves and at the same time
intentionally shared with others – all others, with the emphasis on all.
The
very last words of the Bible, at the very end of the very eschatological and
apocalyptic Revelation to Saint John the Divine, are, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”
This is our Advent – not that of the
marketplace, but that of confidence and assurance that our God is with us and
will one day, we know not when, transform all of us and the entire universe of
creation anew. Remember, perseverance furthers! Until that day we are to be
faithful and alert during these “Yes, but not just yet” times we live in. We
are those people who know he is here, even now, in our prayers, in our
communion, in our hearing the Good News and in our singing.
See
the Son Rising, See the Son Rising, See the Son Rising
He
is here
He
is here in the city, he is here in the streets
He
is here in our singing, he is here in the people that we meet
Alleluia
Alleluia
he is here
Amen.
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