Stand in Hope

Jeremiah 33:14-16 Luke 21:25-36
November 29, 2009

Do you remember those signboard cartoons, often found in the NY Times? …a man is walking down a busy street, with a signboard announcing that the end of the world is coming soon. The end is near.I remember seeing one that is a better fit for today’s scripture readings which said,

“The world is not going to come to end, you are just going to have to cope.”

Apocalyptic writings, whether found on signboards, in movies such as 2012, or in scriptures such as found in today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, always have a strange mixture in them. Is this end of time scenario a good thing or a bad thing?

What exactly is coming to an end? What is about to begin? Who is in power and gets to decide?

Where is the sign of hope in writing a doomsday scenario that imagines everything that we know being destroyed?

And what in heaven’s name is it doing here, on the first Sunday of Advent? The first Sunday of the New Year? The first Sunday when begin anticipating the coming of the Christ child into the world?

That’s what we are going to explore this morning.

The Latin root of Advent is a word that means, “coming.” Advent thus means “toward the coming.” Advent is preparation for the coming of Jesus to the world—then in the past; now in the present; and … later, in the future.” (Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan The Last Christmas 231)

Advent is remembering the past, so we can reframe the present, so that we can re-imagine the future.

“Advent is a reliving in the present of ancient Israel’s hope and yearning that is expressed in that favorite advent hymn that the choir sang this morning.
O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.” (The Last Christmas)

We look at so many lives today and see humanity in a time of exile, captive, mourning, lonely, longing. And in looking at the Scriptures in the Old Testament, we remember the great new insights into the nature of the divine-human connection that were born out of that suffering and we wonder what is being born now that gives us hope?

And so the first reading for the season of advent is a open-eyed and honest looking at how things are in the our world, in the world today.
Violence in our cities, escalation of war, and the realities of global warming are familiar to s all.

In the Gospel reading from Luke for this morning we have a passage is easily categorized as apocalyptic. Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, in their book, The First Christmas, refer to this as the Great Divine Clean-up. It is not that the world is coming to an end, it is that corrupt, greedy, and violent practices are unraveling and coming to an end. We hope.

As we read the Bible we see that this yearning for God to come into our lives and help us begin again has always been a part of the human consciousness. It goes back a thousand years before the birth of Jesus and continues in the hearts of many today.

“The Old Testament cycle begins with creation and ends with the renovation of the world into a commonwealth of shalom, a place of justice and peace. This is a very large promise for which the promised land of Canaan is mere foreshadowing, a sort of down payment. This enlarged promise is not just to Jews, but to everyone. Also, according to some of the most lyrical passages in the Hebrew scriptures, it includes the whole creation, the plants and animals, the seas and stars. This means that one way to see the mystery of [evolution] is to view it as an unfinished narrative, a work in progress. It can be seen as a process in which the new, the surprising, and the unexpected constantly emerge. It means we live in a world whose potential is yet to be fulfilled.” (Harvey Cox, The Future of Faith)

Mahatma Gandhi, the peaceful revolutionary, who led India to freedom from the British Empire was once asked, what he thought of Western Civilization. He replied, “I think it would be a good idea.”

It has been a good idea, which we understand, as a promise. A promise given to us by God.
We can visualize a world where peace and justice live together, where nations will beat their swords into plowshares.
We can imagine such a world
and then
we read the daily newspaper.
Or we get on-line and read the NY Times.

And we see a world that seems to be coming apart, again.


We see a world where the idea of affordable health care coverage seems like a strange idea, but the continual expensive reliance on military weapons to bring about peace makes sense.

We see a world where the greedy are rewarded with legislation in Congress that just fills their bank accounts while the unemployment rises and people are losing their homes.

We see a world where we have to wonder and pray will the nations gathering in Copenhagen agree on the sacrifices and commitments required to restore the health of the planet?

On this first Sunday in the beautiful season of Advent, the end of the world scenarios, set the context for a world in need a Savior.
It is almost like the first step of a twelve step program in Alcoholics Anonymous. We are called to admit that we are powerless over the mess that we are in. And in that honesty the potential for a new force of energy and healing is released, anticipated, prayed for, received.

If things were all going fine in the world, in our lives, why would be waiting for the Messiah?

And what does Jesus say to us today as we face this world that is so out of balance?
Jesus says, “When you see these things, do not cower in fear, for your transformation is drawing near.”

Your transformation is drawing near.
It is good to remember that the Gospel of Luke was written 10 to 15 years after the Romans had destroyed the Temple and 50 years after Jesus walked this earth. For the early Christians this destruction of the most sacred site must have seemed cataclysmic.
Luke is writing his Gospel for a people who knew suffering and were looking for something to give them hope.
Advent teaches us that in the darkest places of human oppression, the pain of hunger, and political distress that God’s reign is among us. “Do not be caught off-guard by the fear-filled tides of history,” Jesus warned.
“But be mindful, praying for strength, that you may escape the fears that roil the earth, and may stand with God” (Luke 21:36).

Earlier this month the UCC Clergy of northern California gathered at San Damiano Retreat Center in Danville. It is a beautiful retreat Franciscan Retreat Center. It is a peaceful place, with a labyrinth set in the middle of an abundant garden.

This year’s guest speaker was Diana Butler-Bass, who has written several books which give hope to mainline churches that are committed to progressive Christian values. One of her books, Christianity for the Rest of Us tells the story of moderate and progressive mainline Protestant congregations - and how they found new vitality through spiritual practices and deeper meaning by pursuing God's hope for transformation in the world.

Diana Butler-Bass is a sociologist, historian, and inspiring theologian. She sees signs of hope for churches such as ours all around the country who commit themselves to deepening the spiritual practices of compassion, hospitality, and social justice as the primary function of the church.

I mention her at this moment because she finds in this morning’s scripture passage an invitation to a spiritual practice that may deepen our experience of Advent.

She focuses on the passage, “But be mindful, praying for strength, that you may escape the fears that roil the earth, and may stand with God” (Luke 21:36).


“1. Be mindful (paying attention to what is really going on around one self's, a congregation, and society; being discerning; listening);
2. Pray for the real situation, for wisdom, for courage, for risk, the Spirit's involvement in one's actions; and
3. Standing firm by having confidence in God, your own discernment, convictions, and passions. Not to be shaken by resistance and push-back.” (Diana Butler-Bass, www.beatitudessociety.org)

This is an answer to the question posed earlier in this sermon, “Why does Advent begin with such a seemingly dark scenario?”

The signboard I referred to earlier said the world is not going to come an end, you are just going to have to cope.
The message of Advent is that we can do more than cope, we can hope.

Diana Butler-Bass has given us more than an answer, she has also given us a spiritual practice for Advent, so that we may prepare deeply for the coming of Christ into our lives.

Be mindful, pay attention to what is really going on, just notice it;
Pray, for what you see, and for what God sees;
Stand in hope, stand in trust of God’s presence in life.

Jim Wallis, has a wonderful quote that speaks to this. “Hope, in spite of the evidence, and watch the evidence change.”

Hope is a powerful force that is not based upon our best wishes or intentions, it based upon a mindful, prayerful, confident standing with God.

1600 years earlier Saint Augustine said something else that is related to the meaning of Advent, when he said, “God without us, will not; we without God, cannot.

Advent and Christmas is not about being rescued, it is about transformation based upon the teachings of compassion, extravagant hospitality and social justice.

Advent is a time of being mindful that some paths we have been on, as individuals and as societies are not working.
Advent is a time of praying that the human and the divine will work in harmony with one another.
Advent is a time of standing in hope, seeing clearly and not despairing.
Advent is a time of being a people who choose to stand and sing, even in times such as these,
Hope, peace, love, and joy to the world,
the Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare him room.
And heaven and nature sing.
And heaven and nature sing.
And heaven, and humanity, and nature sing.”
Stand with a signboard that says, The world is not going to come to an end, because Christ is coming into the world I choose to:
have hope,
make peace,
share love,
and be joy.

Let the people say, Amen