“Active Waiting”

Mark 13:32-37

Paul Achtemeir and Leland Mebust: It is difficult for a modern congregation to hear [texts like those found in the thirteenth chapter of Mark as Good News]. We are still conditioned by the medieval understanding of the Last Day as the fearful Day of Judgment… We are also inhibited because of the use made of [such texts] among sectarian groups, whose speculative calculations of the precise coming of the end seem to have discredited this whole line of thought and rendered talk about it ridiculous… [Such texts are] not a travel guide to the future, but an assurance that despite all signs to the contrary God is still leading his people to his goal.

[Prayer]

According to Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians the church in Thessalonica had a problem. Some of its members were so caught up in the Second Coming of the Lord that they had stopped living in order to stand idly by and wait for it. They weren’t working. They weren’t contributing to the mission of the church.

However, every evening, when they were sure that the Lord wasn’t coming that particular day, they still showed up for the church’s communal supper. That raised some eyebrows and caused not a little resentment. On top of that, having nothing better to do, they were going around gossiping and stirring up trouble.

Paul’s word to the Thessalonian Christians? “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.” In other words, the Lord will come when the Lord comes, and he will do so like a thief in the night. Meanwhile life goes on. There are livings to be made, families to care for, and a church to support. More than that there is a Gospel to be shared and witnessing to be done.

Paul was reinforcing the words Jesus spoke in this morning’s text: “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware; keep alert; for you do not know when that day will come… And what I say to you I say to all: ‘Keep awake’.”

Don’t worry about the Lord’s Second Coming. Just be ready for it. Be alert. Stay awake. Be about my Father’s business, the business of discipleship. Obey my teaching. Share it with others. Imitate my obedience. Model it for others.

So we wait, and even as we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus,” we maintain an active witness. We do what disciples do. We worship, fellowship, study God’s Word, and pray. We share the faith with unbelievers and teach it to our children. Whenever the Lord comes may he find us actively involved in faithful discipleship. No sitting around waiting for Jesus to come. No fearful watching for this, that, or the other sign. And for goodness sake, no timetables, charts, or predictions.

Advent is a time of two-fold waiting: for the Lord to come again and for Christmas. It is not to be a time of idle speculation. It is a time to be about our Father’s business. Nor is it a time to be caught up in the frenzied, secularized version of Christmas, the kind of Christmas that blocks out Christ. It is a time of faithful waiting and preparation. We don’t stop living life. We simply reprioritize it. We involve ourselves in active waiting: praying, worshiping, fellowshipping with fellow Christians, and witnessing to the true meaning of Christmas.

Several months ago a rather famous atheist said that he had no problem with saying, “Merry Christmas.” From his atheistic perspective Christmas has been rendered by our culture into a safely secularized holiday. There is no Christ in it. It has nothing to do with God or Gospel.

From a Christian perspective that’s a bit of a hoot. Imagine, an atheist giving us permission to say Merry Christmas. To quote Saturday Night Live’s church lady, “Well isn’t that special.” It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so true. Christmas in our culture has been thoroughly secularized. It has become the frenzied orgy of partying and spending that first century Christians countered with a quietly joyful celebration of our Lord’s birth.

I want to stop here and honestly confess some of my feelings about our culture’s secularized Christmas. First of all, and you will hear this again, my vision of hell is being trapped in a mall during the Christmas rush and having to spend eternity listening to that gosh-awful canned Christmas music. I am appalled every time I see Jesus, Joseph, and Mary side by side with Santa, Rudolph, and Frosty on somebody’s front lawn. I am offended when I see Christmas displays in stores before Halloween. I just wish that it would all go away.

That is not going to happen, which is why using Advent as a time of active waiting is so critical. It is a time to be reminded of the incarnation of God as Emmanuel, as God-with-us, in the person of Jesus. Without incarnation there could be no atonement. If Jesus had never been born there would have been no crucifixion or resurrection. If God had not broken into history in such a miraculous way none of us could ever be reconciled with our Creating Father. We would have been forever a people who dwelt in darkness. The light of Christ would never have shone in the world.

Advent is a time of prayerful expectation of not only Christmas, but also that great day when we will sit with Christ at the great banquet feast in the fully realized Kingdom of God. Our attitude every Christmas Day should be like that of our Hebrew brothers and sisters at Passover. Their toast is, “Next year in Jerusalem.” Maybe our prayer should be, “Next Christmas in the new Jerusalem that has come down from heaven as a bride adorned for her groom.” Wouldn’t that be great?

Wouldn’t it be great to never again have to deal with sin, death, evil, suffering, or temptation? Wouldn’t it be great for Christ’s peace, justice, and righteousness to rule over a redeemed creation. Wouldn’t it be great to sing God’s praises along with the angels? Wouldn’t it be great to have the deepest yearnings of our hearts satisfied forever?

Yes, it would – and it will - but meanwhile there is a dark and hurting world in desperate need of the Gospel message. There are people starving in body and spirit. There are hearts broken beyond any mending but that of our Savior. People are being used, abused, and exploited by other people, often cruelly. Atheists and others are smug in their belief that Christmas is no threat because Christ has been totally removed from it.

We cannot stand idly by waiting for the Lord to come and take care of it all. Nor can we get caught up in that heretical myth that all the real Christians will be raptured up into heaven leaving the rest of the world to suffer hell on earth. Nor can we self-righteously separate ourselves totally from the world, walled away from human sin and suffering in our little enclaves of holier-than-thou piety. This is Advent. This is a time to be awake, aware, and ready for God’s action in the world. This is a time of worship and prayer, of witnessing and evangelism. This is a time to share the joy of Jesus with others, inviting them into the Kingdom that has come and is coming. This is a time of active waiting.

And just as we should not be idle, neither should we be afraid. Our Advent attitude must be one of confidence that our future, whatever it might entail, is firmly held in the hands of God. Economies crash. Governments fail. Disasters strike. Tyrants rise and fall. There is a constant presence of the spirit of antichrist in our world – always has been and always will be. Christians are persecuted. The church is in constant need of reformation.

Signs, everywhere there are signs: earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, pestilence, famine, and war. Maybe they are signs of the apocalypse. Maybe they’re just part of the ongoing round of suffering that has been humanity’s lot since the Fall. Whatever, we are not alone. God is with us. Emmanuel is here. Christ has come. Christ is coming. His Holy Spirit guides and comforts us. So…

Be alert. Be awake. Don’t be lulled into idleness. Don’t be immobilized by fear. Trust God. Be constantly immersed in prayer and the Word. Don’t neglect corporate worship and Christian fellowship. Pay no attention to those who scoff and sneer. Christmas is coming. Jesus is coming. Get ready. Be ready. Wait hopefully, but wait actively.

As long as Christ is in us there will be Christ in Christmas. As long as we continue to light candles on Christmas Eve there will be tangible reminders that the light of life still shines in the world. As long as we share the Gospel – share Christ – with others the world will know that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Amen.