Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - First Sunday of Advent - 11/30/14 Sermon - “Watch out! Stay Alert!” (“Signs He is coming” series: Part 1 of 5)

Sunday 11/30/14 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Watch out! Stay Alert!”

(“Signs He is coming” series: Part 1 of 5)          

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

                                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Gospel Lesson: Mark 13:24-37                     

          Friends, brothers and sisters, welcome once again on this the first Sunday of our Advent Season. The Advent Season is a season of anticipation in the Christian faith, because we await the Messiah, we await the savior. In fact, the word Advent in Latin, is “Adventus,” meaning “coming,” as we await Christ’s coming. In this way, we await the “coming” of the one who would come to teach us and show us a better way of living and of being. We await the one who would die for us, so that we may live. Advent then, is a season of waiting. A season of anticipation, as we say, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

          You see, in the times that Jesus was born into, the Jewish people, the Israelites lived under the oppressive yoke of the Roman Empire. For the lands that are in modern day Palestine and Israel were once a province of Rome. The people of Judea paid heavy taxes, they were told that they had to swear allegiance to the Caesar that ruled the Roman Empire at the time, and Judea was even ruled for a time by the Roman governor and prefect Pontius Pilot.

          The Roman Empire controlled and dominated the Jewish people and Judea. The people of Judea harkening the words of prophets like Isaiah and Micah, and harkening the world of the Psalms regarding the coming Messiah, were taking the prophetic claims from these and other books of scripture to look for the clues of the anticipated coming of the Messiah. When will Emmanuel come and save us, they said?

          In all of these ways, in this Advent Season, and into Christmas Eve, I am beginning a sermon series today, called the “He is coming” series. I call this sermon series, the “He is coming” series, because Advent and Christmas is about the hope and the urgency of the Messiah coming to release the captives, to give sight to the blind, to heal the sick, to change the world, and to die for us.

          Advent and Christmas then, for many of us are seasons of hope, of joy, of anticipation, and of rebirth, as we await “Emmanuel” the promised one, the one who would change the world forever.

          With all of this said, the first part of this five part series is called “Watch out! Stay Alert!” For Christ commands us in this morning’s gospel reading to be watchful and alert of God’s presence in this world, of him, and of his second coming.

I remember reading a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in which he spoke about “the fierce urgency of now,” in reference to civil rights for African-Americans. In fact, Dr. King said this, “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there "is" such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”

          You see if Christ is really our standard, if he is really the center of our lives, then we are called to live and do the things he taught us, right now, as tomorrow is not promised to any of us. We therefore, need to embrace in our own individual contexts, as Dr. King said, “the fierce urgency of now.”

          When Ebola broke out in parts of Africa, the United Methodist Church responded immediately. When our brothers and sisters in the Buffalo area got buried in snow recently, our United Methodist Church conference responded almost immediately. For we realized “the fierce urgency of now.” Do we this morning realize “the fierce urgency of now?

          So while Jesus is coming soon to save the world, his actual birth already happened over 2,000 years ago. Many in Jesus’ era were awaiting his birth, yet we are merely awaiting the memory of his birth, as he was born, and already did all that he did.

The only thing that we have yet to see then, is the return of Christ. If one believes that Christ will return to this earth in accordance with the scriptures, then this is what we are being “watchful” and “alert” for. We called to be “watchful” and “alert,” for “the fierce urgency of now.”

          Yet, within all of this, we still are called by Christ to build God’s kingdom until his return. You see, if we truly profess to believe that Jesus Christ will return in glory one day, then this does not let us off the hook to build God’s kingdom in the here and the now, as we await his kingdom to come.

          Until we die and leave this earth, or until the Lord returns then, we must daily live with a sense of “the fierce urgency of now.” We must continue daily to give our lives and our hearts over to the risen Christ, and we must then work to build his kingdom, as we await his kingdom to come.

          Building this kingdom means feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, loving all of God’s people, regardless of who or what they are, and building communities and a world, where we can strive to have peace, love, and prosperity.

          While I don’t think that we will ever fully get there until the Lord returns though, we are called to build a world of justice, equity, and balance, and we are called to do it now. A world where we do everything possible to avoid war and violence, a world where no one starves, no one is sold into slavery, and grace, peace, mercy, and justice prevail.

          As we “Watch out!” and “Stay Alert!” the Advent and Christmas seasons draws our hearts and our minds into a season of waiting, hoping, praying, and yearning for a new world, a better world. This season then calls us into a time of being kind, generous, and loving.

          During this time of the year we tend to give more, we tend to feed more people, and etc., because after all “it is Christmas” we say. Imagine in this Advent Season, and this soon to be Christmas Season, if we lived like this every single day. Imagine if we lived like the Lord of life was to return at any minute every day.

          My brothers and sisters, in this Advent Season, let us embrace “the fierce urgency of now,” as we are “watchful” and “alert” for the birth and the return of the Lord.

          In Jesus Christ then, I am restored, I am renewed, and I am freed to love all of God’s children better, no matter who or what they are. This is the promise of the soon to be coming king, this is the hope we have in him, and in his kingdom.

          Our scripture readings from this morning, first begin with a reading from Psalm 80. In this Psalm the people of Israel are calling to God to, “Come save us!,” and to “Restore us God.” The Psalmist says of God, “Make your face shine so that we can be saved!”

          Towards the end of this Psalm reading, the Psalmist says, “Revive us so that we can call on your name. Restore us, Lord God of heavenly forces!”

          This morning we also have a reading from Apostle Paul’s first Epistle or letter to the Church in the city of Corinth. In this reading, Paul begins by saying, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The Apostle Paul then tells the church in Corinth, or the Corinthians, that he thanks God for the grace that is in them, through Jesus Christ. Paul tells the Corinthians that their faith and witness to Jesus Christ is powerful and authentic. The Apostle Paul then says, “The result is that you aren’t missing any spiritual gift while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” The Apostle Paul then says, “He will also confirm your testimony about Christ until the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Apostle Paul then concludes this portion of his first Epistle or letter to the church in Corinth by saying, “God is faithful, and you were called by him to partnership with his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

          We must live therefore, sacrificially, and for others, as Jesus Christ has filled us, has transformed us, and has called us to make the world in his image, as we await his return. For how can we “Watch out!,” and “Stay Alert!,” if we truly do not strive to do and be all that Jesus Christ has called us to do and be?

          In our gospel reading from the gospel of Mark from this morning, Jesus in part quoting the prophet Isaiah speak in an apocalyptic sense. He speaks of the world ending as we know it. This “Olivet Discourse” as it is called, is the apocalyptic words of Christ found in the gospel of Mark, Luke, and Matthew. These three locations of these scripture in these three gospels or the “Olivet Discourse,” is where Jesus discusses the end of the world, or the apocalypse.

Some people struggle with apocalyptic literature though, yet science even tells us that our Sun in our solar system has only so much fuel in it. While it might take billions of years, one day our Sun will cool, grow bigger, expand, and literally consume the entire earth in the process. One day then, regardless of your scientific or theological perspective, the world as we know it will come to an end.

          Jesus says in this gospel reading from Mark this morning, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.” That God is forever, but we are not, and this world is not. Jesus says, “nobody knows when the day or hours will come, not the angels in heaven and not the Son. Only the Father knows. Watch out! Stay alert!” Jesus concludes this scripture reading by saying “Stay alert!”         

          In this season of Advent or “coming” then, do we look beyond just the presents, beyond just the shiny wrapping paper, to see that a baby is coming? A baby that many will come to see, a baby that will change the world. A baby that will teach us about “the fierce urgency of now.” A baby that said, “Watch out! Stay Alert!,” for I am coming soon.

          I would like to close this message with a quote from one of my heroes and favorite theologians, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was one the many that stood up to the Nazi empire during World War II.

          Here is what brother Dietrich said in his book, The Cost of Discipleship, “Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'Ye were bought at a price', and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.” 
          So my brothers and sisters, let us in this Advent season embrace “the fierce urgency of now,” and let us “Watch out!,” and “Stay alert!” Amen.