Sermon "Anticipating the Best"
Rev. Lonnie Richardson
Sunday November 30, 1997
Luke 21:25-36
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Anticipating The Best
"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. Onthe earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at theroaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror,apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenlybodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Mancoming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these thingsbegin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, becauseyour redemption is drawing near." He told them this parable:"Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sproutleaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near.Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that thekingdom of God is near. "I tell you the truth, thisgeneration will certainly not pass away until all these thingshave happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words willnever pass away. "Be careful, or your hearts will be weigheddown with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, andthat day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it willcome upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Bealways on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape allthat is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand beforethe son of man."
Luke 21:25-36
...When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift upyour heads...
This is the season of anticipation. Children anticipateChristmas presents; youth anticipate Christmas parties and goodtimes; adults anticipate family gatherings and other festiveget-to-gethers; students away at school anticipate getting homefor the holidays; we all anticipate warm, meaningful moments inworship - the joy of singing the carols of Christmas, theemotional heights of a Christmas eve candlelight service. Ourpopular songs convey the anticipation of the season: "I'mDreaming of a White Christmas," "Santa Claus Is Comingto Town." "I'll Be Home for Christmas."
But then isn't all of life filled with anticipation? Businesspeople anticipate what will sell; fashion designers anticipatewhat people will wear; television programmers anticipate whatpeople will watch; investors anticipate the stock market;athletes anticipate winning; the sick and injured anticipategetting well; we anticipate our way through our days and lifewould lose much of its luster were it not for the capacity toanticipate.
Anticipation though, is two-directional: one can anticipatethe best or anticipate the worst. Have you ever noticed that somesick people must anticipate not getting well; some students mustanticipate failure; some business people must anticipatebankruptcy; some athletes anticipate defeat. And when they do,this is usually what happens.
Let me ask you this: what do you anticipate in life? What doyou long for? Does your anticipation about life relate to yourfaith in a positive way? We can expect the best or expect theworst and chances are that you will get exactly what you expect.
This is the first Sunday in Advent. Today we conclude the longseason of Pentecost and prepare our heart anew for the coming ofJesus. We begin Advent by hearing from Jesus and from the prophetZechariah. They describe what it means to anticipate god drawingnear. The pictures they paint are at once dark and spectacularlybrilliant. The day of the Lord is both one of judgment and ofhealing. It might bring an end to life as we know it and end thesuffering of the world. It is both a terrifying and excitingvision. But what does it have to do with our own personalanticipation and preparations for the coming of Christ atChristmas?
This apocalyptic vision of the coming of Christ at first seemsdiscordant with the meek, gentle, infant Jesus. It seems worldsaway from the vision of sweet Mary and Joseph huddled in thestable. It seems light years away from our culture's mad rush todecorate everywhere, and buy everything all before December 25th,so that in a few brief moments presents can be unwrapped. But, infact, it has everything to do with our preparation for Christmas.
In the past few years we have experienced several wonders andsigns in heaven and on earth that seem to signal the coming ofthe end of the world as we know it. The world watched in horroras the bodies of the Heaven's Gate members were discovered, wecouldn't help but wonder what the world was coming to. The cultmembers had seen the Hale-Bopp comet as a sign of the end timesand they happily were looking forward to a better world.
In ancient times comets were thought to be warnings ofhorrible destruction or signs of new things to come. But when wesee the grim reality of people who leapt too soon at the idea ofa new world, we are reminded of the deep sadness in the pit ofour stomachs when the pained faces of their loved ones flashedbefore us. How senseless it all seemed.
The paper and magazines have been flooded with articles andtelevision and radio are full of programs that warn of theimminent destruction of vast computer systems when the year 2000comes. Because no one had the foresight to program a prefix foryear-numbers, all the world's computers might just fail at once.The press and the scientific community as well as the federalgovernment are frantically searching for a solution. Since theearly 1970's much of business, science, medicine and libraries(just to mention a few) have become computerized. We needcomputers to shop, to pay the bills, to talk on the phone.Computers are now involved in all aspects of our lives. If nosolution is found, life as we know it will come to a grindinghalt. And then words of Jesus come to mind, "people willfaint from fear and foreboding."
If we were vulnerable for a moment, we would confess how oftenwe find ourselves worrying. Our children worry us, our healthworries us, all the risk factors around us worry us. The state ofthe economy and the moral decline of local and nationalgovernment worries us. Drugs and violence worry and scare us.Human beings as a whole are creatures with a great deal ofanxiety in our hearts. But to that worry, to that anxiety, tothat overwhelming fear, Jesus says, "Look up!." Let'sjust admit it, we live in anxious times. The people who livedwhen Christ walked on this earth, also lived in anxious times.
The good news in our gospel today is that, despite the factthat we live in anxious times, in spite the fact that the signsall point to the end of the world Christ Jesus tells us that wecan stand and lift our heads high for our redemption is near. Noless than Jesus is our redemption, is coming near to us in thesetimes. When things look most frightening, says our Lord, is whenour lives are closest to God, and God is doing a new thing in ourlives.
The gospel challenges us, during this Advent season, to liveas people who expect God to be near, and that God is doingsomething new in our lives. To anticipate the very best. In thisadvent season of preparation, the time of Christ's coming intothe world, we are to live as if we expect just that. Christ'scoming. What does that mean to our daily lives? That means we areto see the worries in our lives as possibilities. We are to lookanew on the people and situations that trouble us as signs ofGod's near and living presence. That we can look at the darkskies and the dark places as moments of waiting and anticipatinggod's nearness. This means that we don't have to be bound by ourfear, by we can reach into fear and reach God.
It means that the painful relationships can be made whole, notby our will or power, but by God's. For it is God who chooses,through Christ, to draw near to us. This means that you and I canlook anew at the painful situations and offer them to God.Because God has promised to be near, and these situations mightindeed be a moment of redemption, a moment when we will be madewhole.
As we prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of ChristJesus in a new way this Advent, let us also receive those aroundus in a new way. Let us see and know that God wants to transformand make new even the most impossible situations in our lives.Let us look and see Christ Jesus in those around us who havecaused us heartache and pain. As God draws near we are given thestrength to see others in a new way. And truly then, the world aswe now it will pass away, and all things will be made new.
The best way to prepare for the coming of Christ is never toforget the presence of Christ. Amen.
