St. Paul Lutheran Church, Minden, Nebraska

Sunday sermon – First Sunday in Advent -  Nov. 29, ’09

“Wait!  Wait!  Great Hope!”  

Text: Luke 21:36

  There is a weekly, hour-long, often humorous quiz show on National Public Radio called “Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me!”

   The way the show is put together it matches well-known entertainers and big name personalities with everyday people and listeners who call in; and through a variety of thoughtful, creative little games the show challenges guests & listeners alike to review & sort through what’s going on in the news; what’s true or isn’t true; what actually happened or did not happen. 

   Imagine questions like this:

   True or false: A recent report from leading climatologists says the future of mankind’s survival points toward living on the moon. 

   True or false: A sign was reportedly seen in Utah advertising Pacific-ocean, beach-front property for sale not far from the Nevada-Utah state-line where a giant earthquake is predicted to push Nevada & California into the sea.

   True or false: They’re already working on a sequel to the movie, 2012! 

   You get the idea!  Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me is an entertaining and informative quiz program that makes current news stories as well as other human interest stories come alive and even sound amusing if not noteworthy. 

   But as entertaining and informative as it is, it’s also a news program that makes me think Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me! is one game the Bible never plays with us.  If anyone is going to get innovative or creative with news of what’s going on in the Bible, especially at the end of the Bible - the great Day of the Lord’s coming, the end of the world, Apocalypse, Judgment Day, Jesus’ Second coming – this is one biblical teaching that’s nothing to joke about or take lightly or lose sight of.    

   So it is this First Sunday in Advent, as Christ’s church on earth once again looks forward to the coming of Christmas, looks also at the mess this world is in, and looks beyond Christmas to the Second Coming of Christ, the church does not play games with “Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me”! type questions nor does Christ’s church dwell on “worst-case” scenarios” at the end of time - either to amuse people or to scare them into changing their ways & believing.   

  When it comes to “worst-case” scenarios, today’s Gospel reading from Luke 21 lays it on the line telling all who read or listen to these words - a time is coming when there will be a cataclysmic end to everything. It’s going to be a terrifying end for those who don’t think it’s ever going to happen, and it’s going to be a troubling end for those who are not ready for it to happen. Neither will the end time and all that goes with be easy on or avoidable for Christians.

   But that’s NOT TO SAY, when all “hell” breaks loose, when all the powers of the heavens shall be shaken that Christians will have nothing to hang on to, or like others, have no hope of enduring or getting through the pain & agony of what’s to come.  

   In fact, just the opposite is true! In the Gospel reading from Luke for this first Sunday in Advent, Jesus announces two important truths about the unpredictability & the inevitability of terrible things to come

   First, Jesus issues a warning. Jesus’ warning is: “Wait! Wait! Don’t fail me! Don’t stop waiting; don’t stop expecting, don’t stop anticipating, don’t stop looking for the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power & glory!” Yes! The waiting has been going on for thousands of years, since the end of the Old Testament, since the end of the New Testament, since the dark ages, since the Renaissance and the age of Enlightenment, since the time of Martin Luther, since the discovery of America, since the end of the Civil War, since the days of the Great Depression when many thought for sure this world was finally coming to an end, we have even waited through coming & going of Y2K -- and the world is still here.   

   We are well into the third millennium, and Jesus’ warning to His followers in every age, every generation, is still a timely warning, “Wait! Wait! Don’t Fail Me”  Don’t give up waiting.  When the time is right, God will act. Don’t be guilty of living like there’s no tomorrow . . or like the harvest is never going to come.

  “Wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival,” writes the author of James and then uses farmers as an example.” When it comes to waiting, waiting out the weather, waiting out a wet, cold October, you see farmers do this all the time, says James 5, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, waiting patiently, letting the rain do is slow but sure work, waiting for fields to dry, waiting for the corn to dry.  Be patient like that. Stay ready and strong!

No one but God the Father knows when the waiting is going to end - but it’s going to end.  The end is going to come.  First, be warned!  

   There will be ominous signs in sun, moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world.

   For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  And then people will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

   Is the promise of the coming of the Son of Man with power and great glory bad news for some?  Good news for others?  Jesus implies that it will be a fearful thing for just about everybody, but then Jesus adds a second word, a word of hope.  Wait! Wait! Don’t fail me!   Hope! Hope! Hope in me! 

   There may come a day when science & technology make it possible for colonies to support space pioneers living on the moon.

   There may come a day (God forbid) when the earth shakes & quakes and California & Nevada break apart and slide into the sea.

   The world may go on & on long after 2012.

  “But mark my words,” says Jesus, “The day is coming when sun, moon and stars will fall, and the earth will wear out, but My words won’t wear out.”

   Wait! Wait! Don’t Fail Me!  Hope! Hope! Hope in me!  “My word that doesn’t wear out,” says Jesus, “is I love you, I have redeemed you, keep looking for me, keep counting on me, I am coming soon!”

  Every season of Advent, at the darkest time of the year, when the nights are long, when life is full of adversity, tragedy, insanity, uncertainty, losses, separations, people fainting with fear & with foreboding at what is coming on the world, it’s true - the earth is wearing out & falling apart just as we wear out & fall apart.

   But my words won’t wear out! says Jesus. Picking up on that very same theme: Wait! Wait! Hope in Christ!  “Straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near,”   St. Paul writes:

   Through Christ we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffer-ing produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

   and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:2-5)

  Finally, to put these two together, Wait! Wait! Don’t Fail Me!  Hope! Hope! Hope in Me!” – crisis & compassion – warning & comfort - is something like what a woman said about her cataract surgery. 

   First the warnings: Days before the procedure, she was given several kinds of drops to put into her eye.  The drops came with complex instructions and warnings. After the procedure she was warned in no uncertain terms that she was not to sleep on her back or pick up a sack of groceries or even touch her eye. Such warnings convinced that if she did not do exactly as she was told, she might not see again.

   Second the comfort:  The “now-very-cautious” & careful woman also sensed the deep care & compassion of her doctor & others on the medical staff. Every day for a week after the surgery, someone in the clinic called to inquire about her well-being and vision. 

   Eventually it dawned on her that the point of the warnings and the comfort of a caring, compassionate staff, coming together as they did, was to help her see better.

   May Jesus word of warning – “Wait! Wait! Don’t Fail Me! and Jesus word of comfort & compassion – “Hope! Hope! Hope In Me!” help us to see things for what they are and not be fooled by the powers that be or the powers of this world. 

   Look at the fig tree and all the trees; said Jesus. As soon as the fig tree and all the trees sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 

   So also when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near . . your redemption is drawing closer . . 

   Therefore, let our prayer always be . .

   Come, Lord Jesus, Savior, King . .

   Come, be Lord in the midst of everything . .

   Come, Lord Jesus, great hope You bring . .

   Coming Lord, of You help us sing!

   Amen