Jonathan Krause from Australian Lutheran World Service – Courage to Love (audio)

Homily, by Pastor Adrian Kitson  (Text and Audio below)

Advent 1B, Sunday December 3, 2017

Mark 13:24-37

24 ‘But in those days, following that distress,

28 ‘Now learn this lesson from the fig-tree: as soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it[b] is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

 32 ‘But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert[c]! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: he leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

35 ‘Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: “Watch!”’

‘“the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”[a]

26 ‘At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

28 ‘Now learn this lesson from the fig-tree: as soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it[b] is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

 32 ‘But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert[c]! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: he leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

35 ‘Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: “Watch!”’

We can see the signs can’t we? We heard about some of them through Jonathan this morning. Jesus spells the signs out for us;

When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. (Mark 13:7-8)

We can see the signs of which he speaks but we cannot know the exact timing or shape of the future. He says that too.

32 ‘But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Mark 13:32).

Jesus seems to know that the signs of which he speaks makes us nervous and worried. They bring suffering and pain. On one hand we don’t want to see them. On the other we know that when we do the better future and the better country is closer up ahead.

Jesus seems to know that we human beings can get a bit confused about how to live. He knows that we can get quite desperate in our attempt to stay in control of our lives and shape our own futures that way that makes us comfortable.

In the desperate attempts to sure ourselves up we can look here there and everywhere for some peace we can manufacture, some comfort we can see and feel, some certainty we can control. We will look to many “Messiahs” of varying kinds and give the love of our heart to them, it seems.

But friends, what we do know are two things.

  1. The Word will never die, cease, stop, or reach an end.
  2. The Word says that the end is never very far away. And contrary to these signs we see scaring us, by the grace of this man in our hearts, we view like a fig tree or a plum tree or the vines or the wind and the wheat – simply the necessary change of season. We are firm in because Jesus is in these times and will remain in our times until the end of time. One more thing we know is that Jesus will be impossible to miss when the end does finally come. He will be large. He will be more present than we have ever experienced. We know his future for us is good and whole and life itself. Christmas is the beginning of all this….. and so we wait on him again.

We wait in eager anticipation, not anxious desperation or sleepy faithlessness. No, we eagerly wait for seasons to change by staying awake, being alert, paying attention, receiving the signs as confirmation that Jesus is present and on the job. We have no need of panicking about the signs.

We watch. We pray. We work while it is still day. We keep our place on the wall protecting others, serving others, speaking of him to others.

We do this because we do not lack any spiritual gift we need, as we eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

Friend, as Advent leads us to the staggering possibilities that God being fully human and fully alive brings, hear this:

8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:7-9)

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

Amen