After my initial reading of the gospel text assigned for today, I quickly turned to a preaching commentary for some guidance. This is what I found on the very first page:
“Contrary to the manner in which it is often celebrated in the churches, Advent begins not on a note of joy, but of despair. Humankind has reached the end of its rope. All our schemes for self-improvement, for extracting ourselves from the traps we have set for ourselves, have come to nothing. We have now realized at the deepest level of our being that we cannot save ourselves, and that, apart from the intervention of God, we are totally and irretrievably lost.”*
If you’d prefer a message about joy, go listen to my midweek sermon on the Christmas movie Elf. But today we’re talking about an apocalypse.
Advent this year begins with an APOCALYPSE!
- Apocalyptic literature is a literary devise in which events are reinterpreted and reapplied in each context.
- Things are bad, they may get worse - it does not mean God has abandoned us, nor forsaken us, nor has God “lost” The apocalypse is not about watching and waiting passively, but actively bearing good fruit and participating in the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God
- The purpose of Apocalyptic literature is to INSPIRE HOPE not to sow fear
- “The basic message of apocalyptic visions is this: The rebellion against the reign of God is strong, as the wicked oppress the righteous. Things will get worse before they get better. But hang on just a little longer, because just when you are sure you cannot endure, God will intervene to turn the world right side up.”**
- The in-breaking of the Kingdom and the right-side-up-ing of the world is a tumultuous experience. These things have taken place in the past, through the cross. These things will continue to take place each time those who are suffering rise up against and topple the powers.
“Stay Awake”
- Mark is addressing Jesus’ crucifixion as well as the destruction of the temple-centered society
- Reference to the disciples’ inability to stay away in the garden as Jesus prays prior to his betrayal and crucifixion
- v. 35 - when will the Master come? Evening, Midnight, at Cockcrow or at Dawn?
- “When it was evening”- Mark 14:17-Last Supper
- “He found them sleeping” - Mark 14:40 - in the middle of the night
- “At that moment the cock crowed” Mark 14:72 - the denial of Peter
- “At daybreak” - Mark 15:1 - Jesus is handed over to Pilate
- Is our faith lulling us to sleep or keeping us awake at night?
- “….[A]ll of our anticipation and preparation of Jesus’ second advent should be shaped by his first advent in the form of a vulnerable infant and as a man hanging on a tree. More than that, I think Mark is inviting us to look for Jesus – even here, even now – in similar places of vulnerability, openness, and need.” ***
Let’s Get Practical
Typically as Advent kicks off I am ready to throw out nuggets of wisdom like:
“Don’t sing Christmas carols during Advent” or
“Make sure you don’t overspend on Christmas presents” or
“Don’t get caught in the mania and commercialization of Christmas.”
However, I’m realizing this year that these are not the most pressing issues we’re dealing with. No, this year I’m realizing that things look bad, and they might even get worse. Right? I mean, things are bad.
Case in point, I bet you don’t even know which bad things I’m about to talk about!
It is the threat of nuclear war?
The prevalence of gun violence unique to our nation?
Well, those are bad; and the list can certainly continue with issues weighing on your hearts. But I’m thinking about an apocalypse that is much more personal – an ugly truth about our world that some of you have known about for a long time and which I am only slowly being brought up to speed.
Given that the message of this first Sunday in Advent is the admonition to stay awake as well as an invitation to look for Jesus in the places of vulnerability, openness, and need and participate in the toppling of the powers; I can think of no more practical issue to address than the prevalence of sexual abuse and harassment in America.
Like you, I’ve watched as men in positions of power have been revealed as predators. Each morning there are new allegations that someone has used his power to manipulate, coerce, or physically force others into sexually inappropriate situations. Each morning there is news that such a person, so long as he’s not a politician, has been fired or stepped down from his position. I’ve watched women step out from the shadows, buoyed by an understanding that they did not bring such action on themselves and that they are not alone.
I’ve watched all this happen with no clear understanding of how I should respond.
As a man in today’s society, what can I say?
As someone who has seen firsthand the wake of destruction left behind by sexual predators, what is my response?
As someone who, by virtue of my career, can claim at least some degree of power in today’s society, what should I do?
I do not ask out of a sense of defensiveness, as if I feel the need to defend the abhorrent behavior of other men. Rather, I ask because this is yet another moment where the Kingdom of God is breaking in on our world. People who have been victimized are standing up and confronting the power structures of today. This is another apocalypse.
Two thousand years ago the apocalypse to which Mark referred in his Gospel was the corruption of the temple-centered universe that failed to treat people equally and kept God at a distance; today it is the corruption of masculinity that has made women around the globe feel inferior and voiceless – a toxic masculinity that teaches boys from a young age women are inferior in every way.
In the midst of this apocalypse God calls us to respond not with watching and waiting passively, but by staying awake and actively participating in the in-breaking of the Kingdom.
I have an idea about what it would mean for me to participate in the in-breaking of the Kingdom in regard to this issue. I think I need to listen.