Reading
the news these days is an increasingly sobering experience.
Many
things that seemed safe and certain have become uncertain as we
negotiate the interminable, tortuous loops of the Brexit process…
Working
people are not earning enough to feed their families, so that many of
the clients at our foodbanks are not those without work but those on
low wages.
We
hear that if we don’t act decisively NOW to address climate change,
it will very soon be far too late – and yet when politicians
attempt to encourage us to change our approach to the earth’s
resources, people respond with angry riots…
The
signs of our times are decidedly depressing.
And
those of which Jesus speaks don’t seem to be much better.
Perhaps
it’s not surprising that so many people seem to
pend
their lives anxiously scanning the news for each and every hint of
disaster. Today’s gospel positively encourages it.
But
is that ACTUALLY what Jesus wants of us?
It’s
Advent – the time of watching and waiting…but should we wait with
fear or with hope?.
Listen
to Jesus…(you’ll find it’s often a really good thing to do)
Now
when these things begin to take place, STAND UP AND
RAISE
YOUR HEADS BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION IS
DRAWING
NEAR!"
In other words, however
many people scour the news for evidence that Creation itself is
destined for disaster, God made the world for a different purpose,
and is faithful in bringing that purpose about. Apocalyptic texts
(those looking forward to the end times) take a serious look at
everything going on in the world -- all the suffering and fear, all
the fireworks and skirmishes between the powers that be -- and see
within them all the true and final destiny for all Creation.
So the message of today’s gospel is
When you notice all these disasters in your life and in your world – DON’T panic.
Though
the odds may seem stacked against you, this is not the end of
everything but the beginning of redemption.
An
online conversation about fig trees this week reminded me of the fact
that though we notice
buds in the spring time, they actually grow during the previous
summer and are set in the autumn, waiting through the cold winter
until the warmth of spring wakes them to new life. So even when all
looks dead, pent up life is just waiting to spring forth.
Even
where there seems least hope…where all the signs point in a very
different direction.
Remember,
it’s all too easy to misread the signs.
As we begin
another Advent, this season is itself is a sign.
A sign for
our beleaguered church
A sign for
our war-torn, despairing world.
Christ is
coming!
We need to remember that
for us as Christians Advent is always experienced in the light of
incarnation.
Though we recall those who awaited the Messiah through centuries of Old Testament history, our waiting is qualitatively different.
We know that Christ has arrived… we celebrate the 'time of waiting' in the knowledge of the God who dwells with us. Thus we celebrate Advent within the context of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter! We know, on one level, the end of the story…though we continue to look anxiously to see how it will end for our planet, for the whole of this world that God loves so much.
But
we know one truth.
Christ is
coming soon.
We proclaim
this week by week
“Christ
has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again”
“When we
eat this flesh and drink this cup we proclaim your death Lord Jesus,
until you come in glory”
The signs
are very clear.
We look not
at a dead-end, a cul-de-sac, but at a cross roads.
The
point of God's intersection with us….the moment when our human time
meets with God’s eternity… the day of resurrection!
But
as we live at this point of intersection, we need to be alert to
recognise the signs that tell us not just that the Kingdom is nearly
upon us, but that it is already here
Remember
that fig tree, that bore its buds for long months before the
conditions were right for them to spring into new life.
Hope
may seem dormant but Jesus urges us to "be on guard," "be
alert," "stand up and raise your heads" so that we
don't miss out on all the wonderful things God is already doing, or
forget to look out for those God has in store.
So this
Advent, let us celebrate hope in all its elusive beauty
Let us
cling to the clearest sign of all, the sign of the cross, where Love
demonstrates for now and for eternity its power over all those other
signs that scare us most
And let us
celebrate together that foretaste of the Kingdom, a banquet spread
for all God’s people.
The "elusive beauty of hope" - what a lovely phrase. It reminds me of the transient nature of a rainbow which we only get to see if we look up. And then if we look up and see the beauty of the rainbow, we may be reminded of God's promises and the sure ground for hope that is there even when it is hard for us to see in dark times.
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