11/27 lectionary notes: Joyful Anticipation

Lectionary Texts for November 27, 2005: The First Sunday in Advent

At a conference this past weekend at Messiah College, one of the workshops we attended was led by David Dark. Dark related that, while most people around him growing up were afraid of the Russians, he was terrified of the second coming. What would happen to all of the people he knew who hadn't accepted Jesus? He didn't want eternal damnation for his friends, so he had to buy some time. Then, he came up with a clever plan to address his fear: since "about that day or hour no one knows," humans ought to organize a vigil. Every minute of every day, someone should be assigned the task of expecting the second coming. That way, it would never happen and we'd have more time to get people saved!

I must confess: I had the same idea.

The general impression Christians give, intentional or not, is that the coming of Christ is something of which we ought to be terrified. But I believe this is a response of unfaith. If we look at these passages, we worship a God who strengthens us, who is faithful, who calls us into fellowship, who "meets those who gladly do right."

As Dark pointed out in his workshop, the Gospel is Good News for all people, except those whose power it interrupts. The end of a war is good news for all people except those whose corrupt power doesn't exist anymore. The coming home of the master is anticipated joyfully by those who are obedient and joyful about their task, but feared by those whose self-interest is manifested in laziness and abuse of power. However (and this is important), the Gospel is still Good News even for those who are corrupt if they are willing to enter into community and live at peace with all people, which means giving up the idol of self.

Another misconception I think many have in reading passages such as these is to believe that the coming of the Kingdom of God is something in the future. [Thank you to David Recher for reminding me of this so eloquently.] But is not the leafing out of the fig tree occurring already in the church at Corinth, as believers grow in faith in community with one another? The judgment of faith and unfaith, of righteousness and unrighteousness, of justice and injustice, is occurring now, as we live and bear (or don't bear) fruit. Doesn't Isaiah say that God has "delivered us into the hand of our iniquity"? He is not speaking of a future when we all line up for our sentences; he is speaking of immediate consequences for wrong living.

Here are a couple of other themes I found interesting:

• The reversal in fig tree imagery: In Mark 11: 12-14, Jesus curses a fig tree for not bearing fruit. However, in this passage, he refers to new life in a fig tree that promises summer and fruit. Is this reflective of love's power to save even the most "unfruitful" of the human trees? When we think of evil people, we think of Hitler or Stalin; the Son was born, died and raised--the Kingdom comes--even for people we find despicable. Indeed, the Good News is for the whole human community.
• The contrast of darkness and light: A time of total darkness will give way a time of total light, perhaps tied into the reference to "summer," a season of light. Advent, being "the season of light" is the time we dedicate to renewing our anticipation for the coming of God to earth. There is also the reference in Isaiah to the coming of God being "as when fire kindles brushwood." Perhaps the service could include an opportunity to light candles representative of prayers of transformation, prayers that God would transform us as a community to fulfill our respective tasks well, creating light in the darkness. Ironically, but appropriately, the season of Advent comes as we enter into winter, which is in our hemisphere a time of darkness.