The First Sunday of Advent - The Rev Colette Hammesfahr

 The First Sunday of Advent: Mark 13:24-37 

February 25, 1524 - March 25, 1988 - May 21, 2011 - December 21, 2012 

Any idea of the significance of these dates? These are dates from doomsday predictions of when the earth would come to an end. In our lifetime, there have been many dates put before us as THE day when the earth would be no more. We waited in anticipation as Y2k came and passed. Mayan prophecy said December 21, 2012, would be the end of the earth. Famed psychic, Jean Dixon, said the world would end on February 4, 1962. When that didn’t happen, she changed her mind, and her new date was in 2020. We know how that worked for her. The next year for us to watch out for is sometime in 2026, when an asteroid is expected to collide with the earth and the world will come to an end. These predictions have gone back as far as 66 AD and go as far out as 22 billion years from now. 22 billion years!  

Signs of the end times – we are always looking for them. Forest fires in the west, hurricanes in the east, tornadoes in the Midwest, Covid-19 across the world -- THIS MUST BE OUR SIGN! The kingdom of God is near! It’s time to get my affairs in order and make myself “right” with God.  

Today is the beginning of a new church year. It’s the first Sunday in Advent. We just finished the lectionary year of Matthew’s gospel, and we are now starting the year of Mark.  

Mark, chapter 13, is known as the Little Apocalypse because it is filled with apocalyptic language. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus has told his followers of the destruction of the Temple. And now, today, the verses we read say that after the suffering, the sun will be dark, the moon will not shine, and the stars will fall from heaven.  

And all of this apocalyptic language is coming just before the death of Jesus. Here in this scripture for today, Jesus is preparing to die. He is getting ready to make his way to the cross. He wants everyone to know that he will return and to be prepared.  

Well, this doesn’t seem to be a very fitting scripture to be reading on the first Sunday of Advent, right?  Or does it?  

The word “advent” means arrival, appearance, emergence. And so when we think of Jesus’ birth, it’s his arrival into the world. It’s his appearance to his birth parents, Mary and Joseph, to the angels, the shepherds, and to the wise men who followed a star. It’s the emergence of God’s beloved son, coming to us in human form. It’s the awe-inspiring images of a savior being born.  

We light the first candle on our advent wreaths. We set up our manger scenes, methodically placing the statue of a little child, lying in hay, in just the perfect spot, surrounded by sheep and camels. This is what we want to think about on this first Sunday of Advent, right?  

So, what is Mark telling us? What is Jesus telling his disciples? Why these apocalyptic visions and talk about the end of times, today, as we light this first candle?  

Well, I will tell you why this scripture is perfect to start off Advent. We are not lighting this advent candle because we are waiting for the birth of Jesus. The arrival, the appearance, the emergence of Jesus Christ has already come to us. The first candle we light in Advent is the candle of Hope. Jesus’ message to us today is that we live in hope, anticipation, and excitement of Christ’s SECOND coming!!!  

You see, Jesus’ birth was the beginning of the promise made to us. There is still so much more to come! But to have hope in a promise yet to come takes unrelenting faith.  

Jesus tells the disciples a story about a tree. He says to watch the fig trees as they sprout new leaves each spring. That is a sign that summer is coming. It’s not IF the trees sprout leaves, it’s WHEN they sprout leaves. It is going to happen.  

How many of you sit in your yards each winter, looking at your baren trees, and think, “Gee, I wonder if these trees are going to get leaves again this spring.” We don’t think that do we? We don’t because we know it’s going to happen. We know that in the spring, we will have new leaves on our trees. We have faith that every spring, our trees will produce new leaves.  

Jesus wanted the disciples to be ready. Jesus wanted the disciples to have faith. To be ready for the promise. Not IF he returns but WHEN he returns. Not IF the trees get new leaves but WHEN the trees get new leaves.  

Jesus wants us to be ready for the promise as well. He tells us to “beware, keep alert, keep awake.” These are not demands from Jesus. These are invitations to enter into a life with God. These are words of hope. To hope is to be eager and to be expectant. We are not supposed to sit around and worry about the end times, guessing if the next major event in our world and in our lives is a sign. We are to live our life with joy and excitement because of the promises that have been made to us.  

God does not want us to worry about when things will end. The servants in Mark’s gospel each kept doing their tasks, not knowing when the master would return. That’s how God wants us to live -- in hope, not worry. What is most important is that we hold onto, and that we put our hope in our loving God.  

Brian Pickett, in his book Songs for the Journey, says, “The endurance of those who hold on to hope ‘all the day long’ becomes a strength to others, especially when they see faith in people who seem most vulnerable.” Our hope and faith will inspire and strengthen others.  

I had a friend in seminary, who I had known since my first day on campus. Her name was Lorie. Lorie was my closest friend in seminary. In 2021, while we were still in school, Lorie was diagnosed with a rare and extremely aggressive form of liver cancer.  

I visited with her just after her diagnosis. I asked her what she was thinking…how she was doing. She smiled at me with the biggest and brightest smile I’ve ever seen. She held out her hands and put my hands in hers and she said to me, “Colette, it’s going to be alright. I’m getting what I’ve hoped and prayed for all my life……. God is good.”  

And then she prayed. She prayed for me. She didn’t pray for herself. She didn’t pray for God to heal her. She didn’t tell me that God was going to cure her of her disease. She told me that she gets to reap the promise that God gives us. It’s what she’s hoped for all her life. 

It’s EXACTLY like the quote from Brian Pickett! Lorie’s hope… “all the day long” and Lorie’s strength…that strength given to her by God, became a strength to me, when I saw and experienced that incredible faith and hope in her.  

Our end, whether it be from an asteroid hitting the earth or our earthly bodies giving out is uncertain. But it’s not the end. It is a transition into a new beginning.  

I’d like you to think about whether or not this uncertainty impacts your faith or the way you live your life. How do you describe hope and how does the anticipation of Jesus’ return shape your priorities, decisions, and perspectives on life.  

During this important time of getting ready, slow down. Look up…..pay attention…..be ready…..and have hope for the gift of everlasting life that is given to each and every one of us, by God, through His son, Jesus Christ. Amen.