SCRIPTURE: Mark 13:27-34
TEXT: 26Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory THEME: The love of God revealed to us in Jesus. INTRODUCTION “It’s beginning to feel a lot like the apocalypse, everywhere you go.” Apocalypse means to reveal, or to uncover. The best cinematic apocalyptic moment of ‘pulling back the curtain’ was with Toto in the Wizard of Oz. After obtaining the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy and company make a return appearance before the Wizard of Oz. Disappointed when the Wizard was not able to hold up his part of the bargain, Toto the dog, pulls back the curtain on the side, for an apocalyptic event, to reveal the ex-traveling Magician, Professor Marvel. Christmas trees have arrived on the island signaling the coming of Christmas. The Black Friday specials, (another sign of Christmas’ approach) began in October this year, stretching the shopping holiday. Ace Hardware had a sale on 100 LEDs buy one get one free. Up until a few weeks ago, it felt hot like summer. But then, all of a sudden, the weather switched and it got colder. Then it got darker as the days became shorter. Almost as if the heavens were signaling Christ’s arrival. 24bThe sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. My Gosh we had so many different kinds of moons this year: harvest, blue, wolf, worm, pink, harvest, strawberry, buck, super, flower, sturgeon, corn, gibbous and hunter. All signs uncovering a new month and the drawing of time towards the coming of the Son of Man. SCRIPTURE The Son of Man is a messianic reference to God’s Champion coming with great power and glory. An invitation is sent out to all, by angels deployed to gather us from the four winds of earth and heaven. This is Jesus coming and has happened, all at the same time. We live in the reality of Jesus’ coming and Jesus already being here. This is the season that we are in, it has come at Christmas 2020 years ago and continues to become realized for us every day. A commentator somewhere said that time for God is past, future and present are happening all at the same time, while for us, we experience time linearly, in a straight line. The leaves of the fig tree tell us that there is a new season that is emerging, replacing Spring, with sweet, plump figs, to eat and share. I’ve been binge watching ‘Life Below Zero’ about people who survive the extreme conditions living near the arctic circle in Alaska. Each season brings with it a different set of work. After the Freeze up of winter, comes the breakup of spring, as the residents gear up for possible flooding of the river. The days of endless sun brings summer bugs, harvesting fire wood and hunting for food. In the fall, all of the chores are preparations for the winter’s darkness and cold. The cues for each season bring new chores that need to be done in preparations for survival. What are the chores that the season of the Son of Man brings? How do we prepare for the challenges having the Son of Man with us? APPLICATION The Gospel of Mark gives us an apocalyptic view of the Son of Man, coming to be among us. It describes a cosmic disturbance, warning us to keep alert and awake. How does having the Son of Man come to reign in our world change the way we live? Matthew said the Kingdom of Heaven was like bridesmaids waiting with oil in their lamps, and that the Kingdom of Heaven is like those who plant seeds of God’s rule in our world. The Kingdom of Heaven is like those who see their neighbor’s wounds and participate in works of healing. What if the Son of Man is already here in Jesus, incarnate, crucified, resurrected, ascended and present through the Holy Spirit, all at the same time? This means that our living with the Son of Man here and our waiting for the Son of Man to come, are the same. This is not so much a futuristic event as it is a ‘pull back the curtain’ event to reveal that we had the brains we always wanted, that we had the courage we always needed, that we always had a compassionate heart and that we had the ability to go home anytime we wanted. God isn’t in the bye and bye, but in the here and now because how we are living with God now and tomorrow makes a difference in our world today and changes its future. To live with hope, To live with faith. To live seeing the wounds of others and participating in their healing. We are not to wait to be faithful but to live as if summer is already here as the leaves of the fig tree have promised. The impact of the incarnation of Christ is not for us to live later, but for our living now. Living with the premise that people are more important than things. With the relationships with cherish, with the relationships that are estranged, with our relationship with God up front and our relationship with the rest of humanity. Anthropologist Agustin Fuentes, was interviewed by Krista Tippett, on her last ‘On Being’ podcast. He talked about how, “for most human beings, exchanges are not about profit, but about making and keeping social connections.” People are more important than money. Social connections will determine where we eat, at what restaurant, or shop at that store, or choose that service or another, it is not always on which is the cheapest or best value. But about who we know, and how we can help by shopping here or buying this. Agustin Fuentes say, “‘Our acts of compassion and caring.’ make humans special, from all of the other specifies in the world.” Acts of love, reconciliation, forgiveness, grace, empathy, generosity, sacrifice make us distinctive from all other animals. It is no wonder that God, incarnates love in Jesus, comes to us, to reveal, to pull back the curtain of what living with God, looks like, and how to love others. God’s love doesn’t come to us, then goes away and we have to wait for it to come back again. God’s love for us has been there all along. Then in an apocalyptic event, God’s love tears the heavens apart and rips the cloth that separated us from the Holy. Be Awake, Be aware, we live in a world where the Love of God is unleashed as seen in the life and resurrection of Jesus, and in all the lives of those who love God. CONCLUSION On Halloween I went out to see the Blue moon and it wasn’t blue at all. All it was, was that rare event, when in a month’s time, two full moons appear. A sign from the heavens of distress in our world, or a disruption in our normal patterns. The great reveal, or apocalypse is for us to live graciously as God has lived among us, giving to people what they don’t deserve, loving those who have hurt us, forgiving and reconciling relationships. We sacrifice because we love, we have compassion because of love. We live because we are loved. This is what Christ’s coming has revealed to us. This is the love that is inside of us, that we now have to be our way of living, from now until the Son of Man returns and forever. It’s beginning to look a lot like the apocalypse…Sure it’s Christmas once more.
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