Advent #1: Watchmen...Stay Woke! | @kaleophx

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November 27, 2022

In this sermon, we begin the first Sunday of Advent, and I guide us through the work of Wilda C. Gafney, Fleming Rutledge, and the parable of the doorkeeper in Mark 13:34-37.

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LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I’d like to begin with a land acknowledgment to honor the Native people that existed here before us. This land we dwell upon today (Grace Lutheran Church in downtown Phoenix) is the ancestral land of the Tohono O’odham (Thaw-naw-Awe-Thumb) Nation. We acknowledge their historical roots in this place and the many generations who were stewards of this land before it was stolen from them.

INTRODUCTION

Often, when I prepare for these messages I'm pulling from many different voices. For this particular message, so many of the words I’m about to say are a mix from Wilda C. Gafney’s blogs about Advent, Fleming Rutledge’s book about Advent, and my own thoughts as well. I thought it best to just name that from the beginning so I don’t have to keep saying, who said what, but if you'd like to get a copy of my notes, you’re welcome to read them to see who said what or for your own personal study. And with that…we begin.

GAFNEY:

We are waiting.

We are waiting in the dark.

We are waiting in the holy darkness.

We are waiting in the womb of God.

Between this Advent and the next.

We wait.

"(The prophet) Isaiah waited. (He) Isaiah waited for the restoration of Israel after the Assyrian invasion…and did not live to see it. Waiting time can be anxious time because there is no guarantee that we ourselves will see that for which we yearn.

Maybe this is how the women in Iran feel right now. If you haven’t heard, the Iran gowernment is planning to proceed with the death penalty for over 14.000 protesters (students,teens?!) who were arrested for protesting after the death of Mahsa Amini who died from being severely beaten by police because she didn’t properly wear her hijab. There is even word that they will rape virgin girls to stop them from going to heaven. Like Isaiah, the women of Iran are waiting too.

But Isaiah did not wait alone. Isaiah waited with (a) woman who was his companion in the labor of prophecy and pregnancy, the labor that brought forth at least one of his children, (Isaiah 8:4, 16). Together, they waited with children and disciples who would outlive them and go on to write in Isaiah’s name. For 200 years their children and disciples and their children and disciples and theirs and theirs…waited. In that time things went from bad to worse. The Babylonians came and defeated the Assyrians and (Israel was) still not free. Jerusalem fell. The temple fell. The nation fell. The people were sent into exile. And they waited. They waited for God to deliver them. They told the stories of God’s deliverance passed down from generation to generation including those at Isaiah’s hand. And while they waited, some died without seeing the liberation of their people. Just as it had happened before in Egypt, some died promising their children that God would come. Some died under the heels of Assyrian boots believing that God would come and deliver her people. Some died in the ruin of Jerusalem. Some died on the trail of tears to Babylon. Some died in exile. (And yet…) they believed. And when they could not believe, they hoped.”

This is the story of Israel and their desperate desire to be delivered from the Assyrians, Babylonians, and other armies keeping them from God’s promise of life and equality. But in a similar way, we are here – the first Sunday of Advent.

Waiting for God to deliver us. We’re STILL telling the stories of God’s deliverance passed down from generation to generation. And while we wait, some have died without seeing the liberation of their people. Some have died promising us, their children, that God would come. Some have died under the heels of Oppression’s boots believing that God would come and deliver her people. Some have died in the streets of Phoenix. Some have died on the trail of tears to the empire. Some have died in exile. (And yet…) we sit here in these pews asking ourselves…do we have reason to believe? And when we cannot believe, will we have hope?

IT’S OKAY TO ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS

That's one thing I appreciate about the community of Kaleo is that we aren't afraid to ask hard questions. And more than that, we're not afraid to admit that we don't have the answers. The very season of Advent beckons us to ask the hard questions about the darkness of waiting…

RUTLEDGE:

“If God has truly come in Jesus Christ, why do things remain as they are? Why do so many terrible things happen? Where is God? These are the Advent questions. The church has been asking them from the beginning going all the way back to the first century… The early Christians were facing a crisis. Voices within and without the community were saying, ‘Where is the King? Show us some evidence! He said he would return, but there is no sign of him. The world has not improved. Where is God?’ And in its perplexity, the young Church told and retold a story to herself, a story once told by Jesus of Nazareth — the parable of the doorkeeper:

Before we get there, let’s start at the beginning of this chapter and imagine the setting. “(Jesus) and the disciples were walking through the temple grounds looking at the various buildings. (Jesus) had just left the temple when this took place. The setting was one of peace and tranquility.

Try to place yourself in the shoes of the disciples. They expected (Jesus) to move into power as the Messiah and overthrow the Romans. In the previous chapter, (Jesus) changed from a peaceful teacher to one of wrath as he strongly opposed the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees. Perhaps the disciples saw this and wondered if (Jesus) was now stepping into the role as Messiah in the form that the Jewish people expected.

The disciples came to Jesus privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Now, from the modern perspective, many think the disciple’s question speaks of when Jesus will return.

However, when the disciples asked the question, it had an entirely different meaning. Their question was not “(what will be the sign of your coming)” as in coming back from a trip. It was “coming” as in when are you going to step into the position of power?

The “end of the age” to them was not “end times” as we think of it. It was a question that focused upon the immediate oppression of the Roman empire. This question was focused upon the immediate problem of the Roman government and of expected military role of the messiah. They expected Yeshua (Jesus) to move into power and lead the Jewish people to freedom. Old Testament prophets foretold the millennial reign of the coming messiah. They expected that Yeshua (Jesus) would step into that role during his lifetime.

(Jesus) uses their misunderstanding to springboard into the prophecy concerning end times …which brings us to the parable of the doorkeeper:

Mark 13:34-37 (NLT)

Jesus said…

“It is like a man going on a journey…he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch therefore for you do not know when the Master of the House will come in the evening or at midnight, or at cock-crow, or in the morning – lest he come suddenly and find you asleep (so) what I say to you…I say to all: Watch.”

We can still feel the tension in the atmosphere of the parable. (Because if it wasn’t) for the master, the household would have no reason for existing; yet he is away. The expectation of his return is the driving force behind all the household activity, yet often it seems that he will never come. Everybody has been told to be in a state of Perpetual Readiness, yet sometimes it seems as though it has all been a colossal mistake.

ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS

We do not know why God delays so long.

We do not know why he so often hides his face.

We do not know why so many have to suffer so much with so little apparent meaning.

All we know is that there is this rumor, this hope, this expectation that the master of the house is coming back.

JOIN THOSE WHO SUFFER

RUTLEDGE:

Until he comes again, he is hidden among us (with those who suffer) – He is hidden in the wounded surgeon, the bleeding victim, the one who hung on the tree, a curse for our sake. It is this hiddenness that gives Advent its special character.

If Jesus is the son of God he is also the one who… identifies himself with “the least, the last and the lost,” who takes their part, who was born into the world as a member of the lowest class on the social ladder and identifies himself with our human fate all the way to the end…He gives himself up to die the brutal, shameful, and dehumanizing death of a slave.

Even Jesus in every aspect of His life on earth…joined those who suffered.

On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 crashed. Like many of the other families who suffered, there was a woman who feared God and lost her husband. She gave herself in service to others who had lost their loved ones in air crashes. She did not clutch at the scented candles (and holiday ideals), but followed her calling to go out among others who suffer.

While she waited in darkness…she found light in joining those who suffered.

That is the story of the church, waiting, between the first Advent and the next.

“That is something with which the disciples of Jesus struggled. They were waiting for someone born of David’s line to take the crown and the throne and rule an earthly kingdom and kick out the Romans and make everything like it used to be. You know, back to normal. But (Jesus knew) there is no going back…and charted a new path…forward.

GREENSBORO, NC

Kendall and I were in North Carolina a few weeks ago and while there we stopped in Greensboro, to spend time with Kendall’s Uncle, Chris Dooley.

He took us to the Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro and then took us out to dinner. It was at dinner that he said something really interesting. He was inviting us to pay attention to what people do when they’re lost.

He said when you are lost your immediate inclination is to go back to where you came from. When you cannot see what new thing God is doing, your instinct is leave where you are and go back to what was familiar.

I believe our passage tonight suggests that Jesus’s invitation to us as his followers, is to remain Watchman – to wait and watch for what the Spirit is doing here and now.

While we wait, may we pray, “Lord, give us eyes to see where you are in the middle of the darkness. Let us not grow weary of watching and waiting... let us not grow weary of looking for the new thing that You are doing here and now. Let us not leave where we are…and go backward in an attempt to make something… ‘great again.’”

Maybe this national obsession to go back to the way things used to be is an indicator that there are many who are lost…and afraid…and cannot see where God is in the justice and equality for all…because it feels like darkness to oppressors.

“The Advent story itself…is not just about the people that did show up for the birth of Jesus, (but it’s also about) all the people that missed the birth of Jesus. Which would be almost everyone at that time. The same truth would be true for us today if we're not careful.” - Marty Solomon

Let us not miss it…

There is something happening in the midst of all of this darkness…that is what we put our hope in. To find, search, and look with anticipation that God is still moving and we can be a part of that if we would just…stay woke. Literally.

INVITE THE BAND UP

Take a deep breath, close your eyes and be still. Ask Jesus…what do you want me to know? What do you want me to do?

Unexpected God,

your advent alarms us.

Wake us from drowsy worship,

from the sleep that neglects love,

and the sedative of misdirected frenzy.

Awaken us now to your coming,

and bend our angers into your peace. Amen.