The Advent of Christ: Judgment & Promise
- pastorparisw
- Dec 4, 2019
- 6 min read
Sermon from Sunday, Dec. 1st
Readings: Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Welcome to Advent. Welcome to the beginning of a new church year. Our readings certainly don’t make it feel like the beginning, though do they? Rather they speak of the END, the second coming of Christ. But, aren’t we supposed to be anticipating the first coming of Christ?! “8 pound 6 ounce, newborn infant Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant so cuddly but still omnipotent” (Ricky Bobby).
This is the year of Matthew. Matthew was most likely written to Christians who had been waiting some 50 years for Jesus to return, since Jesus had said he would return in their lifetime. Because of this, Matthew writes in such a way that helps readers look forward to the day Christ returns, without losing sight of life today. This is a reality that we continue to experience today; we are still trying to figure out how to live into the ‘now, but not yet’
Matthew and his people know what’s been promised; they know what has not yet arrived as it has been laid out for them by Jesus and the prophets of old.
What is coming?
Christ is coming.
And what does that mean?
Judgment.
That’s such a harsh, nasty word. No wonder Ricky Bobby prefers Jesus stays a baby.
But Isaiah says, all people shall stream to God and God shall ‘judge’ and ‘arbitrate’ (which is essentially the same word..). This can sound scary and rightfully so. Christianity has been known to use this impending judgment in very harmful ways. But if we read the very next line, Isaiah says that the result of this judgment will be transformation, a turning from death to life, from war to peace; ‘they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.’
At the advent of Christmas, why are we so afraid to talk about the judgment of Christ, but so eager to tell our children that if they are not good Santa will not bring them presents? Is it because we don’t think we’ve been good? Is it because we are scared that Christ will show up with coal for us instead of the gift of life? I get it; for many of us we are hardwired to think we are not enough. Many of us may believe that we just don’t deserve what Christ offers. .. And that’s unfortunate, but okay. Okay, because Christ gets it. Christ says, ‘I know it’s hard to believe in me, but that’s okay because I believe in you.’ This type of love is so unusual, so against the grain – opposite of how society has hardwired us. But such is the love of God. So freely given and transforming.. we will never be the same.
Now, we could have Judgment day without Christmas. God never had to come to earth.. or live a human life.. or experience death. But that is how God chose to be revealed. I would be much more afraid of God’s judgment if God had not chosen to become an.. ‘8 pound 6 ounce, newborn infant Jesus.’ It’s the truth, right!? We’re much more afraid of what we don’t know. I am terrified of the idea of some dominant male figure, sitting on a throne, far removed from my life, because I think this person has got to exert their power, strength and nerves of steal. They have a reputation to uphold! Read a history book, watch a movie about the old days, you know what picture I’m talking about! But I’m not quite so terrified of a child born and brought up with humble beginnings.. I’m not quite so terrified of someone who understands me because they have been through the same things I have been through. I am not terrified of someone who literally took a bullet for me; gave up their life for mine. That’s the kind of life experience that changes you forever. Gives you a new outlook on life. Transforms you into someone who lives their life for two.
“Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” That is Isaiah’s invitation. That is the NOW part of the life we live as kingdom people in the ‘now, but not yet.’ We are invited, as transformed people, to participate in what God’s doing, to participate in the transformation of the world. Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer we ask that ‘God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ Jesus himself taught us to pray this and in so doing invited us to ‘walk in the light of the Lord,’ to do God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. And sometimes I look around and think, ‘yeah and look where that’s gotten us..’ but there are other times when the kingdom is clear. There are loads of examples of the inbreaking of the kingdom happening all around us right smack dab in the middle of all the chaos. There’s a lot of buzz happening right now around Mr. Rogers with a new movie about him just being released. Something he used to say was when bad things happen, look for the helpers who respond. When I was younger I didn’t get it. I couldn’t get over the bad thing, why did the bad thing happen, ah this world is so terrible. I was so blinded by the despair that I couldn’t see God. That doesn’t mean that God wasn’t present or at work. God clearly was and is. God is still at work among us bringing life out of death. Isaiah’s vision, God’s promise, IS happening.
A beautiful example of this is spoken of in a poem by Rudy Francisco and I want to share some of it with you all today. He says:
“On average,
the Mexican government
confiscates approximately
38,000 illegal firearms per year.
After the guns are taken,
they get dismantled
and the metal is used to make
other types of weapons that will
later be utilized by their military.
In 2012,
Pedro Reyes,
an artist from Mexico City,
convinced his government
to donate the guns to him
so he could turn them into
musical instruments.
So somewhere
there is a tambourine
a drum set, a guitar
all made out of things
that were used to take people’s lives,
but now they create a sound
that puts life back into people’s bodies,
which is to say,
a weapon will always be a weapon
but we choose how we fight the war
and from this I learned that even our most
destructive instruments can still create a melody
worth dancing to
and sometimes isn’t that also called a battle?
I wonder how long it took to convince
the first rifle that it could hold a note
instead of a bullet, but still fire into a crowd
and make everyone move.
…
The word “repurpose”
means to take an object
and give it amnesia.
It means to make something forget what
it’s been trained to do so you can
use it for a better reason.
I am learning that this body is not a shotgun.
I am learning that this body is not a pistol.
I am learning that a man is not defined
by what he can destroy.
I am learning that a person
who only knows how to fight
can only communicate in violence
and that shouldn’t be anyone’s first language.
I am learning that the difference between
a garden and a graveyard is only what
you choose to put in the ground.
One day,
I came across a picture of a strange-looking violin.
The caption said it was made out of a rifle
and I was like,
someday
that can be me.”
Isaiah SAW the word concerning God’s people. Isaiah did not just hear these words, but SAW a vision of God’s kingdom come. Isaiah saw the power of the Lord come to life and move nations to drop their weapons, dismantle them, and turn them into forces for life. Christ came so that you can have life. Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and judgment have not been forces to keep you in line so that you can get a present Christmas morn rather than coal, rather they have been forces to repurpose your life. To give you life and turn you into a source of life for the rest of the world. The world will try and shape you into a rifle, but your destiny is to be an instrument of peace.
‘Come, walk in the light of the Lord!’ – The lord revealed to you in a stable, laying on a bed of hay.. The lord unlike any other lord – who meets you where you are.. who believes in you when you don’t even believe in yourself.. who repurposes your life.
Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ WILL come again to judge the living and the dead.
But do not fear, for God’s judgment will transform the earth, turning our ‘swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks.’
The advent of Christ is turning the world around.
And thanks be to God for that.
Amen.
