Year C
\u00a0Jeremiah 33:14-16
\u00a0Psalm 25:1-9
\u00a01 Thessalonians 3:9-13
\u00a0Luke 21:25-36<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I had to guess, I’d say that most of you have seen the movie Forrest Gump\u2026 or Saving Private Ryan\u2026 or Slumdog Millionaire\u2026 or perhaps even Annie Hall\u2026 or Gandhi\u2026 or one of those other movies which start off at their end\u2026 and then walk us through how the storyline itself\u2026 and the characters within it\u2026 got to be at that place\u2026 as the audience\u2026 we have the benefit of knowing in advance\u2026 how it all ends\u2026 and so perhaps we can more easily identify with the struggles the characters endure\u2026 their insights\u2026 their successes and their failures\u2026 and their humanity\u2026 because in the end\u2026 their humanity is our humanity\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we’re on the cusp today\u2026 of humanity and divinity\u2026 of eschatology and incarnation\u2026 we’ve taken a few weeks to look toward the end of the story\u2026 and we’re starting to shift our gaze now to focus on the beginning of the story\u2026 and whether we think it’s Advent 1 or Advent 4\u2026 we’re all preparing for Christmas morning\u2026 we’re all getting ready for the birth of the baby Jesus\u2026 but still\u2026 today’s Gospel alludes to foreboding events\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a sense\u2026 Genesis is being undone\u2026 the order\u2026 which in the beginning\u2026 God brought to chaos\u2026 is being undone\u2026 the containers which hold the seas are being tipped\u2026 and the seas roar\u2026 and the deep has always been disconcerting\u2026 it’s dark down there\u2026 and after all\u2026 that’s where the Leviathan lives\u2026 and the dry places on which we’ve stood are becoming submerged\u2026 we’re afraid of falling into the primordial darkness with which the depths of the waters threaten us\u2026 maybe we need another ark to help raise us up above the turmoil\u2026 but didn’t God promise that this wouldn’t happen again\u2026 and wasn’t the rainbow God’s sign of this promise\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our reading from Jeremiah\u2026 God promises to raise up a righteous branch for David\u2026 but with how things are these days\u2026 I’m wondering if God can make it a tree\u2026 or even a forest\u2026 full of groundedness and strength\u2026 in Paul’s epistle to the Thessalonians\u2026 Paul is full of gratitude and love\u2026 and prays that their hearts will be strengthened in holiness\u2026 perhaps so they too can deal with whatever may come\u2026 in the Gospel\u2026 Jesus expresses his desire that our hearts aren’t weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness\u2026 so that we’re not weakened or distracted\u2026 Jesus wants us to be prepared\u2026 to be alert and aware\u2026 over and over Jesus wants us to be alert and aware\u2026 so that the day he describes doesn’t catch us by surprise\u2026 but sometimes we’re too nearsighted\u2026 or thick-headed\u2026 both individually and collectively\u2026 and see only what’s right in front of us\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Matthew 24:32\u2026 Jesus says that\u2026 as soon as the fig trees sprout leaves\u2026 you can see for yourselves that summer is already near\u2026 <\/em> but the sprouted leaves don’t show only what’s going to happen\u2026 they show what’s already happened\u2026 because when you see the leaves… new life has already been at work under the ground\u2026 hidden from sight\u2026 and as it’s emerged\u2026 it has disturbed and disrupted not only the soil\u2026 the status quo<\/em>\u2026 as it were\u2026 but sometimes this new life overcomes great resistance\u2026 so that it can emerge\u2026 like when it pushes up through asphalt\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And theologically\u2026 this new life is connected to the parousia<\/em>\u2026 which we understand to mean\u2026 the appearance of Christ in glory at the end of time<\/em>\u2026 and when we think about today’s Gospel in the context of a seven-week Advent\u2026 we may also think of the Second Coming\u2026 but the word itself\u2026 simply means presence<\/em>\u2026 and those who heard Jesus speak these words\u2026 would have understood it to mean a deepened experience of Christ’s presence in the here and now\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because if we understand the parousia<\/em> only as the Second Coming\u2026 then implicit in that understanding is that Jesus has gone away\u2026 and that some day\u2026 he’s coming back\u2026 but according to Episcopal priest Robert Capon… in the case of the Word who became flesh in Jesus\u2026 the notion of\u2026 not here yet<\/em>\u2026 will simply not wash\u2026 the Word that existed before time\u2026 did not show up in a world from which he was previously absent\u2026 he was here all along\u2026 and the resurrection\u2026 the judgment\u2026 and the ultimate re-creation of all things\u2026 are present\u2026 now and always\u2026 because the incarnate Word is present\u2026 now and always\u2026 and when we remember that the Trinity is three distinct Persons of the same substance\u2026 the homoousios<\/em>\u2026 then Jesus has really not gone\u2026 because another Person of the same substance has been with us ever since\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in today’s Gospel when Jesus says\u2026 this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place<\/em>\u2026 we wonder\u2026 like the disciples did\u2026 when all of this will happen\u2026 what’s the date\u2026 we want to be prepared so we can be ready to head to some underground bunker somewhere when things begin to hit the fan\u2026 but what many scholars believe\u2026 is that when Jesus says\u2026 this generation<\/em>\u2026 he’s referring to those in every generation who reject his offer of salvation\u2026 who will always be there to oppose him and his message\u2026 even when he finally and fully acts to set all things right\u2026 in ways we can’t even begin to imagine\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fr. Capon continues\u2026 If we understand parousia<\/em> as presence\u2026 Jesus stunningly reverses all of our preconceived notions about coming… he does not come to us\u2026 does not enter our lives by some kind of divine locomotion\u2026 instead… he stands still\u2026 and we come to him\u2026 without even taking a step\u2026 because we come to him as part of our own inner journeys\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In today’s Gospel\u2026 Jesus says\u2026 your redemption is drawing near<\/em>\u2026 if we understand parousia<\/em> as presence\u2026 as a state of being\u2026 as the great I AM\u2026 then we can also understand Jesus to say\u2026 your redemption is here\u2026 I am here\u2026 <\/em>Jesus is always with us\u2026 and when the primordial chaos overwhelms us\u2026 Jesus is the new rainbow of God’s promise\u2026 he is the eternally present ground on which we can stand firm\u2026 he is the door\u2026 and he is standing at the door\u2026 knocking\u2026 all we have to do is invite him in\u2026 but we’re tired\u2026 some of us are even too tired to get off the couch and invite him in\u2026 and many of us are tired of waiting\u2026 for the pandemic to be over\u2026 for finger pointing to stop\u2026 for our societal ills to be healed\u2026 we’re just waiting to feel\u2026 well\u2026 normal again\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastor Isaac Villegas writes\u2026 that during Advent we discover that the wait is bearable\u2026 the longing tolerable\u2026 the ache sufferable\u2026 because God waits with us\u2026 the promise revealed in Advent\u2026 and this I think is profound\u2026 is that God\u2026 submits\u2026 to Mary\u2026 that God\u2026 trusts\u2026 Mary\u2026 that God waits\u2026 inside a human life\u2026 and if God waited with Mary\u2026 then we can trust that God now waits with us\u2026 the gospel is inside of us\u2026 the promise of God\u2019s life\u2026 is within ours\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luke’s Gospel was written after the 70 AD destruction of the Temple\u2026 and it’s easy to imagine that for those Jews in Jerusalem\u2026 its destruction was the roaring of the seas and the shaking of the powers of heaven\u2026 but part of why we celebrate a seven-week Advent\u2026 is to hear the end of the story before we arrive at Christmas-morning\u2026 to be reminded and reassured\u2026 that however we understand or experience these words\u2026 we still fit into God’s sweeping and timeless panorama\u2026 and can better understand the Christ as the King of kings\u2026 to consider our growing awareness of God’s presence now\u2026 in our lives\u2026 and to prepare\u2026 but especially\u2026 to remember that resurrection and new life\u2026 we might even say God’s theological new normal\u2026 are all available to us in each and every moment\u2026 and for that\u2026 we say\u2026 thanks be to God\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year C\u00a0Jeremiah 33:14-16\u00a0Psalm 25:1-9\u00a01 Thessalonians 3:9-13\u00a0Luke 21:25-36 May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026 If I had to guess, I’d say that most of you have seen the movie Forrest Gump\u2026 or Saving Private Ryan\u2026 or Slumdog Millionaire\u2026 or perhaps even Annie Hall\u2026 or Gandhi\u2026 or one of those other movies which start off at their end\u2026 and then walk us through how the storyline itself\u2026 and the characters within it\u2026 got to be at that place\u2026 as the audience\u2026 we have the benefit of knowing in advance\u2026 how it all ends\u2026 and so perhaps we can more easily identify with the struggles the characters endure\u2026 their insights\u2026 their successes and their failures\u2026 and their humanity\u2026 because in the end\u2026 their humanity is our humanity\u2026 And we’re on the cusp today\u2026 of humanity and divinity\u2026 of eschatology and incarnation\u2026 we’ve taken a few weeks to look toward the end of the story\u2026 and we’re starting to shift our gaze now to focus on the beginning of the story\u2026 and whether we think it’s Advent 1 or Advent 4\u2026 we’re all preparing for Christmas morning\u2026 we’re all getting ready for the birth of the baby Jesus\u2026 but still\u2026 today’s Gospel alludes to foreboding events\u2026 In a sense\u2026 Genesis is being undone\u2026 the order\u2026 which in the beginning\u2026 God brought to chaos\u2026 is being undone\u2026 the containers which hold the seas are being tipped\u2026 and the seas roar\u2026 and the deep has always been disconcerting\u2026 it’s dark down there\u2026 and after all\u2026 that’s where the Leviathan lives\u2026 and the dry places on which we’ve stood are becoming submerged\u2026 we’re afraid of falling into the primordial darkness with which the depths of the waters threaten us\u2026 maybe we need another ark to help raise us up above the turmoil\u2026 but didn’t God promise that this wouldn’t happen again\u2026 and wasn’t the rainbow God’s sign of this promise\u2026 In our reading from Jeremiah\u2026 God promises to raise up a righteous branch for David\u2026 but with how things are these days\u2026 I’m wondering if God can make it a tree\u2026 or even a forest\u2026 full of groundedness and strength\u2026 in Paul’s epistle to the Thessalonians\u2026 Paul is full of gratitude and love\u2026 and prays that their hearts will be strengthened in holiness\u2026 perhaps so they too can deal with whatever may come\u2026 in the Gospel\u2026 Jesus expresses his desire that our hearts aren’t weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness\u2026 so that we’re not weakened or distracted\u2026 Jesus wants us to be prepared\u2026 to be alert and aware\u2026 over and over Jesus wants us to be alert and aware\u2026 so that the day he describes doesn’t catch us by surprise\u2026 but sometimes we’re too nearsighted\u2026 or thick-headed\u2026 both individually and collectively\u2026 and see only what’s right in front of us\u2026 In Matthew 24:32\u2026 Jesus says that\u2026 as soon as the fig trees sprout leaves\u2026 you can see for yourselves that summer is already near\u2026 but the sprouted leaves don’t show only what’s going to happen\u2026 they show what’s already happened\u2026 because when you see the leaves… new life has already been at work under the ground\u2026 hidden from sight\u2026 and as it’s emerged\u2026 it has disturbed and disrupted not only the soil\u2026 the status quo\u2026 as it were\u2026 but sometimes this new life overcomes great resistance\u2026 so that it can emerge\u2026 like when it pushes up through asphalt\u2026 And theologically\u2026 this new life is connected to the parousia\u2026 which we understand to mean\u2026 the appearance of Christ in glory at the end of time\u2026 and when we think about today’s Gospel in the context of a seven-week Advent\u2026 we may also think of the Second Coming\u2026 but the word itself\u2026 simply means presence\u2026 and those who heard Jesus speak these words\u2026 would have understood it to mean a deepened experience of Christ’s presence in the here and now\u2026 Because if we understand the parousia only as the Second Coming\u2026 then implicit in that understanding is that Jesus has gone away\u2026 and that some day\u2026 he’s coming back\u2026 but according to Episcopal priest Robert Capon… in the case of the Word who became flesh in Jesus\u2026 the notion of\u2026 not here yet\u2026 will simply not wash\u2026 the Word that existed before time\u2026 did not show up in a world from which he was previously absent\u2026 he was here all along\u2026 and the resurrection\u2026 the judgment\u2026 and the ultimate re-creation of all things\u2026 are present\u2026 now and always\u2026 because the incarnate Word is present\u2026 now and always\u2026 and when we remember that the Trinity is three distinct Persons of the same substance\u2026 the homoousios\u2026 then Jesus has really not gone\u2026 because another Person of the same substance has been with us ever since\u2026 And in today’s Gospel when Jesus says\u2026 this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place\u2026 we wonder\u2026 like the disciples did\u2026 when all of this will happen\u2026 what’s the date\u2026 we want to be prepared so we can be ready to head to some underground bunker somewhere when things begin to hit the fan\u2026 but what many scholars believe\u2026 is that when Jesus says\u2026 this generation\u2026 he’s referring to those in every generation who reject his offer of salvation\u2026 who will always be there to oppose him and his message\u2026 even when he finally and fully acts to set all things right\u2026 in ways we can’t even begin to imagine\u2026 Fr. Capon continues\u2026 If we understand parousia as presence\u2026 Jesus stunningly reverses all of our preconceived notions about coming… he does not come to us\u2026 does not enter our lives by some kind of divine locomotion\u2026 instead… he stands still\u2026 and we come to him\u2026 without even taking a step\u2026 because we come to him as part of our own inner journeys\u2026 In today’s Gospel\u2026 Jesus says\u2026 your redemption is drawing near\u2026 if we understand parousia as presence\u2026 as a state of being\u2026 as the great I AM\u2026 then we can also understand Jesus to say\u2026 your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[25,27,26,28,29],"class_list":["post-1434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons","tag-advent","tag-gods-presence","tag-parousia","tag-redemption","tag-resurrection-and-new-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1434"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1437,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434\/revisions\/1437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}