Apocalypse & Abundance – Mark 13

A text – Mark 13:24-37

13:24 “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
13:25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
13:26 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.
13:27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
13:28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.
13:29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
13:30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.
13:31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
13:32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
13:33 Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.
13:34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
13:35 Therefore, keep awake–for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn,
13:36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.
13:37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

A reflection:

This week the texts draw us to the first Sunday of the new church year, the first Sunday in Advent. Advent is the watchful four weeks before the birth of the Christ child, the baby Jesus. The last thing we expect is to read the prophetic words of Jesus about the second coming of Christ and perhaps the end of life as we know it. Instead we are preparing for a hundred little happy meetings and greetings, meals and gifts, Santa and elves, and anything but the apocalypse.

But here, in Advent, something big is about to happen. Really big things have their gentle sides and their powerful sides, their positive small consequences and their big and earth-shaking results. The coming “something big” is personal, but it also has world-wide implications. It will mean the difference between life and death, in fact. Jesus, one of the three persons of the Holy Trinity, who was present at the creation of the world, who, in fact was The Word that the Creator God spoke that pulled all things into being, this very same Jesus is about to take the form of a human being, a baby born to Mary, to live the life of a human being, the creatures that the Creator God cherishes so much. The baby will live through joy and trauma, friendship and persecution, and meet an awful personal apocalypse of his own: death on a cross.

All of that human experience is rolled into Advent, while we are preparing candy canes and gnomes and elves and fudge and cookies. We suffer from putting ourselves through the pressure of finding the perfect gifts for the people we love. God, through incarnation into our human life and through dying a human death, is in fact preparing the perfect gift: our own resurrection with Jesus into eternal life. This gift, in its fullness, its shalom, is what the peace of Christmas is all about. With that peace we can know that, though Advent means the beginning of a mortal life for God, it also means the complete life, including death AND resurrection, for us all. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Let us watch and be ready for it.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for taking the form of a human being, living our human life and death, and loving us enough to save us. Help us prepare this Advent season for the abundant life and shalom you bring. Amen.