A sermon by: The Rev. Gene Tucker; given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, November 30, 2008
Lectionary readings: Isaiah 64:1–9a; Psalm 80:1–7; I Corinthians 1:1–9; Mark 13:24–37
The military has some wonderful sayings that are used to describe things. Often, they have a humorous angle to them.
One such example (which seems to fit today’s gospel reading from Mark, chapter 13) is:
“Echelons above my pay grade”
This statement simply means that the matter at hand is above my rank and my authority to deal with (and maybe even to understand).
With regard to today’s gospel reading, which deals with the return of the Son of Man, there are, it seems to me, some aspects of His return that are “echelons above our pay grade” to understand or to have authority over. But, there are aspects of it that are completely within our ability to control, to understand, and to exercise authority over.
We’ll look at both side of that equation shortly.
First, however, we ought to look at just what sort of literary genre we have before us today, which strikes our ears with its dire warnings that tell us that the “sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.” The type of writing we hear today is called apocalyptic writing.
Literally, the word (which comes from the Greek) means “unveiling”. In translation into English, it has also come to mean “revelation”.[1]
Apocalyptic writing was common to Judaism, where the Book of Daniel falls into this category. Certain books of the Apocrypha also are apocalyptic.[2]
Likewise, the New Testament contains apocalyptic passages, even as it ends with the Book of Revelation, often known as the “Great Apocalypse”.
The passage[3] before us today is often called the “Little Apocalypse” by biblical scholars.
Apocalyptic writing pulls back the veil which clouds God’s power and God’s intention from our view. We get a glimpse of God’s power to “have the last word”, and God’s intentions in establishing His command over all that is (including the powers of evil).
Such writing often appears at times of great distress among God’s people. It offers hope at just such a time when it seems like there is no hope. It reminds people to expand their horizons, to see that God is still with them in their trials, that God is still in charge, and that, in the end, persecutions and hardships will cease, and God’s name will be acknowledged by all.
Mark’s gospel account, written (most scholars think) in the years 65 – 70 AD, was most likely the first gospel account to be written. But, if so, it was also written just after the first organized persecutions of Christians occurred under the Emperor Nero (62 – 64 AD). The Christians to whom Mark was writing were reeling under the reality of the awful things that had happened in Rome to the believers there. Chapter 13 of Mark’s account serves to strengthen their weak knees, and to lift their drooping hearts. It serves to remind them that God is still in charge, that persecutions will eventually end, and that they are to be watchful and faithful in the meantime.
Before we leave the matter of apocalyptic writing, we ought to enumerate some of its features. They are:
- It arises during times of hardship and persecution
- It pulls back the veil which shrouds God’s power and God’s intentions, allowing us a glimpse of both.
- Its language is both figurative and literal, tying together the present reality with future reality.
This last point is most important: Since some of the language (but not all) is figurative, a strong word of caution is in order about the interpretation of the timing of future events. Many, many Christians down through the ages have longed for Jesus’ return in glory (as they should!), but many have longed for that great and glorious day so much that they have attempted to decode with certainty the timing of that return. All such ventures are risky ones, at best. Recall that today’s gospel says, “But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
The present reality is spoken of in literal terms, while (as we said) the future reality is addressed in figurative terms. If some Christians have “gone out on a limb” to set the timing of the Lord’s return with preciseness, then many others have reacted to these risky ventures by shying away from the topic altogether.
Alas, we are called to hold both the present reality and the future reality together in tension.
Not knowing the exact time of these future events ought to prompt us to a better attitude of watchfulness.
God’s people down through the ages have watched and waited…..Notice the opening verse of today’s passage from Isaiah 64: “Oh, that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down!” The people in Old Testament times were watching and waiting.
Early Christians, too, watched and waited. St. Paul addresses their concerns by describing the return of the Lord in some very specific ways (though he never sets the time frame, quite wisely). See I Thessalonians 4: 13 – 5: 2, and I Corinthians 15: 51 – 52 as examples.
Well, then, returning to our opening theme, we must ask ourselves “what matters concerning the Lord’s return are ‘echelons above our pay grade,’ and which are “within our pay grade?’”
Let’s describe, first of all, those things that are “echelons above our pay grade”:
he exact timing of the Lord’s return: Recall that Jesus tells us “no one knows the day nor the hour”, but “only the Father”.
- The signs that will accompany His return: Remember that apocalyptic writing employs – to some degree or another – figurative language. A strong word of caution is always in order when we approach this literary genre.
These things, then, are within our ability to understand, and our authority to exercise control over:
- The signs that will accompany the Lord’s return: Notice that this aspect of these future events is both within and outside of our ability to understand. The signs that will accompany Jesus’ return are the connecting point of the present reality and the future reality.
- Watch! Notice that Jesus uses this word three times in the passage read today. We can be ever mindful of the future reality of the Lord’s return. If we are, then all of the present reality is forever changed, forever made holy. God’s future reign already breaks into the present reality!
- Be good stewards: Jesus reminds us (in Mark’s abbreviated form of Matthew’s Parable of the Talents[4]) that we are to be good and faithful servants, caring for the work that God has given us to be in charge of until the return of the Lord.
Today, we have the two great Advent themes before us:
- Jesus’ Second Coming in great power and great glory, and
- Our preparation for Jesus’ First Coming as He is born in a cow’s stall in Bethlehem.
Since we find ourselves between the First Coming and the Second Coming, we find ourselves in the same position as those early Christians who first read and heard Mark’s gospel account.
We, too, like them, watch and wait.
We, too, like them, are called to live in the tension of the present reality and the future reality, knowing that the future reality offers hope, especially at times when there is no hope.
We, too, like them, are called to be faithful stewards of the riches God has given us to care for, until His return.
May we be faithful in all these things!
AMEN.
[1] As in the Revelation to St. John the Divine, the last book in the New Testament, which is also known as the Apocalypse of John.
[2] I Enoch , IV Esra, and II Baruch are examples.
[3] Mark 13: 1 - 37
[4] See Matthew 25: 14 – 30.
