Second Saturday of Advent: How to Live Now in Light of What's to Come

I've attempted to say some things this week that may have ruffled some people's feathers. Don't feel bad if your brain is tired from reading it––if that's the case, I'm glad you've stuck with me to this point. Even though I wrote it, I just re-read it, and I got tired. It's been a mental stretch, and for some of us a challenge to some long-held beliefs, but I want to wrap up this week's focus on the future aspects of Advent by reminding us of why it all matters.

1 Corinthians 15 is a tremendously important passage for us as Christians. There, Paul goes to lengths to remind the Corinthians about the centrality of the resurrection for them. He reminds them of the account of Jesus' resurrection, his appearances to disciples before his ascension and why it matters immensely to them that he was resurrected in a real physical body. He talks about that day when Christ will return and all of his people will be resurrected in imperishable bodies like Christ's (or transformed into them if they are still living on that day) when death is finally defeated for all of God's people.

Then, immediately after the climax of the passage where Paul emphasizes how "death is swallowed up in victory," he closes his long argument about the centrality of the resurrection for all Christians with a statement that might surprise us:

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15:58, NRSV)

Although we wouldn't say it this way, we tend to think the opposite: if Christ is coming again and everything will be set straight, with the world and even our own bodies being made new, we often think whatever happens between now and then is beside the point. Sure we intend to do well, but any efforts at discipleship and service are viewed as extras which will be nice if we get to them, but if not––as long as we're on Jesus' side at the end of all of it––we're okay.

That attitude can't exist within Paul's thinking. His point in urging us to be steadfast––precisely because of what he's said about Christ's return and how our own resurrection will happen as Jesus' did––is that our lives now are of interminable importance. Because we will be given new bodies on that day, what we do in our bodies now is a way of becoming either more or less prepared for the kind of lives with God that we will lead forever. And because we are made to extend God's reign in creation rather than to escape it, how we relate to creation now is practice for the responsibilities that will be entrusted to us according to the character that we have allowed God to develop in us.

Again, N.T. Wright's words are instructive:

The truth of the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of the living is not just a truth about the future hope. It's a truth about the present significance of what we are and do. If it is true that God is going to transform this present world, and renew our whole selves, bodies included, then what we do in the present time with our bodies, and with our world, matters.(1)

Every time we show kindness, it matters. Every time we manage something well, it matters. Every time we make a decision to do the right thing when no one is looking, it matters. Every time we choose to arrange our lives in ways that give God more space to abide in us, it matters. These things have effects now that will still be resonating on the day when our King returns. As he himself said, "just as you do it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

When we look at it in this way, we realize that our waiting doesn't only happen during Advent, but that every day of our lives as Christians is spent waiting for Christ's return. We open our lives to him in the ways we discussed last week (through prayer, reading the Scriptures, Holy Communion, solitude, silence, and loving service to others) as a way of waiting on his return. When he comes, we want to be found to be like him, already at home in the kind of world over which he will reign forever. So, we begin practicing the eternal kind of life now, and until we see him, we continue to pray again that great Advent prayer with which we began this week:

Come, Lord Jesus!

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A Prayer for the Day:

Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.*

Readings for the Week*:

*Prayers are from The Book of Common Prayer and readings are from the Revised Common Lectionary. (1) N.T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003) 227-228.

Second Friday of Advent: Why We Long for Jesus' Appearing: New Creation

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:18-25, NRSV)

What were you and I made to do? If someone has been engaged in work that is a good fit for them, we often speak of them as having been born to do that particular thing. I have a friend whom I can say with confidence was born to be a teacher. I've known people who were apparently born to be farmers, or to work with animals, or to be engineers. My own vocation isn't quite so clear––particularly during this time of year, I feel like I may have been born to eat Christmas cookies. Even though I'm closer to the end of the spectrum of the people in mid-life or later who are still wondering what they want to be when they grow up, I'm still grateful to–occasionally–have had moments when something I have worked on has brought a great sense of fulfillment, a feeling of having done the kind of thing I was created to do rather than just wasting my days.

Regardless of how clearly each of us can think about the question of what we were made to do, here it is from a different angle: What were you and I made to do––forever? If we have bought into inaccurate understandings of what the Bible says about our future, our thoughts about the nature of our existence forever will surely also be skewed, and––honestly––we've been given some pretty silly images for what we might actually be doing "when we've been there ten thousand years" and beyond. Sometimes we're told that heaven will be similar to an unending worship service. I've had people make comments to me indicating their belief that we will grow wings and fly around among the clouds. I'm sure you can probably think of other forms of these ideas, and I'm convinced (and relieved) that they are not the biblical picture of eternity.

We can zero in on some of the dissimilarities between popular thinking about our life in heaven and what the Bible says about our future by looking again at that line from the last stanza of Amazing Grace I quoted above, "when we've been there ten thousand years..." Where is the there we expect to be for so long?

Even though we often think that our eternity with God will be spent in a vague amorphous "up there," from the beginning of the Bible in Genesis to its conclusion at the end of Revelation, part of the understanding of what it means to be human is that we are meant to exist and glorify God forever, right here, within creation. In other words, our expectation as Christians isn't that we'll be going away to some never-ending non-bodily existence, but that when Christ returns, we will experience resurrection as he did and the veil now separating heaven and earth will be removed "and earth and heav'n be one."

Part of what this means is that just as we have work to do now, we will have work to do then. What we will do forever in this new creation will be similar to what Genesis says humans were given the task of doing in the original creation: to have dominion over it, care for it and cultivate it. The number of ways we could possibly do this is surely limitless, and as Paul described in the passage quoted above, creation itself is eagerly awaiting us to take our proper place and participate fully in the work of God's kingdom in creation––forever.

Two of the writers who have influenced me most deeply have both written about this, and their words are worth quoting directly. First, from Dallas Willard, one of the most hopeful, challenging, and meaning-packed few sentences I've ever read:

We should not think of ourselves as destined to be celestial bureaucrats, involved eternally in celestial "administrivia." That would be only slightly better than being caught in an everlasting church service. No, we should think of our destiny as being absorbed in a tremendously creative team effort, with unimaginably splendid leadership, on an inconceivably vast plane of activity, with ever more comprehensive cycles of productivity and enjoyment.(2)

That alone should give each of us enough to think about for, well, ten thousand years or so. And N.T. Wright summarizes much of what I have attempted to say throughout this week:

The New Testament picks up from the Old the theme that God intends, in the end, to put the whole creation to rights. Earth and heaven were made to overlap with one another, not fitfully, mysteriously, and partially as they do at the moment, but completely, gloriously, and utterly. "The earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea." That is the promise which resonates throughout the Bible story, from Isaiah (and behind him, by implication, from Genesis itself) all the way through to Paul's greatest visionary moments and the final chapters of the book of Revelation. The great drama will end, not with "saved souls" being snatched up into heaven, away from the wicked earth and the mortal bodies which have dragged them down into sin, but with the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, so that "the dwelling of God is with humans" (Revelation 21:3).

...God's plan is not to abandon this world, the world which he said was "very good." Rather, he intends to remake it. And when he does, he will raise all his people to new bodily life to live in it. That is the promise of the Christian gospel. To live in it, yes; and also to rule over it. There is a mystery here which few today have even begun to ponder. Both Paul and Revelation stress that in God's new world those who belong to the Messiah will be placed in charge. The first creation was put into the care of God's image-bearing creatures. The new creation will be put into the wise, healing stewardship of those who have been "renewed according to the image of the creator," as Paul puts it (Colossians 3:10).(3)

We have attempted to cover a lot of ground very quickly this week, and tomorrow we'll consider what it all means for us now. If this is the picture the Bible gives us of what's to come and is that for which we are waiting during Advent, how should we live now because of it?

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A Prayer for the Day:

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.*

Readings for the Week*:

*Prayers are from The Book of Common Prayer and readings are from the Revised Common Lectionary. (1) See Revelation 21:1-5a (2) Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (New York: HarperCollins, 1997), 399. (3) N.T. Wright, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense (New York: HarperCollins, 2006), 217, 219.

Second Thursday of Advent: Why We Long for Jesus' Appearing: Resurrection

As part of my brief experiment with being a pastor, I once attended something we Methodists call "License to Preach School," and as you might guess by its title, part of what we learned there was guidance for preaching sermons. Each participant was required to write a sermon during the days of the course and then preach it to a small group of peers for feedback.

I was excited about my opportunity. I worked on a sermon, and I thought that it was pretty good. In my mind, I was imagining the kind of congratulatory feedback that my classmates and supervisors were going to give me. My turn came, I preached my sermon, and I felt like things were going well. When the time for feedback came, people were a little hesitant. (I thought, "Well, of course. I've just given them a lot to think about. It's probably a challenge for them to express in words how much my sermon has impacted them." Remember––this was License to Preach School, not a License of Humility.) Then, finally, someone spoke up and just as I expected––they started to talk about how much they enjoyed my sermon and what they got out of it. Two or three others followed suit, saying that those same parts of the sermon were helpful as well.

There were two problems that quickly caught my attention about their comments: first, the parts of the sermon they described as helpful weren't in any way intended to be part of my point. Second, though I imagined myself to have driven my main point home with great effectiveness, no one ever mentioned anything close to what I wanted to communicate. The thing I intended to emphasize was apparently completely missed, while they picked up on other things that I hadn't even really wanted to say.

Something of the same dynamic happens in many of our discussions about Jesus' return, but for a different reason. In the case of my preaching, my classmates' feedback was evidence that I had not been as effective of a communicator as I had fancied myself to be, and therefore my point was missed. The same thing happens with the Bible, though in the case of the scriptures, the fault isn't on the communicators' side, but on ours as the audience. We often read and see the things that we want to see in the Bible regardless of what is actually there, plus many inherent factors come into play in trying to correctly interpret a complex ancient document from a culture very different from our own. Yet the result is still the same: we miss the main points. In the case of what the Bible says about our future and the things that will happen when Jesus returns, our normal conversations tend to focus on all kinds of side-issues, while leaving out the scripture's main emphasis when it speaks of the age to come: resurrection.

When Christ returns––on that day when all of these centuries of longing and waiting for him finally end, when this yearning ache we have for him to appear is finally satisfied and there is no more need for this painful yet hopeful waiting of Advent––the two great destroyers of his people will be utterly and definitively dealt with: sin and death. Sin's defeat was achieved in Jesus' death on the cross, and––as we discussed yesterday––its downfall will be full and final when Jesus returns for judgment. Death's defeat was achieved in Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday, and its vanquishment will come when what happened to Jesus happens to all of us, and we are raised to indestructible life in new, death-defeating bodies like that of our Lord.

When the scriptures say that death has lost its sting and been swallowed up in victory, it isn't just spouting optimistic nonsense. Because of Jesus––the one who could defeat death, because he was the one who could defeat sin, because of the eternal kind of life that was in him through his knowledge of his loving Father––life will have the last word from that day on. Suffering will cease and be redeemed. Those whom we have loved and lost will be seen again. Everyone who has laid down their life for his sake will rise and find it.

If in our lives as followers of Jesus, the only time that we think about and talk of resurrection is on Easter Sunday, we have missed the point. Exceedingly. On the other hand, if we live in hopeful waiting expectation of the day when our King returns, sets everything right, and we will all be made alive in him forever, then Advent will have taken its intended effect upon us.

Then, one day, he will come, and we will be ready.

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A Prayer for the Day:

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.*

Readings for the Week*:

*Prayers are from The Book of Common Prayer and readings are from the Revised Common Lectionary.

Second Wednesday of Advent: Why We Long for Jesus' Appearing: Judgment (and why it's a good thing)

Beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish. 2 Peter 3:14

We began these Advent reflections last week as I wondered what it would be like to come to Christmas this year with a soul well-prepared to celebrate Jesus' birth, and I tried to point out how Christian tradition provides a different, seemingly indirect way of preparing by waiting through Advent. Though Advent's themes will come closer to Bethlehem as its days wind down, until those final days before Christmas, we are encouraged to consider themes quite different from those that normally come to mind with images of the nativity. If we go with the culture's calendar and consider ourselves to already be in the Christmas season rather than waiting for it, we probably won't give much thought during this time to the importance of topics like waiting, longing, Christ's return, resurrection, or new creation. If we have already mentally put the baby in the manger, we're certainly also unlikely to ponder today's topic, which the Advent scriptures point us toward repeatedly: judgment.

On the other hand, if we practice the patience of waiting through Advent and listen attentively to the scriptures through these weeks, the topic of judgment won't be far from our minds. We are warned to be on guard so that our hearts aren't weighed down with immorality or the worries of this life. We are reminded to live our lives as if we are workers caring for our master's things while he is away, always being mindful that he could return at any moment. If we notice any ways that our lives have become out of line, we're urged to heed John the Baptist's call to repent and prepare the way for our King's return, so that when he comes our lives would be like trees producing the kind of fruit expected of them.

Be ready. Keep awake. Stay alert. Live honorably. Salvation is near. Be blameless.

Yet I suspect that if most of us were to write the things we longingly wait for in life, God's judgment would appear on very few lists. One reason for that could be that we're legitimately unprepared for it, like the student who dreads taking a spelling test because they chose to watch a movie instead of study their words. If that's the case, you can do something about it, which is why we began last week by discussing practical ways that we can wait on God now.

For most of us, however, our lack of longing for God's judgment comes from a misunderstanding of it. With the subject being our lives rather than spelling words, we may all feel like that unprepared student, and the stakes here are higher than a grade on a spelling quiz. Since the scriptures insist that we will be judged and should therefore live readily for it, it matters immensely how we think about the one who will be judging us.

Here again, I think we've been overly influenced by popular images of the end times. They present us with a Clint Eastwood-esque picture of God's judgment: He's the sheriff who's been away for some time before riding back into town with infinitely loaded pistols firing from each hand, annihilating anyone who's caused any trouble in his absence (and scaring the wits out of anyone else who he sees fit to leave standing). It's pretty difficult to reconcile that image of God with the loving Father of Jesus, and–like the grandfather pointing to a mushroom cloud discussed on Monday–it's hard to sincerely think of that as the hope for which we wait during Advent.

Among the many biblical metaphors for our relationship with God, one of the most common is that of a loving Father with his children, and I think we can better understand God's judgment in that context. God is a loving parent who is resolutely working against the things that destroy his beloved children, and when Christ returns, that work––already achieved in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection––will be brought to final and full completion.

The scripture's insistence that there will be a judgment assures us that God is not like the overindulgent parent, described well by James Bryan Smith:

This god is like permissive parents who let their kids drink and do drugs and have sex without guilt. When we were young, we thought they were cool, but they weren't; they were lazy and did not really love their kids....These may be the kinds of parents you think you want when you are fifteen, but you really don't.

I don't want a god who says, "It's cool. Don't sweat it...." This god does not love me. Being soft on sin is not loving, because sin destroys. I want a God who hates anything that hurts me. Hate is a strong word, but a good one. Because the true God not only hates what destroys me (sin and alienation) but also has taken steps to destroy my destroyer, I love him.(1)

When Christ returns, as the Apostles' Creed states, "he will come to judge the living and the dead." This is great news, because it means that the victory over sin that he won on the cross–by taking the judgment against sin upon himself–will be completed. Everything that destroys us will finally and fully be dealt with––both the kinds of things that are outside of us which we lament in the news each day, and the ones that run right through our own hearts––everything will be made right when he comes as judge.

Of course part of that judgment will mean that those who refuse to allow God to be God will be granted their wish and finally be able to live free of him, with the kinds of consequences that we would expect whenever a proud child refuses the guidance of a knowledgable and loving parent. As C.S. Lewis has described so masterfully in The Great Divorce, no one is dragged to heaven or hell kicking and screaming. Rather, God will simply allow us to have that which we have chosen.

Along with God's people through the centuries, I have chosen to be his. There are parts of my world, and parts of me, that need to be set right. Therefore, trusting God as my loving Father, and knowing myself to be his beloved child, I eagerly await that day "when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, [when we will] without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing."(2)

Judgment is how God will finally deal with the sin that destroys us. Tomorrow we turn our attention to what will happen because God has dealt with our our other great destroyer, death: we will be resurrected.

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A Prayer for the Day:

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.*

Readings for the Week*:

*Prayers are from The Book of Common Prayer and readings are from the Revised Common Lectionary. (1) James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows (Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 2009), 124-125. (2) "Preface to Advent" from The Book of Common Prayer.

Second Tuesday of Advent: What We Are Waiting For

If possibly the popular understanding of the end times that we discussed yesterday is indeed not what we're waiting for, and that there are other legitimate interpretations of the relevant passages of scripture, then what are they? What is it that we're waiting for throughout Advent each year–and throughout our entire lives as followers of Jesus? At this point in the Advent series, I'm now realizing that I have a serious challenge on my hands (a little late to be realizing this). The fact that there are such widely varying interpretations of these passages of scripture should let us know that the writers of the Bible were trying to communicate things that were difficult for them to express. They were extremely competent writers, who took part in writing the best-selling and most influential book in world history. Apparently when I was planning this series, I had the faulty thought that I might be able to clarify in a few days' devotions what it was difficult for them to find the language to say. I think taking up this challenge is worth a shot, though, because it will be extremely difficult for any of us to practice Advent's waiting unless we have a better idea of what it is that we're waiting for. Therefore, I'll attempt to be both brief and say quite a bit to summarize this today, and then we'll spend the next three days unpacking it.

One of my favorite hymns is "This is My Father's World," and it has a couple of lines that grip me every time we sing them:

This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done: Jesus Who died shall be satisfied, and earth and heav'n be one.

The idea of earth and heaven being united, with the vindicated, crucified and risen Jesus in the center as King, is surprisingly foreign to the way that I had previously thought about Jesus' return, yet I have become convinced that it is indicated as God's original intent and mission throughout history from the beginning of the Bible until its dramatic "Come, Lord Jesus!" conclusion at the end of Revelation.(1)

While I previously thought we were looking toward a dreadful end of the world, the Bible speaks instead of "the end of the age" and "the age to come." Instead of thinking that the world will be destroyed as we escape it, the scriptural hope is that the world will be made new.

I previously mentioned how helpful N.T. Wright's For Everyone commentaries on the New Testament have been to me, and one of the things about them that either points to how incredibly beneficial they are, or to just how nerdy I am, is that they're the first books in which I've ever paid close attention not just to the text itself, but also to the glossary. Any of us could increase our level of biblical literacy dramatically just by studying his glossary, because Wright clears up the meanings of so many biblical terms which usually only carry vague meanings at best in our minds, even though we hear and use them often.

The glossary's paragraph on "second coming" is worth a long quotation here, and it gives us a framework for the rest of this week's explorations. There's plenty packed into these words to chew on for a while, so you may want to read it more than once:

When God renews the whole creation, as he has promised, bringing together heaven and earth, Jesus himself will be at the centre of it all, personally present to and with his people and ruling his world fully and finally at last. The Christian hope picks up, and gives more explicit focus to, the ancient Jewish hope that [Yahweh] would in the end return to his people to judge and to save. Since the ascension is often thought of in terms of Jesus' 'going away', this final moment is often thought of in terms of his 'coming back again', hence the shorthand 'second coming'. However, since the ascension in fact means that Jesus, though now invisible, is not far away but rather closely present with us, it isn't surprising that some of the key New Testament passages speak not of his 'return' as though from a great distance, but of his 'appearing' (e.g. Colossians 3:4; 1 John 3:2). The early Christians expected this 'appearing' to take place not necessarily within a generation as is often thought (because of a misreading of Mark 13 and similar passages), but at any time – which could be immediate or delayed. This caused a problem for some early Christians (2 Peter 3:3-10), but not for many. For the early Christians, the really important event – the resurrection of Jesus – had already taken place, and his final 'appearing' would simply complete what had then been decisively begun.(2)

In contrast to the Great Tribulation/Rapture/Antichrist view of the end of the world we described yesterday, I want to wait for Jesus to come again, finally and fully reigning as King, setting everything right and making everything new as Wright describes above. That kind of hope stirs my longing to see it come to pass rather than my desire to be part of history that won't have to witness it.

Most importantly for our discussions here, I can order my Advent–and indeed, my life–around waiting for the day when we will see Jesus as I seek to live always ready for it, constantly preparing my soul and the area of the world over which I have any say to be ready and able to welcome Jesus as King.

Over the next three days, we'll look more closely at three aspects of Jesus' return, and how they shape our Advent hope: judgment (and why it's a good thing), resurrection, and new creation. Then, we'll finish the week by considering how we can live now in light of what's to come.

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A Prayer for the Day:

O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.*

Readings for the Week*:

*Prayers are from The Book of Common Prayer and readings are from the Revised Common Lectionary. (1) For more, see N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. (2) N.T. Wright, Revelation for Everyone (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 224-225.

Second Monday of Advent: What We Aren't Waiting For

I was recently entertained online by a reviewer of Christian books as I browsed their annual list of the year's worst Christian book covers. Their prize-winner for 2012 was the cover of a commentary on Revelation which depicted a gray-haired elderly man standing and pointing down a road toward a dark sky with his other arm around the shoulder of a boy, possibly his grandson. The subtitle of the book was "Hope Beyond the Horizon," which highlighted the object in the distance to which the grandfather was pointing the boy's attention: a mushroom cloud. The reviewer's comment, though sarcastic, identified the irony in thinking of any such event as being the Christian hope: "Look there, Sonny, it’s our long-awaited hope, appearing just beyond the horizon…and it’s a nuclear explosion!"

Of course, frightening images of people's interpretations of biblical prophecies aren't hard to find. The Left Behind series of books and movies was incredibly popular, and (I would argue) has had more effect on the beliefs about what the Bible teaches than has the Bible itself for many people in our culture. I certainly don't have a problem with authors and Bible teachers communicating their interpretations of scripture in the most effective ways that they can, but when interpretations of difficult passages of scripture become popularized we can unknowingly begin to think we're familiar with what the Bible teaches, even if it turns out that we've only actually become familiar with an idea from a popular book or movie. Then, we fail to ever wrestle with what the Bible actually says.

This week, I want to clarify what I understand to be the biblical picture of the events in the future for which Advent is our annual reminder to wait readily. In order to do so, in today's reflection I'll look at some views of the future which I think are inaccurate. Then, for the remainder of the week, we'll do our best to consider what Jesus and the writers of scripture were indeed trying to communicate.

From the previous paragraphs, you probably won't be surprised for me to state that I disagree with the widespread ideas about the end times which are communicated in many places by many people, most notably through the Left Behind series over the past couple of decades. For many of us, though, it may be a surprise that there even are any other interpretations.

I mentioned yesterday how I was a teenager during the years around the Gulf War, and I can remember the intensity with which connections were being made between biblical passages and the political events of those days. Because there were so many Christian books and videos identifying that period as possibly being the "end times," I assumed that even if they were wrong about the timing of the events they were predicting, I had no reason to doubt that the coming of those events was clearly prophesied in the Bible. In other words, because I so often heard Christians with more knowledge than me talking about things like the Great Tribulation, the Rapture, someone who would be identified as the Antichrist, and the end of the world in general, I assumed that the Bible taught those things(**).

I accepted those interpretations because of my limited knowledge of the scripture and because I was unaware of any alternatives. I can remember being shocked when a college friend who was a Bible major mentioned in conversation that he didn't believe there would be a rapture. I thought, "this guy is a Bible major and he doesn't even believe what the Bible says!" He challenged the beliefs that I had inherited from my culture, and as I have studied the scriptures in the years since then, I am thankful that he did.

I don't think it would be particularly useful to spend much effort writing here to detail why I think these others' interpretations are wrong. What I would rather do would be to assure any of you for whom these widespread conceptions of the future don't sit well that they are not the only possible interpretations. In fact, they have only become popular since the beginning of the 20th century, and largely only in America. Christians in other parts of the world today and for centuries have looked at the Bible in different ways.

What matters here is this: For what are we hoping? Advent is our annual reminder to live in a constant ready waiting, but for what?

To be honest, if the Bible insisted that our future includes a Great Tribulation, Rapture, Antichrist, and end of the world, I wouldn't want to wait for that. I certainly wouldn't long for it in hope––the only thing I would hope would be that I could somehow avoid all of it. Instead of these things which I'm proposing we aren't waiting for, we will clarify a longstanding Christian view of Jesus' return, judgment (and why it's a good thing), resurrection, and new creation. My hope is that with our lenses cleaned and better able to see ahead, we will be better able to join centuries of God's people in waiting for Christ's return and more clearly understand how to live and wait on God daily from now until then.

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A Prayer for the Day:

O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*

A Prayer for the Week:

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.*

Readings for the Week*:

*Prayers are from The Book of Common Prayer and readings are from the Revised Common Lectionary. **Though I have chosen not to delve into deconstructing these interpretations of scripture in this series, good resources are available to help anyone who wants to examine them in further detail. I have been most influenced by the writings of New Testament scholar N.T. Wright whose For Everyone series of commentaries on the entire New Testament is remarkably readable and helpful, and is available in Midland First UMC's church library. Here is a brief list of resources for anyone who may want to research further:

  • N.T. Wright, "Farewell to the Rapture"
  • N.T. Wright's For Everyone commentaries on the passages often misinterpreted, including: Matthew 24, Mark 13, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, 1 John 2:18, 1 John 4:1-4.
  • N.T. Wright, Revelation for Everyone.
  • For a more academic treatment of Revelation, see M. Robert Mulholland Jr.'s commentary in the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary series.