We are living through ‘interesting times’ as the Chinese say – times of
crisis.
Let me
try to read some of the signs of the times:
·
We know that our Irish economy is banjaxed following the crash.
Government expenditure exceeds receipts. The Troika dictates that services will
be cut and taxes raised in the forthcoming budget. Meanwhile ordinary families
struggle to pay the mortgage and energy bills and to put food on the table, carers
are at their wits end, and our children leave because they cannot find work at
home. And it is not just Ireland
in trouble - overseas the Euro area and the entire global economy look to be
faltering.
·
Scientists tell us that potentially catastrophic
climate change is upon us, and that this is a result of human activity like
burning fossil fuels and cutting down rainforests - recent reports show the ice
caps are melting three times faster than they previously realised. And there is
precious little evidence that the leaders of our world are able and willing to
lead their peoples to make the changes necessary to avert disaster.
·
Advertising constantly urges us to consume more
and more in an increasingly materialist society, encouraging us in fact to be
self-centred and greedy, a sure path to disaster. The internet revolution is
driving perhaps the biggest social changes since the invention of the printing
press, so that we begin to feel that we live in a different world from our
children. And as Christians we face increasing challenges, as churches struggle
to respond to scandal and division, while both militant atheism and religious
fundamentalism are on the rise
No
wonder we worry about the future – our own, our children’s and our
grandchildren’s. We are afraid, and I think we have reason to be afraid. We are
living in apocalyptic times.
Luke records Jesus speaking in apocalyptic
terms in today’s Gospel reading (Luke 21:25-36).
‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and
waves’, Jesus says. ‘People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is
coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they
will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory.’
Jesus’s
words are in an apocalyptic literary tradition reaching back into OT times - “the Son of Man
coming in a cloud” is actually a quotation from the apocalyptic Book
of Daniel. The tradition reaches forward to the NT book we call Revelation. And
from there through medieval visions of the last judgement, to modern science
fiction fantasies of disaster.
Is
Jesus forecasting in these words that the world will end in apocalypse? There
are Christian fundamentalists who look forward to the second coming of Christ
amid awful battles and destruction in the end-time. They may believe so, but I
don’t. They take scripture too literally, and I think they are deeply
misguided. Instead I suggest that Jesus intended his words to apply to every
time, not just to an end-time.
Perhaps
his parable is a clue: ‘Look at the fig
tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for
yourselves and know that summer is near.’ Trees sprout new leaves every year – the image is of something
that happens again and again, not just once at the end.
And
it is true, isn’t it, that every generation faces its own apocalyptic fears.
We may be terrified by the looming catastrophe of global warming. But my
parents were haunted by the horror and destruction of total war and nuclear
holocaust. Their parents suffered the horrors of the trenches followed by
bloody rebellion and fratricidal civil war. And every previous generation has
lived through its own nightmares – famines, plagues, wars and social collapse.
Jesus
tells us to read the frightening signs of the times clearly. Otherwise we will
be unable to respond to them in the way God wishes. But his message is surely
one of hope as we confront our fears - hope for us and for every generation that
hears his words. ‘So also, when you see these
things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God
The basis of our hope is the miracle of the
Incarnation.
This
is the first day of Advent, the time each year when we look forward to the
Incarnation; the miracle that God has chosen to be part of the world he created,
our world; the miracle that God has taken on our flesh in a stunning act of
solidarity with us his creatures. We wait in expectation for the kingdom
of God
On
Christmas day Jesus will be born as the helpless baby son of Mary and Joseph
into a frightening world. A Roman imperial decree forces his parents to travel from
their home to Bethlehem . There they
find no shelter but a stable in which Mary gives birth. And soon they will be
forced to flee as refugees from Herod’s violent wrath. Mary and Joseph have to
confront their own fears just as we must.
But
through the eyes of faith we will see this helpless child grow up to be ‘“the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great
glory’, who announces the kingdom
of God
Jesus
urges us, ‘Be alert at all times, praying that you may
have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand
before the Son of Man.’ It is through praying that we will find
the strength and confidence to endure, and even we may hope avert, the worst
the future can bring, so that in the end we can stand fearlessly in front of God in
his Kingdom.
I
shall finish with a prayer:
Loving Father,
Who sent your Son Jesus Christ
to proclaim your kingdom
and restore the broken to fullness of life:
Look with compassion on the anguish of the world and of your
people;
Give us the strength to overcome our fears
And to stand before the Son of Man;
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Redeemer.
Amen
