This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. Many of us are expecting to go to church to watch family members, friends, or congregants light an Advent candle and hear a heart-warming message related to events leading to the birth of baby Jesus. To our surprise, we are given an apocalyptic text with signs from the heavenly bodies and chaos on earth together with dismay and confusion. Some of us might ask ourselves, what do apocalyptic events and the warning of the end of time have to do with Advent? Why does the liturgical calendar place this text on the first Sunday of Advent? Or what exactly is Advent about? These are great questions, and I hope you’ll use them to guide you in meditating on this week’s Scripture.
As Jesus’ message in the parables and his teachings often tends to challenge our conventional understandings of faith and practices, it also invites us to re-evaluate, re-imagine, and re-interpret our usual understanding of things. With this in mind, the text for this Sunday is both challenging and inviting. It’s challenging our normal perception of Advent and inviting us to see it through new lenses.
Luke 21:25-36 (CEB)
25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On the earth, there will be dismay among nations in their confusion over the roaring of the sea and surging waves. 26 The planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken, causing people to faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world. 27 Then they will see the Human One coming on a cloud with power and great splendor. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, stand up straight and raise your heads, because your redemption is near.”
29 Jesus told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that God’s kingdom is near. 32 I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until everything has happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.
34 “Take care that your hearts aren’t dulled by drinking parties, drunkenness, and the anxieties of day-to-day life. Don’t let that day fall upon you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. It will come upon everyone who lives on the face of the whole earth. 36 Stay alert at all times, praying that you are strong enough to escape everything that is about to happen and to stand before the Human One.”
Consider these questions:
- What is the context of this passage? What was Jesus’s message to his audience?
- What did he call them to be or do?
- Where do you see yourself in this text? What is Jesus saying to you?
- If this is an Advent message (Advent means “coming” or “arrival”), what did the people in Jesus’s time expect to come/arrive in their lifetime? What do we expect to come/arrive in this season of Advent and/or in our lifetime? And what does that expectation call us to think or do differently?