God’s story of the redemption of creation
impacts the whole of creation.
Not only has Jesus come into the cosmos
to save the entire cosmos
the cosmos announces his presence.
Think about our Christmas and Epiphany narratives:
A new star appears
and shepherds hear the angelic choruses.
On Good Friday at Jesus’ death
the earth groans in an earthquake.
As Fred Craddock says,
“There is no area of God’s creation so remote
as to be unaffected by God’s fulfillment
of the divine intention.”
That’s what we hear Jesus predicting today
as he talks about his final return
when justice will finally rain down like waters
and all is made well.
Our passages the last few weeks –
since All Saints –
have been pointing us
to this apocalypse
this revelation
at the eschaton,
the end of time.
Last week we heard about Jesus’ kingdom
and what kind of King he is
and will be.
Today Jesus is talking about
the end of time
and the reality that it’s not right now.
Not right then for his first listeners
not right then for the followers
who’d witnessed the destruction of the temple
not right now for those of us
still gathered to say
“Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.”
Last week I said that
when we’re comfortable
the passages appointed for Christ the King
should challenge us
to look toward heaven.
When we’re scared
they should comfort us
and remind us that
Jesus is the king of kings
and Lord of Lords
and his kingdom of not of this world.
In a sense
that is the essence of Advent.
Jesus makes predictions about
things that will terrify most of us
knowing that as we live our Christian life
we’ll face disappointments.
As we live our Christian lives
we’ll feel powerless
against the powers and principalities
of Sin and Death
that run rampant.
Topher is starting to notice
when we see the unhoused panhandling
at the tops of exits.
I know too much
about how Sin, Death, and Greed
collude to make systems
where people are one medical emergency
or one illness
or one racially motivated arrest
from losing their housing
to give pat answers
about what they’ve done to themselves.
I listen to podcasts
that make me mad at leaders
who pay lip service to beliefs
but don’t actually govern
when they have the power to.
I ride in my car
and pray for those impacted
by systems of Sin
and pray that I’ll have the strength
to do what I can.
There are times I despair.
There are times I want to be a nihilist
or an absolute cynic
and throw in the towel.
It’s much easier to be a self-absorbed jerk.
Fiyero invites us in Wicked
to stop studying strife
and learn to live
the unexamined life.
That’s not the life of a Christian,
a follower of Jesus the Christ, though.
Jesus says in today’s passage,
“Now when these things begin to take place,
stand up and raise your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near…
“When you see these things taking place,
you know that the kingdom of God is near.
“Be on guard
so that your hearts are not weighed down
with dissipation
and drunkenness
and the worries of this life,
and that day catch you unexpectedly,
like a trap…”
“Stand up and raise your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near.”
“When you see these things taking place,
you know that the kingdom of God is near.”
The first readers of Luke
would have felt like the world ended
when the Temple was destroyed.
Jesus has warned
that the world is much bigger
than what’s right in front of them and us.
In that warning
Jesus has promised
that he’ll be coming back
and we’ll know it’s happening.
Whatever is facing the church, humanity, and the creation,
it’s not over,
it’s not the end,
until Jesus returns in final victory.
It’s not over
until we see justice and righteousness
executed in all the lands.
So we have to keep going.
Jesus’ promise of return and judgment
is how we get past our nihilism, cynicism, and despair.
We can’t live the unexamined life
because we are called to care for our neighbors.
Fred Craddock says,
“The life of disciples,
after all is said and done,
is not one of speculation or of observation
but of behavior and relationships.”
What does it profit us
to navel gaze about the date of Jesus’ exact return
if those around us starve
and freeze in the cold?
Put another way,
my friend Kelli posted on Bluesky this week:
“Eschatology is political,
but the eschaton
is not a politics.
You have to figure out
how you are going to love your neighbor as yourself
in the meantime.
How to choose,
personally and politically,
in ways that prioritize
the needs of the least of these.
That’s eschatological,
but in a Matthew 25 sense.”
It’s what we mean
when we pray for God’s kingdom to come
and God’s will to be done on earth
as in heaven.
I ride in my car
and pray for those impacted
by systems of Sin
and pray that I’ll have the strength
to do what I can.
I’m inviting Topher to pray with me
for the unhoused we encounter –
and to pray for our leaders
and to pray that we will
show love in the moment
and work to fight the systems
of Sin, Death, and Greed.
I’m going to write,
with one of my fountain pens,
to all my elected leaders
about at least trying to take action
when and where they can.
I know, though,
it’s not on me.
I have to figure out
how to love my neighbors in the inbetween,
but there is an end.
And it’s not here yet.
So I look to the East
and pray
“Maranatha. Come Lord Jesus”
“Stand up and raise your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near.”
Love the Lord is on the way. Amen.