My brothers & sisters, redemption is here and available in Christ.
Our first
lesson from Jeremiah comes from the time when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians
in 586 BC. In bad times, the prophet
told of God’s love for his people.
Today’s passage was edited and written centuries later. We hear that it is a certainty that a time
will come when God will complete His promises.
This is contained in the symbolism of God restoring both the people of
Israel and the lineage of David.
I our second
reading, Paul expresses his gratitude for the Thessalonians and looks forward
to seeing them again. When he was in
Thessalonica, he had predicted that some Christians there would be persecuted. This has now happened; he has sent Timothy to
strengthen and encourage them for the sake of their faith, so no one would be
shaken by these persecutions. Timothy
has now returned to Paul in Athens, and has conveyed to him that the
Thessalonians are strong. Indeed, their
faith has encouraged Paul in facing persecution himself.
Paul in turn
prays for them:
• that he may visit them again
• that they may have a superabundance of love
for their fellow Christians and for all;
• that their very beings (hearts) may become so
God-like (so holy) that they may be totally free of sin when Christ comes again.
In our reading
from Luke, we again see Jesus predicting his second coming. The end will be delayed: the killing and
deportation of citizens will continue “until the times of the Gentiles are
fulfilled,” i.e., until non-Jews have had the opportunity to come to
Christ. In spite of the delay, the era
will end before all those alive now have died.
It was pretty much universal in the Apostles day for Christians to
expect Jesus’ return during their lifetimes.
As that first generation began to pass away, Christian leaders realized
that Jesus was not planning to return as soon as they hoped and began
organizing themselves to preserve and pass on the faith for following
generation like ourselves.
Today we begin
the season of Advent. It is the season
of preparation and anticipation of the anniversary of Christ’s coming into our
world. However it is not just for the
retelling of that story. More
importantly, it is preparation for the return of the Messiah in glory. There is an understanding amongst disciples
of Jesus from the first century through to the present day; that the Messiah’s
first appearance was to reopen the door for us to have individual relationships
with our Creator.
From our gospel
today we are given a message that I believe many Christians miss. “Stand up and raise your heads, because your
redemption is drawing near.” Rather than
take this to heart we generally fear Christ’s return. Some of this is rooted in our natural fear of
the unknown; some in the outrageous imagery of Revelations and the battle of
Armageddon; some of it is sheer morbid fascination. We have such a fascination that the movie
industry makes huge “end of the world” productions. An easy example is how much press space still
is given to the prediction of the Mayan calendar that the world will end this
month. . .
But the Gospel
message is not strictly about things that one should fear. It is also about triumph; the vindication of
believers; the end of evil and suffering and finally, the restoration of our
ideal relationship with our Creator. Not
exactly something to be frightened about.
Yes we do want to be ready, not caught in our personal sinfulness. But that is not a frightening proposition
either. We have in Christ the maximum
richness of forgiveness. Let’s face it,
our generation may be more technological than any before it, but we have not
come up with any sins that Christ has not seen and heard before. Let us not shy from seeking and enjoying His
forgiveness. Let us look forward to
celebrating the anniversary of his first coming this Christmas and let us look
forward to his return. Doing our part as
we are called and trusting Christ for all the things that are beyond us.
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