“Away in Some Manger”
Sermon on Luke 21:25-36
Advent 1-C
December 3, 2006
Rev. J. Curtis Goforth, O.S.L.
“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap.” -Luke 21:34
In this age of technology, a new medium for theological discussion has emerged. No…it’s not the internet. You’ve probably taken part in this new theological forum and not even realized it. Have you ever been minding your own business, driving down the road, when you see the bumper sticker on the car in front of you spouting some great theological message? I am particularly fond of the religious bumper stickers. I saw one the other day that said “Eve was framed!”
I frequently see bumper stickers aimed at the discussion on creationism vs. evolution. One I saw not too long ago said, “I believe in the Big Bang Theory…God said it, and Bang, it happened.” The Christian fish symbols on cars are not excluded from this new forum of debate either. Not long after it became fashionable to place an emblem of one’s faith on their car, those who decry creationism and view Darwin as their champion made another, very witty symbol. It was a fish, but the fish had legs and instead of the word Jesus or ICHTHUS being inside the fish it had the name DARWIN. I saw a license plate holder even that continued this theological car emblem argument. It had one of these Darwin fish with legs on it, but the fish was lying on its back, legs up as if it was dead and the caption beneath it read, “Survival of the forgiven.”
Well, the creationism/evolution debate as it pertains to automobiles is entertaining, but the best theological bumper stickers are those dealing with the return of Christ. The most popular of those is probably the one that says, “In case of rapture, this car will be unmanned.” Most of you have seen the car that I drive and you know that my grandmother gave it to me after she wore it out and wrecked it. So, I suppose it is only fitting that my absolute favorite bumper sticker dealing with Christ’s return reads, “Come the rapture, can I have your car?”
The return of Christ. The second coming. Apocalypticism. The End Times. These are just the words that come to mind during this time of the Christmas season, aren’t they? No? Brood of vipers. Chaff thrown into a raging fire. These are the images that come to mind just before Christmas, right? No? Well, welcome to Advent.
You might think that the images of Christ’s return and the images of the Christmas story have nothing in common and are even out of place during this time of the year. But think about it for a second. The two ideas share a very common theme…the advent of Christ into our world. The first advent, or “coming” as the word means, was about Christ’s birth and his coming to the earth. The second advent, is about Christ coming to the earth also to give his people and kingdom a new birth. It makes all kinds of sense that we prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Christ in both ways. Life’s not all Christmas carols and frankincense! This time of year for us as Christians is not just about getting all the gifts bought for our friends and family. It’s about getting ready for the coming of Christ.
In one of the biggest movies of the year, Talladega Nights, Will Ferrell who plays the race car driver Ricky Bobby is at the table getting ready to eat. And when he asks the blessing, he prays to “the baby Jesus.” But in the middle of his prayer in which he returns thanks for the bountiful harvest from dominoes pizza and taco bell, his wife interrupts him and tells him how she doesn’t like the fact that he always prays to the baby Jesus. She says, “Jesus did grow up, you know? You don’t always have to call him baby!” To which Ricky Bobby responds, “I like the Christmas Jesus best and I’m the one saying grace. When you say grace you can pray to grownup Jesus or teenage Jesus or bearded Jesus or whichever Jesus you like.”
I think we all like the Christmas Jesus best. I mean, who among us doesn’t prefer the tiny infant Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes lying away in some manger to the Jesus that comes near us riding on the clouds ushering in his kingdom, coming upon the world like a trap?
The story from Luke’s gospel this morning is not a story of Christmas Jesus. It is a story of Advent Jesus. It is a story full of troubling and even confusing imagery. There are no cute little fuzzy sheep or shepherds watching their flocks by night in this lesson from Luke. Christmas trees are replaced by fig trees getting ready for the upcoming harvest. The forecast for a white Christmas is replaced by roaring waves and ominous signs in the sky. The eager anticipation that comes on Christmas morning before we open our presents is replaced by fear and foreboding and fainting.
The first coming of Christ is much easier for us to imagine—a child being born into an imperfect situation. We can wrap our minds around that kind of story. But the second coming, that’s a much more difficult thing for us to embrace. Our text from Luke this morning can be a little confusing and hard to understand. And there is a billion dollar industry behind writing fiction around these words of Jesus and theorizing about the specifics of his return. It is easy to get caught up into this craze of knowing when this time will be and plotting out a timeline for the return of grown-up Jesus.
But to worry about such things is really quite silly. If you remember, Jesus says that the angels in heaven don’t know when the second coming will be. Jesus says that he doesn’t even know, but that only the Father knows. You gotta wonder if these theologians that are so caught up in “the end times” really think that they are smarter than Jesus.
We don’t really need to concern ourselves too much with the confusing part(s) of this lesson. If you don’t understand every sentence in the Bible, good…that means you are human. I think the main thing we should try to remember about this story this morning comes in verse 34. “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap.”
Mark Twain once said that it wasn’t the parts of the Bible that he didn’t understand that bothered him, but the parts that he understood all too clearly. It isn’t those places in the Bible that confuse me that I worry about. It’s the places in the Bible that I understand all too well that scare me: love your neighbor, turn the other cheek, follow me. Those are the sections I worry about.
It all comes down to one thing. Jesus “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end,” as we repeat in the Nicene Creed. It kinda reminds me of another bumper sticker I saw this week.
I was looking through some of these religious bumper stickers in the Christian bookshop this week. It seems those stores always have more bumper stickers and wind chimes than they do books. But, that’s another sermon. I came across this bumper sticker here and I had to think about it for a really long time. I stood there in the store, stumped as to what this one was saying. Despite the fact that it was hard to understand at first, it became remarkably clear and simple to me once I just looked at what it said.
It reads: “Jesus is coming soon!” And underneath it are the letters R U E? [hold up bumper sticker]. I thought it was a rather witty one. The E is red, and if you pronounce the letters, you can make out what it is saying. Jesus is coming soon! Are you red-E? Well, are you? Are you ready for the return of Jesus? I’m not just talking here about the time we celebrate baby Jesus, Christmas Jesus. I am talking about grown-up Jesus, Advent Jesus? Are you ready for his return? If you are, “stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.
