Sermon

Mark 13:24-37

Jakob’s Story & Our Story

By The Rev. James Christensen

Traditionally, the texts for the first Sunday of Advent, which is today, are focused not on the birth of Jesus, but on the Second Coming of Jesus.  They call our attention to the end of time, the dismantling of the cosmos and the fulfillment of all God’s purposes for creation issuing in a new heaven and a new earth.

I think most of us would like a message that tells us everything is O.K. and everything will continue to be O.K.  We want reassurance, stability and certainty.  We’d like to know that if anything is amiss, we can do something about it, correct the situation, and get on with our lives.

Instead, we have a text telling us that the stars are going to fall, the powers in the heavens will be shaken, and the Son of Man will be coming in the clouds with power.  It is part of a larger description of suffering and upheaval leading to the end of the world as we know it. All we can do about it is stay awake and wait expectantly for events to unfold.

The Bible contains a number of significant passages of this same type.  Some are in the Old Testament in books like Daniel and Zechariah, and some are in the New Testament in books such as Mark, Luke and Revelation.  All of these passages were written in times of trouble for the people of God.  They were written in times of persecution or when enemies were at the gates of the city.  They were not written for people who were at ease, comfortable and enjoying the good life.

And I would suggest that our ability to understand such texts, as well as our desire to consider them, rises when we have troubles and wanes when we are comfortable.  Perhaps that is one of the reasons that what is called, “The Day of the Lord” in the Bible is sometimes described as a day of darkness, dread and disaster–a day of judgment, and sometimes as a day of light and hope–a day of deliverance and redemption.

It’s worthwhile to take a few minutes to understand some of the images in this passage.  The most puzzling part is the beginning where Jesus is quoted as saying:

“The sun will be darkened,
the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds
with great power and glory”
(13:24-26).

I think these words  have a double fulfillment.  They were fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus and they will be fulfilled in the last day when Jesus returns.  There were signs in the heavens at his death.  In his time there was a widespread belief that spiritual powers resided in the stars and planets.  In his ascension those powers saw him coming in the clouds with power and great glory.

Cataclysmic events will occur in the last day as well. The message here is both about the natural order and about the realm of spiritual powers.  The stars will fall, to be sure, but with their fall will come the fall of the spiritual powers that oppose the work of God.

There are things in the Bible that take us out of our comfort zone!  We already know many of the trials and troubles of this world.  Now we are reminded of things beyond this world that also oppose and threaten us.  But Jesus tells us that the victory is assured.  Deliverance is certain to occur.  Listen to his promise,“Then he will send out his angels, and will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky” (13:27).  “His chosen ones”…that is you.  It is you that he will gather to himself as a shepherd gathers the scattered sheep.

What does that mean for your life here and now?

Not long ago I came across a movie with a story line that might help us view this text in a fresh way.  The story set up a situation that parallels, in several ways, the theology pertinent to the text we have from Mark, and others like it.

The name of the movie was, “Jakob the Liar.”  The story was about Jews living in a Ghetto in Poland in the waning days of the Second World War.  They were closely guarded and heavily exploited by a contingent of German soldiers.  In the story, the main character, Jakob, accidentally overheard a radio in the German headquarters reporting that the Russian army was advancing in that area.

Of course, Jakob let the secret out among the residents of the Ghetto.  It surfaced in the form of a rumor with some credibility and with each telling it grew.  Some people did not believe it and dismissed the whole idea.  But many did believe it, and they responded to it in different ways.  The hope that deliverance was at hand began to make a difference in their lives.

For example, one young man decided it was time to propose marriage to the girl he loved.  Some of those who were near death took hope that they could live until they were freed, and others renewed their efforts to help them.  A group organized to begin a resistance movement so they might help and cooperate with their deliverers.

Of course, the news was important to the Germans as well.  They began to prepare to leave.  They began to round up all the Jews and put them on a train to the death camps.  Jakob and his colleagues could do nothing to hasten the day of deliverance.  What they could do was to live as people who were destined to be saved.

For the Jews, the advance of the Russian army was good news and promised deliverance.  For the Germans it was a foreshadowing of disaster.

In the story, Jakob suffered at the hands of his captors for spreading the good news of deliverance.  They tried to compel him to retract his story and to take hope away from his community.  But Jakob’s way of living within the promise of deliverance was to refuse to recant, and he gave his life for it.

So, what was portrayed was an enclave of people contained by forces greater than themselves.  And they were a small part of a larger, world-wide conflict.  The resolution of the larger conflict and their own deliverance were bound together.  What was coming was not only their deliverance, but the defeat of an evil empire and the advent of a new peace in the world.

So we, who wait for Christ’s return are in bondage to the powers of evil, and our situation is part of a larger conflict; a conflict of cosmic proportions.  The victory that is coming in Christ pertains not only to our own redemption, but to the redemption of the whole of creation.  We are not bringing that about, but we are waiting with eager expectation and hope.

We are reminded in Ephesians that, “…For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

We all profess our faith in Jesus Christ.  We look forward to a sure redemption.  Jesus bids us stay awake, be alert, be about his business always, for he will come at an unexpected moment, without advance notice.  While some people try to predict the end of the world, I suggest that we avoid attempting that and live instead with a vital faith day to day.

In Jakob’s story the captives lived out their belief in the approach of the Russian army in a variety of ways.  How do we live out our faith in the coming of Jesus?

I don’t have a script for you on that.  I think that is something we could explore with one another as a part of our fellowship in Christ.  Maybe some of us would want to be telling the good news to others.  Perhaps some would have a message of peace and reconciliation for the world which is now in such conflict and seems so close to war.  Others may make it their habit to serve and help the weak and needy.  Still others might live with a vibrant appreciation of God’s gifts in creation.  All of us, I think, would be very much alive in a dying world, very much connected in a culture of individualism, very confident in an atmosphere of fear and continually generous in a selfish and acquisitive society.

However you do it, be alert, be awake.  Jesus is coming again.  It has been the prayer of the Church through the centuries, and it appropriate that it be our prayer this Advent Day, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible.

Copyright 2002 James Christensen, Ph.D.  Used by permission.