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Last updated on
Jan. 14, 2004
Over the Horizon
First Sunday of Advent
Delivered November 30, 2003
by Pastor Werner De Jong
Text: Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 21:25-36
Main Idea: As Advent begins we are reminded of Jesus' promise to return and fully and forever establish the glorious Kingdom of God. As we wait in eager and expectant faith for this coming day we will find our lives even now transformed as our actions line up with our heart's true treasure.
Purpose: To encourage the listeners with the glorious truth that the kingdom of God is drawing near. To challenge the listeners to be alert and to set their hearts confidently on God's promised future as they wait expectantly for that day.
Introduction: Today the Christian year begins afresh with the first Sunday of Advent. Every year we celebrate Advent, as do millions of Christians around the world. Why do we do it? What is the Advent season all about? What role does it play in your lives? Is it a time to listen to Christmas music and sing carols? Does it provide an opportunity to drink egg nog? Does it serve as a reminder to start Christmas shopping? Does it provide us with a good excuse to light candles at home or in church? Those are all things which my family does during the Advent season, and with the exception of Christmas shopping, I enjoy them all! But according to the historic teaching of the church there is more to Advent than such activities.
What then? Why does the church set aside four weeks every year before Christmas and call it Advent? The Bible nowhere asks us to do it, and it is certainly not a sin to ignore the season. Many churches do not celebrate Advent, (I've been in some), and there is nothing of necessity wrong with that. But that doesn't mean it is not of any value. The Bible nowhere asks us to celebrate Christmas or Easter either, and yet the church finds value in remembering both the birth and resurrection of Christ. In the same way a large segment of the church has found that the development and recognition of Advent throughout church history has played a very meaningful role in its spirituality.
But we're still left with the question, "In what way?" How has the church found Advent to be helpful? The key to the answer lies in the word Advent itself. It means "coming" or "arrival,"and is used by the church with reference to the arrival of Jesus. It reminds us of Jesus' coming in our midst as a baby in Bethlehem, and in this sense Advent serves as a preparation to re-celebrate the birth of Christ. His birth was such a significant event that the church in her wisdom thought it good not only to set aside one day, but an entire season to reflect on the faithfulness of God who promised Israel a Messiah, a deliverer, who in the end was no one less that the Son of God who visited us in human form. The word "promise" is perhaps the most important word of the Advent season. From our vantage point we can now look back on the fulfilment of God's promise and consider again all that it means to us and to our world. Many of the traditional Advent texts, in fact, look at the promises made by the prophets, such as the one we heard at the beginning of the service, when Jeremiah announced that God would cause "a righteous Branch" to sprout from the line of King David.
God's Promise: Having said all that, we are beginning to centre in on the core meaning of Advent. But we're not yet there, for we've not yet said a word about the most important element of the Advent season. In some people's minds the be-all and the end-all of Advent is to prepare to celebrate Christmas. As meaningful as that is, Advent is about much more than remembering and rejoicing in the fulfilment of a past promise. Above all, Advent is about remembering and waiting for another promise that has yet to be fulfilled. A promise that there is something approaching just over the horizon. A promise that something is drawing near the likes of which we have never seen before. As surely as the sun emerges every morning over the horizon with radiant beauty, something else is coming which is far more radiant, and far more beautiful. It is not possible to keep it from coming, because God has promised that it will. That is the promise I want to talk about today, for all of our Scripture readings today ultimately point towards it.
What is it? What is coming? Many different authors of Scripture tell about the promise, and God has moved them to describe it in different ways. Some like Jeremiah speak of a coming day when righteousness and justice will prevail, while others, like Isaiah, speak of the arrival of never ending peace, when the lion will lie down with the lamb, and when nations shall beat their swords into plowshares and practice war no more. Still others dare to announce that we wait for nothing less than the appearance of a whole new world, a world that other Biblical authors will describe in terms of the complete and final establishment of the Kingdom of God. No matter how it is described, this much is sure: that it is coming, and that it is terrifyingly beautiful, that is just over the horizon, and that nothing can stop it.
From the Bible we also know this: that central to each and every vision is the fact that a person will appear to inaugurate God's reign on earth as it is in heaven. This person is sometimes described as a Righteous Branch, or as the Son of Man coming on the clouds, or simply as "the Lord." This is the same person who already appeared once as a baby in Bethlehem, Jesus of Nazareth, and whose second Advent will be even more glorious and wonderful than the first. The Christian new year therefore begins with a promise, the promise of the coming reign of God. The heart of Advent is to remind ourselves of that promise, and to hold it close to our hearts all throughout the year, by waiting for it with longing and expectant hope.
No one knows for sure what the world will look like when the promise is fulfilled. What we can do is rest assured that this land exists and that it is the most beautiful of all worlds. And we do know this, that all of the prophets and all of the apostles had no greater anticipation–they looked forward to the consummation of God's purposes with a mixture of awe, wonder and delight. When God's promise breaks in over the horizon and becomes reality, when eternity shatters our temporal existence, "the new will be to the old as the flower is to the seed, or the butterfly to the chrysalis" (N.T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus, p. 198). The hymn "In the bulb there is a flower" uses the same language to evoke our imagination. Let me read the first verse: "In the bulb there is a flower, in the seed, an apple tree; in cocoons, a hidden promise: Butterflies will soon be free! In the cold and snow of winter there's a spring that waits to be, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see." God's future is still just over the horizon, God alone can see it, but in due season it will be revealed.
The apostle Paul writes that the whole creation waits in eager expectation for God's glory to be unveiled (Rom. 8:18). According to Paul, creation groans as in the pains of childbirth until it will be reborn, until there is a new "genesis," a new beginning. That language reminds me of the Star Trek movie "The Wrath of Khan." I'm sure at least some of the younger generation have seen it. The heart of the movie centres on "the Genesis project," an invention that apparently has the capability of transforming a barren, dry, lifeless planet into a lush, green paradise. Towards the end of the movie the device is tested, and sure enough, it works. A dull, brown lifeless mass becomes a living planet in one of the most memorable scenes of the movie. Special effects show it all happening right before the viewer's eyes. To any who enjoyed that scene, let me just say this: you ain't seen nothin' yet! God's new creation will wonderfully surpass anything that any human being can dream or imagine.
But a greater aspect of God's kingdom will not simply be the healing of creation. It will be the healing of human beings, and of human relationships. The NT pictures a world enhanced, made joyful, by the removal of evil. The promise of the kingdom is that violence and oppression will be no more, that there will be no more sickness or crying or war. What wonderful news that is for those who suffer. It is such good news that Jesus asks us to share it with the world. All who receive the good news of the kingdom in this life, through repentance and faith, will participate in God's reign. And the greatest thing of all is the reason why God's kingdom will be so glorious–the Lord our God will live directly with us, we will be God's people, and God himself will tenderly wipe away every tear from our eyes. Even now God waits for us, God has thrown open the gates of the Kingdom and longs to receive us, that we may know the fullness of his grace, forgiveness, and love. Nothing less than that is the promise of Advent. During this season the church is reminded of the goal of her life journey.
Waiting: Let's move on. Advent is not only about remembering God's promise; it is equally about encouraging one another to wait for God's promise. We need to encourage one another because at times it may seem like the promise is no more than a pipe dream. Twenty long centuries have passed since Jesus told his disciples, "Keep a constant watch...the Kingdom of God is near." It is human nature to begin to doubt a promise if it is slow in coming. The early church herself began to doubt the promise when it didn't occur after 30 or 40 years. People began to scoff at those Christians who continue to hold out hope. If they needed encouragement, how much more do we who live two thousand years later, in a culture that is accustomed to instant gratification? Peter's words to the skeptics in the early church are equally valid today: "do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:8-9).
Even those words may not comfort those of us who are more prone to doubt or cynicism. The world remains a mess, we may say, so let's not focus our energy on an ancient promise. Forget the promise, it may come, it may not, but what is important is the work we have to do now, in the present. We can't expend emotional energy waiting and longing for an uncertain future. God's people shouldn't encourage one another to wait for that promise, they should encourage one another to be active.
But a second look at the Bible will show that God's people have always been characterized as those who have waited for God's promises to be fulfilled. It seems God gives his people promises to test and strengthen their faith. To begin with, ancient Israel was given the promise of a land all her own, but then the people found themselves as slaves in Egypt for 400 years. Even after the great exodus, Israel still had to wander for 40 years in the wilderness, and many began to doubt if there even was a promised land. It always seemed just over the horizon. But then, one day, Moses was the first to see it. On a lonely hilltop God allowed him to survey the land of promise, and so Moses could die in peace. Even though he himself did not enter in, he knew his people would. Many centuries afterward the people of Israel were taken out of the promised land into captivity in Babylon. Again God gave a promise that they would one day return home. After many years and decades passed, doubters and scoffers again arose, but history tells us that God once again kept his promise. But the greatest promise of the Old Testament was the one that the people had to wait for the longest, the promise of a Messiah who would deliver Israel. Already to Moses the seed of that promise was given. The promise grew and developed over the centuries, but it was not fulfilled until thirteen or fourteen hundred years had passed. All of the longing and expectation of those centuries is encapsulated in the figure of old Simeon, who held the newborn Messiah in his arms in the temple. Surely that is one of the most precious scenes in the Bible. Luke writes of Simeon that he was righteous and devout, and that he eagerly expected the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. Even after all those centuries had passed. As he cradled the baby Jesus in his arms, he said, "Lord, now I can die in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation." Brothers and sisters, as surely as these promises came to pass, so too will the greatest of them all, the return of the King with his Kingdom. And we will see God's salvation, perhaps before we die, perhaps after it. But even if we should die first, we too can die in peace. For the new Advent is just over the horizon, and it is coming, and it cannot be stopped, for so God has promised.
Waiting for this promise is what Advent is all about. We don't enter into the true spirit of Advent until we enter into the waiting and the longing of ancient Israel for the promised Messiah to come. During Advent we celebrate the birth of Jesus, which encourages us to wait for the rebirth of all creation when our Lord comes again. So don't take your eyes off of the horizon, the best is yet to come. Dare to wait, dare to dream, dare to be like Simeon, dare to hope for the consolation of all creation.
Waiting Influences Living: Before we close, there is one last question we must answer: What difference does it make if we wait for God's promise or not? If it is coming, let it come. Yes, we agree it is wonderful good news, but as we asked earlier, why spend emotional energy longing and watching for something that may not even happen in our lifetime? After all, we don't live in the future, we live in the present, with all of its challenges and problems and demands on our time. If we keep our eye on the horizon, won't we become too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good? Isn't it better to keep ourselves grounded and not occupy ourselves with such lofty things?
I think the way to begin answering that series of questions is to remember some of the words which Jesus spoke, as recorded by Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount: "Where your treasure is," Jesus said, "there will your heart be also" (Mt. 6:21). In other words, hope and heart are closely connected. What we long for influences what we love, and what we love influences how we live. There is a direct relationship between our hopes or our dreams and the way we live our lives. If the coming Kingdom of God means everything to us, if a vision of God's future has captivated our hearts, then in the present our actions will naturally line up with the value of God's kingdom. If we long for justice, we will seek to make things right. If we long for peace, we will work for peace. If we long for healing, we will live as healers. If we can't wait to enjoy the direct presence of our loving God with us, we will want to invite others into the kingdom so that they too may bask in God's mercy and grace.
But the opposite is also true. If God's greatest promise has not captured our hearts, then something else will. Then we will not live for God's kingdom, but for something else. This is the very thing Jesus warns about in our passage from Luke: "Watch out! Don't let me find you living in careless ease and drunkenness, and filled with the worries of this life. Don't let that day catch you unaware, as in a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth. Keep a constant watch" (Lk. 21:34-36a, NLT). Now we hear that the day of grace we long for will also be a day of judgment. The ones judged will be the ones who don't hold the King and his Kingdom as the greatest treasure in their hearts. They are the ones who don't pay any attention to God's promise. Instead, other treasures captivate them. They are caught up in the pursuit of comfort and pleasure, they are absorbed by earthly things, like money and possessions and recognition, and spend their time chasing after temporary things, rather than eternal ones. They scoff at God's promise, saying, "Look at the state of the world. How can you possibly expect peace on earth?" But one day, as Jesus says, the courage of these people will falter when the Son of Man arrives with great power and glory. No wonder the apostle Paul writes to the Colossians, "Set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God's right hand in the place of honour and glory. Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth" (Col. 3:1-2, NLT).
It is those who wait for God's promise who will indeed find its fulfilment to be a day of grace. To all who wait with longing, Jesus says, "Stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (Lk. 212:28). We have a choice–we can either look up and be transformed by the beauty of the coming vision, or we can look down, and become absorbed in the affairs of the world. The poet Frederick Langbridge expresses the choice well: "Two men look out through the same bars, One sees the mud, and the other sees the stars" (as recorded in The Journey, p.126, by Alister McGrath). May we be those who look up, who lock our hopes onto the future rather than allowing them to become too heavily entangled with the temporary realities of this passing world.
Conclusion: I want to conclude with part of a message delivered by John Stott. He tells the story "of a young man who found a five-dollar bill on the street and who ‘from that time on never lifted his eyes when walking. In the course of years he collected 29,516 buttons, 54,172 pins, 12 cents, a bent back, and a miserly disposition.' But think what he lost. He couldn't see the radiance of the sunlight, and sheen of the stars, the smile on the faces of his friends, or the blossoms of springtime, for his eyes were in the gutter. There are too many Christians like that," writes Stott. Then he adds: "We have important duties on earth, but we must never allow them to preoccupy us in such a way that we forget who we are or where we are going" (as recorded in The Journey, p. 130). Brothers and sisters, something is coming, just over the horizon. And it cannot be stopped. And it will come. For God has promised. The fullness of God's kingdom is coming, and our true home is with the King. Therefore let us wait patiently for God's promise, and place all of our hope in our trustworthy Lord. For even as we set our hearts firmly on the great hope of the future, we will also find that our lives here on earth are transformed. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Mt. 5:6). Amen.