Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43
We are a week away from the beginning of
the Advent season, yet the lectionary prescribes Luke's account of Jesus' final
moments on the Cross, a reading we might think more appropriate for Lent than
for Advent! What strikes me more than
anything is the supposition we all probably share in the traditions of the
Church; that Jesus was born, He preached, He was killed, and then He was
resurrected - BUT - only in the "appropriate" calendar season! Because frankly, these "seasons"
are the only times we give these events much thought.
There is, however, a perpetual element
of Advent since the Resurrection of Messiah, a component of its life the Church
is compelled to always be mindful of. It
is our Lord's Word in The Revelation in which He declares: "I
am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to give to everyone according to
his work" (22:12 NKJV). This is the very spirit of Advent itself
which means "arrival". We are
"expecting" the return of Messiah.
But are we really?
Small children can afford to use the
calendar to count down to Christmas Day which means little more to them than when
new toys and games may be found under the tree - that is, children whose
parents have means to indulge a child's every whim. Grownups, however, - and particularly the
Church! - are charged with the responsibility of preparing children, young and
old, not for a rebirth of the Christ Child nor a visit from a jolly ol' elf but
rather living in and for the Covenant and the Gospel in preparing for the
Coming of Messiah. The vast and empty
pews across the churches of America suggests we've dropped the ball.
So the placement of Jesus' final moments
would be appropriate for the "season" such as it is so we are mindful
of what lies ahead for the Church and for all of humanity. A manger, dear friends, is not in our future - but there is
a KINGDOM; a Kingdom of untold riches which beckons us beyond ourselves and the
consumerist mentality that has overwhelmed our culture, poisoned our children's
minds, has invaded the Church, and has essentially come to define Christmas to
the point that the Promise Fulfilled by our Lord has become
an incidental afterthought - and the Promise
Forthcoming; no thought at
all. We must be constantly mindful
that Messiah came once to call us and to redeem us. He will return to judge us - perhaps
especially we who constantly throw His Name about so casually or give the jolly
ol' elf a more prominent place in our children's hearts during this particular
season.
The evidence of what I submit Christmas
has become is revealed in a demographic study which shows a vast majority of
those who live right in Magnolia's zip code area who are firmly entrenched (and
enslaved!) in a "high- or very high-risk" debt ratio situation.
This means the vast majority lives well outside its own means; and while
these individuals must take personal responsibility, the Church cannot afford
to ignore the dominant social message that demands personal satisfaction and
instant gratification even if it means walking willingly into the shackles of debt. This is NOT the message of the Cross or
Advent - and certainly not Christmas.
We will have our month-long fantasy
regardless of what is written in Scriptures or spoken from pulpits, but the
Church cannot - must not - ignore the reality which exists the other 11 months
of the year. There are so many who live
in constant fear and uncertainty, enslaved as they are to a merciless task
master who virtually owns them, the many who are perhaps only one paycheck or
one catastrophic illness away from financial disaster and even perhaps
homelessness. These many cannot possibly
live up to their fullest human and spiritual potential, bound as they are to
the merciless and utilitarian world which measures human value according to
social usefulness.
So the placement of Messiah's final
moments on this earth is a good way for the Church to get real, a good way for
the Church to reconnect to the essential promise from our Lord that for all we
are willing to faithfully endure
for His sake and for the sake of the Gospel, this is what lies ahead; an utter
rejection by the world in which we live, a rejection of the Eternal King and
His call to repentance and the fullness of life.
It is not the Cross itself that is
before us in that final moment - or should not be - because we should already be
freely and joyfully burdened with the Cross Jesus charged us to take up in choosing
to follow Him. It is the burden we should
freely share together as the Body of Christ.
Instead, the moment which is ahead for the faithful is the Assurance
from our Lord that "you will be with Me in Paradise". As I pointed out last week, this
Assurance is the one we like and have no problem with. It is those pesky "other" promises and
commandments we have flatly rejected, oftentimes in the very name of Jesus -
the One whose Name we so carelessly and incidentally - rather than purposefully
- toss about.
I have often wondered how many of those
"thousands" recorded in Acts would
have come to Christ if they could have known, really known, what was ahead for
them and what would come to be expected of them in spiritual growth and
accountability. Of course we always have
to remember that, like Peter's confession of Jesus as "the Messiah, the
Son of the living God", these confessions cannot come from human
sources.
Humans cannot make such a convicting argument
that other humans are compelled to believe. No human person possesses that
capacity alone. In fact we should recount
St. Stephen's speech in Acts 7 in
which he tells "The Story".
There is no record of any coming to faith in that moment. Rather the crowd which heard him reacted
angrily and aggressively in their rejection, and St. Stephen was murdered. The crowd clearly heard the words, but they refused
to listen to their own Story!
There are two points of interest in that
story; the reaction of those "convicted" (or accused), and St.
Stephen's vision just before his life was taken from him. No one likes to be "accused" of
anything, and no one likes to be told they could be wrong or misguided. Those who "accuse" us of anything
will not find themselves endeared to us, and we often react very strongly when
we stand "accused" - and we react rather aggressively when we are
"convicted". In this it is
very hard to distinguish ourselves from the crowd that took Stephen's life.
St. Stephen's vision, on the other hand,
is the essence of the Promise our Lord has made to His people - to Joshua as he
was preparing to lead Israel into the Promised Land, and to the Church itself
by Jesus just before He ascended into Heaven: "I will not forsake
you", and "I am with you to the very end of the
age". Both statements are unquestionably conditional (and I know many Christians
grind their teeth at this statement!).
We must be following and obeying and
doing and living faithfully in His Name and not exclusively for our own sakes -
for our Lord says plainly, "I am coming quickly, and My reward is
with Me to give to everyone according to his work". St. Stephen's vision in his final moments on
this earth was the fulfillment of our Lord's Promise, and Stephen was granted
the vision he would need to endure his last painful moments on this earth, to
remember he was not standing alone, that his faithfulness had not been
forgotten.
The common connection between these two
points is, ironically, the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit certainly gave Stephen this vision, this strength to endure
what we can only imagine as excruciating - if we can imagine this at all. Those who were unwilling to listen, unwilling
to repent, unwilling to change were as ignored by The Spirit as the
crowd ignored Stephen.
It is actually a lot like how modern
white America reacts to the genocide of the Native Americans and slavery in the
earlier days of this republic. There is
no denying the truthfulness of these events as these are matters of historical
record, yet it is very hard to hear because we simply cannot wrap our minds
around the human capacity evil and cruelty in our innate need to dominate our
world.
St. Paul's prayer and wish for the
Colossians, however, is what calls us to look higher and beyond our present
moment, beyond our own "world" as we know it. St. Paul does not suppose bad things will not
happen as so many modern "prosperity gospel" preachers do (though it
is hard to imagine Paul or our Lord would wish persecution and torture on the
faithful!). Rather St. Paul offers a
prayer of support and encouragement that the people of The Church be granted Divine
strength in the present reality, and "be prepared to endure [rather
than fight against] everything with patience" (Col
1:11) - just as our Lord did in His final moments.
Then when we arrive at "The
End" of our time, the end of our mission, the end of our journey we will
utter the simple prayer offered by the thief on the cross, "Jesus,
remember me." The assurance from
our Lord as we stand bloodied and broken for our faithfulness by a fallen world?
"Today
you will be with Me in paradise."
"Even so, come quickly, Lord
Jesus." In the name of the Father,
the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen.
