Advent and Parousia

STILL ANTICIPATING: 27 DEC 2009, Bagram, Afghanistan

A young preacher was trying to get a job at a church and found himself before the board, answering their multitude of questions. "What is your favorite part of the Bible?" "I'd have to say the parables." "Which parable is your favorite?" "I'd have to say the Good Samaritan." “Well, Sam, will you tell us the parable of the Good Samaritan?” He says, “Yes, sir, I will, sir. Once there was this man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. And he fell among thorns. And the thorns sprung up and choked him. And he went on and he didn’t have no money. And he met the queen of Sheba. And she gave him 1,000 talants of gold and 100 changes of raiment. And he got into a chariot and drove furiously. And when he was driving under a big juniper tree, his hair caught on the limb of that tree and he hung there many days. And the ravens brought him food to eat and water to drink. And he ate 5,000 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. One night, when he was hanging there asleep, his wife, Delilah, came along and cut off his hair and he dropped and fell on stony ground. But he got up and went on. And it began to rain. And it rained and rained for 40 days and 40 nights. And he hid himself in a cave, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. Then he went on until he met a servant who said, ‘Come take supper at my house.’ And he made an excuse and said, ‘No, I won’t. I married a wife and I can’t go.’ And the servant went out in the highways and in the hedges and compelled him to come in. After supper he went on and come on down there to Jericho. And when he got there, he looked up and he saw that old queen, Jezebel, sitting down way up high on a window. And she laughed at him. And he said, ‘Throw her down out there.’ And they threw her down out there. And he said, ‘throw her down again.’ And they threw her down 70 times 7. And of the fragments that remained they picked up 12 basketfuls beside women and children. And they say ‘blessed are the piece makers’. Now whose wife do you think she will be on the judgment day?” (Open source online. No author attributed.)

INTRO: We’ve just completed the Advent Season – but many of you did not grow up in a church that used the word „Advent,” or, like me, did not grow up in church at all. Put simply, the word, „Advent” is applied to our wait, our anticipation, of the coming of one of the most magnificent events in human history – the birth of Immanuel, God with us – in the flesh, Yeshua – „The Lord Saves!” Meshiach – „The Anointed One,” who would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

We’ve surrounded the occasion with so many cultural implications, that sometimes it is difficult to tell what is what and which of our practices of celebrating Christ’s birth is correct. My eldest daughter has a friend whose parents go to a „Messianic Christian” church, whose pastor professes that Christmas is based in pagan roots and so he teaches that they should celebrate Channukah, instead of Christmas. I won’t go into the oddness of this juxtaposition, but it illuminates how strained some perceptions of Christmas celebration practices might be.

Some funnier issues surrounding our misunderstandings include questions like: „How many wise men were there?” „What were their names?” (Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar) Which store did they get their gifts at – Target or Walmart? What did a Bethelehem stable look like? How long did the Christmas story take to unfold? (about 2 years) What day is Jesus’ Birthday?

A better set of questions surrounding Jesus’ birth and early life has been posed by pastor and author Max Lucado, who had several questions for Mary:

QUESTIONS FOR MARY
Max Lucado: A Sample of 25 Questions for Mary
What was it like watching him pray?
When he saw a rainbow, did he ever mention a flood?
Did you ever feel awkward teaching him how he created the world?
When he saw a lamb being led to the slaughter, did he act differently?
Did you ever try to count the stars with him . . . and succeed?
Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was asleep under your own roof?
Did you ever accidentally call him father?
What did he and his cousin John talk about as kids?
Did you ever think, That’s God eating my soup?

However, amidst all of these and other cultural impositions on the real nativity story, whether beautiful or silly, the word Advent, which means „coming” in Latin, directs us each year toward the sense of longing, the sense of need, the sense of excitement and anticipation felt by generations of faithful people who awaited their deliverer. Simeon’s is one such story:
Luke 2:25-31 25Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss[d] your servant in peace.
30For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
32a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."
33The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

I’m not sure, but perhaps the writer of Hebrews had this statement of Simeon in mind when he penned the words of that book:
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Have you paused to think about that? Simeon has waited faithfully unto old age for the revelation of the Messiah, only to see him and speak to Mary words seemingly AGAINST her son – “a sign that will be spoken against” and “A sword will pierce your own soul, too.” You see Mary, like the rest of us, would one day have to wrestle with the same issue of salvation that you and I have face – or perhaps still face: Is Jesus MY Messiah? Is he MY savior? The child she bore and raised, she would one day have to call “Master,” “Savior,” and “Lord.”

The whole point of us practicing Advent is not to await nice presents, or as I have heard, to share a season where, regardless of your faith, we can all just get along. The point of Advent is that we practice the anticipation of waiting on the coming of our very salvation – of participating with the prophets, priests, kings and faithful ones of all of history before Christ, in the awe and wonder of the fulfillment of dozens of prophecies of the one who would reconcile God and man. And Simeon was there, faithfully witnessing to having seen God’s salvation, The Consolation of Israel!

Remember, Peter himself later told us that it was for us that the prophets spoke, it was for people like Simeon, and like you and me, that all of the testimony of Ancient Scripture was written, to reveal the truth of the coming, the Advent, of Salvation:

1 Peter 1:10-13
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

[Jill Carratini (RZIM – devotional in “Slice of Infinity”) corrected from original article from Australian news media]
In 2006, an Australian mining town experienced a dramatic rescue. An earthquake shook the mines outside the town, collapsing miles-long tunnels, killing one miner and trapping two others 3000 feet beneath the earth’s surface. For days that would drag into two weeks, teams of miners bore through tons of rock; rescuers could only work one at a time on their backs in a cramped rescue tunnel, using hand-held tools to avoid caving. Meanwhile, the two trapped miners huddled into a four foot-tall cage, sharing only a single cereal bar and water they literally licked from the walls of the mine from their cage. They could only sit and wait for rescuers to break through rock they knew was five times harder than concrete. Five days after the earthquake, the trapped miners began to hear the sounds of their rescuers. Six days later, the miners were located, contact was made, and food and drink was finally passed via a long tube that had been bored into their location. Fourteen days after the accident, over 300 hours of waiting for rescue, the two miners were freed. Bill Shorten, national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, said "This is the great escape. This is the biggest escape from the biggest prison."

I try not to think too long on what it would’ve been like, trapped thousands of feet beneath the surface, wondering, hour by hour, day by day, if rescue would come in time. Neither can I begin to imagine what it would be like to be freed after such an ordeal. Over seventy years before this mining incident, from a pulpit in London, Dietrich Bonhoeffer described the image of a man trapped after a mining disaster: Deep in the earth, dark as night, the man is cut off and alone. The supply of oxygen is limited. Food, water, and options are scarce; silence and fear are not. He knows his situation, and he can do nothing but wait. "He knows that up there, the people are moving about, the women and children are crying—but the way to them is blocked. There is no hope." But what if just then, in the distance, the sounds of tapping are heard—the sound of knocking, the sound of friends, the sound of deliverance?

This, said Bonhoeffer in December of 1933, is the hope of Advent: the coming of a deliverer, the drawing near of God to humankind, the arrival of Christ our rescuer.
(End quote from Slice)

He also made another great statement: “A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes... and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

So, like Simeon, we practice waiting for that release from the bondage, the prison of sin. We wait for the coming of the one who will free us. We wait with that same sense of awe and wonder – hopefully – that Simeon and multitudes of the faithful before him waited. And like Simeon and Mary, and like Jesus’ brothers and like his disciples, like Paul and like everyone since that first Christmas, a sword must pierce our own souls, too – dividing down to soul and spirit, joints and marrow, judging our darkest thoughts, our most unbecoming attitudes. We each are pressed with the same question Jesus’ disciples faced: „Who do you say that I am?” Is he a great prophet? Is he Elijah come back? Is he a nice teacher with good words? Is he the greatest man that ever lived? Or is He truly Lord and Savior? Did you need rescue and was He the One who brought you up out of the pit?

If you can say, with me, that He is indeed both Savior and Lord, and if you show your love of Him through a life of obedience, then let me share with you a perspective that Jesus’ followers would one day take on for themselves.

When my now-fourteen-year-old daughter, Juli, was just about two, I used to use her as a living illustration. When I talked about worship, I spoke of our approach to God as little children, just as Jesus has said, „Let the little children come to me, don’t stop them: for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” I would remind people of our place before our Heavenly Father and encourage them: Worship God with all that you are – run to Him, jump up in His arms – He desires your unrestrained worship. And then I would turn to Juli, her blonde, curly hair standing out in all directions, her little, black, satin dress and black patent shoes – and I would call, „Juli!” Her big blue eyes would snap quickly and lock on mine and, in front of one hundred adults, I would tell her, „Come give Daddy a hug.” Without questioning, without looking for approval from others, without a moment’s hesitation, she jumped from her mother’s lap and ran across the 30 or so feet to me.

Now, did I stand straight up and demand that she jump all the way up to me? No, I knelt on the ground in front of that audience, with no hesitation, and received that entire, 30-lb ball of love and excitement into my arms as she lept onto me and squeezed my neck as hard as she could. I had to take a moment to gather myself, and then would point out that this is what God intended for His children. And he doesn’t demand that we come up to His level to receive the greeting, rather He has already, in His Son, Jesus, come down to ours.

Brothers and sisters, I am going home in a little over a month. When I get to whatever reception they have for us, I am not going to stand aloof from my family. I am not going to demand that they observe a bunch of rules to gain my affection. No, I tell you I am going to run to them. Now, I don’t need to stoop or kneel anymore – and I can tell you that I will have to brace myself, especially for my 12-year-old boy, Hunter, who has grown so much in the last year that he doesn’t realize how big and strong he is, and for my 9-year-old boy, Jadin, who though small, will still try to use all of his size and velocity to knock me down. My girls, Caitlin and Juli, long past the toppling Daddy phase, will gently come up and find a place amidst the boys to insert themselves.

Isn’t that the picture of relationship? Isn’t that the picture of homecoming? Isn’t that the picture of the end result of great anticipation, of a great and terrible waiting, of the longing of the heart for one you know is coming soon?

Brothers and sisters, do you feel this longing, this sense of urgency for the return of Jesus at His Second Advent? He is coming again, we have been repeatedly promised. You and I share this desire, this longing for reunion, if we are constantly on the lookout for His return. Do you feel it? Do you have the same sense of anticipation with the promise of His return that you have had for so many years for the First Advent, the one we call Christmas? Has it not been explained to you that he will come again?

Jesus Himself told us about it, and Matthew tells us (Matt. 24):
26"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
30"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

Paul tells the Thessalonian Church to encourage one another with the understanding that the same Christ of Christmas, the same One who 33 years later died on a Roman cross, only to rise again from the dead on the third day – that Christ would return a second time, this time to bring about the perfect unification of His people with Himself:

(1 Thess. 4:13-17)
13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

To the Corinthian Church, Paul writes of that day (1 Cor. 15:51-53):
51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

Brothers and Sisters, do you long for that day? In the midst of this war-torn country, with all of the death and injustice strewn everywhere, in every valley and by every roadside, can you feel the longing, the anticipation for His return with power. You see, another word, Parousia, is used to talk of the RETURN OF CHRIST WITH POWER. He who went silently to his own death, the lamb for sinners slain, will not return as a silent lamb, but His return will be with GREAT POWER and with Shouts and Trumpets and the great, rumbling sound of the Armies of Heaven – The Lamb once vanquished will return the Lion, victorious! The powers of Death, Hell and the Grave under his feet, the reign of Satan at an end. John the Revelator speaks of His triumphant return:

REVELATION 19
11I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter."[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Brothers and Sisters, if you cannot feel the hoofbeats or hear that mighty shout, if in your deepest longings you cannot feel the anticipation or if in your dreams you cannot picture that rider on the white horse, whose name is Faithful and True, then bear with me for one more description, again by John, of what your future home holds in store:

REVELATION 21
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Brothers and Sisters, I do not know if after this day I will be back at this pulpit, so I make perhaps one final plea to each of you. Let this sword pierce your own soul, too! Let it divide to soul and spirit, joint and marrow – feel it judge the thoughts and attitudes of your heart – let it see if there be any wicked way in you.

7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4)

I have buried too many people on this tour, sent too many men home in caskets, seen too many warriors break down after losing a comrade to fail to get this message to you. Christ came once before and we celebrate the humility and frailty of the Christ-child at Christmas. But in Eternity, if you choose to join me, we will celebrate the Second Advent, the Return of The King in POWER AND MAJESTY. If that Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, is piercing your heart today, do not withhold yourselves from Him at this moment.

Close.
Band Played “Revelation Song.”

CH (MAJ) Chris Bassett
Bagram, Afghanistan
27 DEC 2009
bassettc@comcast.net