The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke.
Jesus said, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:25-36)
“When you see the leaves of a fig tree sprouting, then you know that summer is here. Likewise with these signs (strange things happening in the sky, and here on earth) you will know that God’s kingdom will soon be here.”
Well, I have seen the signs that Jesus will soon be here.
The Santas in the malls, the Christmas songs being played on the muzak, the Christmas decorations, the lights going up on rooftops, and the beginnings of the shopping frenzy that heralds the coming of Jesus at Christmastime – the signs are all around us.
I doubt though that a lot of those caught up in preparations for Christmas know or even care about the baby that began it all.
In fact, there is a move afoot to take Christ out of Christmas all together. I guess they will then call it ‘Thingmas.’
Unfortunately, for some, Christ has never been in Christmas.
The choir director of a church was looking for sheet music for that great hymn, “How Great Thou Art .‘ She went into a record store and asked the clerk, ”Do you carry any religious sheet music?” The clerk, who looked like a high school student, thought for a moment, and then said, “Look over there, some of the Christmas music might be religious.”
I’m beginning to think that Christmas is not so much to remind us of the coming of Jesus as to remind us that we have forgotten the Christmas message of the coming of Jesus.
In the reading from Luke’s Gospel above, Jesus is heard telling his friends about the time when he will come to rule the world – the time when the natural order of things will be abolished and a new world will come about.
He tells them that there will be strange portents in the skies. There will be a roaring of the sea and tides so loud that nations will not know what to do.
He says that people will be so frightened that they will faint from fear of what is happening. Every power, he says, will be shaken.
That doesn’t sound like Christmas, does it?
You might feel bad because you didn’t get the new ear buds you wanted, or the new computer. It might be very hurtful that you got a small kitchen appliance rather than that ring you have been waiting for, for years. That’s nothing to what we will feel like when that day comes.
It kind of makes you sober up for a minute, doesn’t it?
It kind of makes you pause a moment, there in the toy department of the Bay, or Toys R Us, and take stock for a minute.
When I was serving in the Air Force in Germany, I was on a base that supplied materiel to other bases.
There was at that time, a fear that the Soviet Union would attack the West, using nuclear weapons. There was a strategic defence that we weren’t party to, but we, on our base, knew our part in that defence. When the ‘alert’ went out, we were to head down to our storage areas, load up the trucks with all the supplies and head west – away from the trouble.
We would never know the day or time of a Soviet attack. So we were to be ready for the sound of the ‘alert’ at any time of the day or night.
The top people must have known something, though. They must have known we would never get attacked on a week-end, because half of the people weren’t there on a week-end.
The week-end would have been the ideal time for an attack, wouldn’t it? It would be the last thing on anyone’s mind – what with traveling, and being out celebrating, and just goofing off.
For similar reasons, I think the Christmas season, ironically, could be the time when God might just decide to send Jesus back and shake everybody up, real good.
The last thing your mind has on it, leading up to Christmas is Jesus, isn’t it?
What am I going to buy Aunt Betty? What is my spouse going to get me? I hope he/she keeps the receipt, so I can take it back. And what about the kids? They have so many toys, not to mention computers, and other electronics. They have so much it is hard to give them more. But we will.
And the parties. It is difficult to fit them all in. Celebrating. Celebrating. Celebrating.
Celebrating what? I am not so sure.
Boy, if God decides to come back during Christmas he would catch most of us on the hop, as it were.
Or the hip-hop if – I can get the Karaoke machine working right.
It will be just like Jesus said. “ Don’t spend all your time thinking about eating and drinking, or worrying about life. If you do the final day will suddenly catch you like a trap. That day will surprise everyone on earth.”
I think we have to keep things in perspective. Keep our minds on what is important in this world and recognise what is merely a passing fancy, or fad.
Last year’s VCR is being thrown out for this year’s DVD player. Last year’s Pentium 4 computer is bring thrown out for this year’s Centrino. Last year’s 27 inch TV is being thrown out for this year’s 30 inch flat plasma TV.
So keep perspective. Keep in mind what’s really important.
Well, you might ask, after all that, “What is important? “
Relationship is important.
That is our relationship with others – spouse, kids, our neighbors, whether local, or further north or in countries overseas, and most important, our relationship with God.
Without a relationship with God, those other relationships can be like this year’s fad. Here today and gone tomorrow.
Deeper, longer-lasting, mutually-loving human relationships flow out of a better relationship with God.
You can’t say you love your neighbour unless you love God, first.
A man went to his priest and asked forgiveness for having been unfaithful to his wife.
The priest rightly told him that forgiveness didn’t come so easily. If he were forgiven, just like that, he would just go out and do it again.
“No,” the priest said, “Your relationship with God is all wrong. And that leads to you having a bad relationship with your wife, and that leads to your adultery.”
“Fix up your relationship with God. Then you may stop doing those things that hurt him. Fix up your relationship with your wife, and then you may stop doing the things that hurt her.
“And when you have done that, you will be sure to be forgiven.
“You won’t hurt God if you love him and put him first, and likewise for your wife.”
How many times have we heard it said that Jesus told the experts in the law that the two laws that outshone all others were, one, to love God, and the other, to love your neighbour?
Put relationships right.
And it doesn’t cost money.
Buying bigger and more expensive gifts doesn’t make for bigger and better relationships. Sometimes the big gifts are given out of guilt.
Honesty, integrity, transparency, putting the other first and yourself last makes for better relationships, with both God and family.
Now, I know that putting yourself last is hard to do. Some people don’t even want to be second.
Leonard Bernstein was once asked which instrument was the hardest instrument to play. He replied, without hesitation, “Second fiddle. I can always get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm, or second French horn, or second flute, now that’s a problem. And yet if no-one plays second, we have no harmony.”
You see, everyone wants to be a star. The children of President Roosevelt ,who was known to like being up front at everything, said, ”Father always wanted to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.”
But you know, Jesus came from heaven to join a poor family, and to grow up and live as a poor man. He forsook everything to be one of the marginalised: to relate to those who needed love and acceptance.
He put himself last. He came to serve, as he said, not to be served.
He came to tell us about the great love that God has for us His children. And he showed that love supremely in his life and death.
We do need to keep that front and foremost in our hearts. We do need to keep that perspective on life, and not get lost in the season’s excesses.
When you are pushing your way through the Wal- Mart crowds, or Holt Renfrew’s more sedate crush, or when you are standing in the return line on Boxing Day, keep that in mind.
Don’t let go of it.
It’s your ticket to Paradise: the road to which is littered with discarded gifts, and yesterday’s fads, cast off regrets and forgiven sins.
If that day does happen to come, suddenly, whether cosmically – for us all, or is a personal ending – take Jesus at his word, stand up straight and be brave, for you will soon be set free.
And there is a longer guarantee on that, than you can get at any store this Christmas.
“The sky and earth won’t last forever, but my words will,” Jesus said.