Matthew
24:36-44
“...so too will be the coming of the Son
of Man,” Jesus says, “Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one
will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and
one will be left.” This vision of some people being taken and others being left
on earth was popularized over the last twenty years by a host of books, games,
and movies known as the Left Behind series. In which a future apocalypse
is depicted as a time when those who are deemed “real Christians” are taken up
to heaven leaving most everyone else, “the damned,” behind to face a literal
hell on earth.
For reasons that I don’t fully understand
this violent and distorted view of the end is gleefully embraced by some. While
most Christians in mainline traditions, Catholic, Lutherans, Episcopalians and
the like, consider such end time destruction scenarios as at best dark fiction
borne out of poor theology or just plain crazy talk. Certainly not the kind of
thing we talk about in church. At least, that is, not until Advent rolls
around. It’s rather ironic that at the beginning of every new church year,
which we celebrate today, the first Sunday in the season of Advent, we turn our
attention to thoughts about the end. And I don’t mean the end of the year, but
the end of time as we know it.
That’s because at the heart of Advent is
the message of coming. God coming to us in three distinct ways. The first
coming of God happen when God walked on this earth as Jesus of Nazareth. And
I’m sure that it’s not lost on anyone here that we will celebrate that coming
in just a few short weeks with the Feast of the Incarnation, better known to
most of us as Christmas.
But there’s more. God in Christ has also
promised to come again in a final coming - the coming of the Son of Man which
we hear about in our gospel reading today. And two things I’d like to note
about this. One is that contrary to popular belief, this passage isn’t
suggesting that the faithful ones are those who are taken. It’s actually just
the opposite, those who are left behind are blessed because, like Noah’s family,
they escape the great judgment. But before we go too far down that rabbit hole,
the second thing and more important thing to know is that this scripture is not
intended to be taken literally. The whole point Jesus is making here is that
his coming again will be completely unexpected. We will be going about our
business, working in the field, grinding mill, eating, drinking, and marrying
and Christ will come out of the blue.
But this isn’t supposed to be taken as a
threat. Jesus talks about the end of time not in order to fill us full of fear,
but full of hope. Hope that there is more to our story that what we have
already known and experienced. Hope that regardless of life is going, whether
this was the best Thanksgiving or the worst or somewhere in between, that this
is not all there is. Jesus proclaims the good news that whatever our story and
struggle, it is enfolded into God’s greater story and salvation. For God is our
Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our end. And because that is so, no matter
what is going on in this world - in the grand scheme of things or in our own
individual lives - in God’s time, a time that no one knows except the Father,
the Son of Man will come in the power of love and all will be made well.
That’s the hope of the second coming of
God. But in the meantime, the time in which we live - the time where Christ has
already come, but clearly the fullness of that salvation has yet to be
completely realized - God still promises to come. So the call goes out to stay
awake, alert, ready.
But how exactly do we do that? Well,
understanding the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon may help us in this matter.
Baader-Meinhof, also known as the frequency illusion, describes what we’ve all
probably experienced multiple times in our lives. It’s when we stumble upon
something new - at least it seems new to us - and then it seems to crop up
everywhere. Like say you start thinking about getting a blue car because it
would be something different. But now that the idea of a blue car is at the
forefront of your mind all of a sudden you start seeing all these blue cars on
the road. You never knew there we so many blue cars. Or let’s say you go see a
movie about gorillas and then in the days following you notice gorillas
everywhere - in stores you shop, in the commercials you watch, in the print you
read. This is the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. And it happens not necessarily
because you’ve really come across more instances of blue cars or hairy
gorillas. More likely, they were always there, but just went unnoticed. The way
science explains this is that when our brains are stimulated by a new piece of
information it triggers selective attention. The brain subconsciously thinks,
"Hey, that's awesome! I'm going to look for that new thing without
actually thinking about it." And lo and behold you now see it. It’s a
waking up to what’s been there all along.
And that’s exactly what Jesus is calling
for today. For us to wake up and see what’s been there all along - God’s loving
and active presence in our daily lives. How God comes in the ordinary and the
routine and we don’t notice. Well, no more, Jesus says. No more of that. From
here on out pay attention. See the ways that God is coming. For God will show
up today - in the midst of the hustle and bustle, the messy and chaotic, even
in the mundane and routine. And how will you know that God has come? Because in
some way grace or peace or mercy or love will reveal itself to you. Expect it.
Be ready for it. And make note of it so that your brain becomes more attentive
to seeing all the ways the Holy Spirit moving in this world. Because it has
been there all along. So wake up and live each day in the wonderful hope of
God’s coming - today, tomorrow, and forever.
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