• Jeremiah 33:14-16

This excerpt from the prophecy of Jeremiah, (which is not included in the Septuagint), extends God’s ancient covenant with David into an explicit promise: a “righteous Branch to spring up from David….”  This new act of God will be identifiable by “justice and righteousness in the land.”

• Psalm  25:1-9

The psalmist confesses her faith, she trusts in and is instructed by the Lord.  She regrets her youthful indiscretions, but expresses confidence that the Lord teaches and guides the humble.

• I Thessalonians 3:9-13

Paul begins this letter to the church in Thessaloniki, as he does so frequently, by expressing thanksgiving  for God’s work through him and through the recipients of his letter.  He includes a major, recurring theme in Paul’s writings  and throughout the Second Testament, Christ’s return– “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”

• Luke 21:25-36

Following Mark’s apocalyptic writing (Chapter 13), Luke likewise includes elements that had become part of early Christian preaching and teaching with an illustrative reminder from nature.  We should not be surprised when chaos threatens the natural world or  human affairs.  At the height of crisis, “the Son of Man” will appear.  He will come on, in and surrounded by clouds, the sure sign of God’s action, (Exodus 16:10; Matthew 17:5; Revelation 1:7, etc.).  Those who trust in God can greet these happenings not with fear, but anticipation– “your redemption is drawing near.”  Jesus then reminds his listeners of the natural cycle of trees: when they bud we know it’s spring and full leaves of summer will inevitable follow.  Just as reliably, “when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”  Luke repeats the customary belief that contemporary generations would live through these experiences.  But be assured, he writes, that even when it seems as if everything is on the verge of collapse, God still asserts: “my words will not pass away.”  So, do not get overwhelmed by worries and anxieties.  “Be alert at all times.”

Biblical texts describe in detail the whole range of human behavior.  Murder, betrayal, incest, greed and every known human vice occur in the biographies of individuals, and sometimes continue for many generations of descendants in the Bible.  War, threat of war, financial collapse,  every trick known to humankind to exploit the poor and other behaviors that threaten the social order are also bluntly recorded.  However, woven into this dismal record of human behavior is a bright gold thread of promise from God.  With the same matter-of-factness with which the chaos of life is recorded, the biblical texts discover and report this permanent promise.

In his masterpiece, Mimesis, Erich Auerbach notes a unique trait in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, which “created an entirely new kind of sublimity, in which the everyday and the low were included, not excluded, so that in style as in content, it directly connected the lowest with the highest.” (p.154)

The most daring claim made in the biblical narratives is that chaos, inflicted by human behavior as well as caused by natural disasters, may be unavoidable, but they are not the final thing to be reported.  Even total annihilation may seem imminent, (recall the readings, psalms and gospels and commentary for the last two Sundays).  At such times that seem to be the penultimate stage, “People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming into the world…”  in Luke’s words.  Without missing a beat, however, in the very next sentence he writes, “then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.”  The appropriate reaction of those who trust God is clear, Luke continues: stand up, raise your head, because your redemption is near.

It is precisely when chaos and threats to personal and social survival are at their most intense and we can become frozen with fear that biblical texts always make their most daring assertions–  This is not annihilation!  Do not give into fear and panic!  As our history with God testifies, this is not the last word!  There is always one more thing that must be said!  The last words are words of life-giving hope!

Inspired by Jurgen Moltmann’s work, Paul Ricoeur writes:

“...hope begins as ‘a-logical’.  It effects an irruption into a closed order; it opens up a career for existence and history.  Passion for the possible, mission and exodus, denial of the reality of death, response of superabundance of meaning to the abundance of non-sense– these are so many signs of the new creation whose novelty catches us, in the strict sense, unawares.” (The Conflict of Interpretations, p.411)

This is the ultimate word, which must be reported: “my word will not pass away….”  When everyone has had her or his say about how awful things are, someone needs to repeat God’s promise.  This always ushers in something new.  Be alert, engaged, committed, busy “at all times….”  This is the mood, attitude, stance of the church to prepare to celebrate Christ’s first coming and inaugurate the annual re-telling of that compelling story, which includes the promise of his second coming.