"When all these things begin to happen, stand up straight and lift high your heads, for your liberation is coming near." (Luke 21:28)For the last several weeks the most popular film in America has been 2012. Its premise is the end of the 5,000 year Mayan cycle of time, and the unimaginable catastrophe that ensues for the whole earth. Will a remnant of the human race make it off this doomed planet? Will we learn that what makes us one human race is far more important than what divides us as tribes and countries and languages? I don't know. I haven't seen it yet.
Why do we flock to the theater to see actors and actresses in hopeless situations? Paradoxically, I think that we go see these stories of hopelessness to renew our hope. Real life will never lack for reasons to hope compared to the stories we see on the screen. On the other hand, reason to hope in the real world is in short supply right now. We may hope that after eight years, we might yet be able to claim "victory" in Afghanistan and Iraq, whatever that may look like. We may hope that we might be able to keep borrowing our wealth from China and the rest of the world before the debt we're running up becomes unsustainable. We may hope that our community might stop changing and we can have our town the way it used to be. I suspect that we might be more drawn to disaster movies than usual this year because we really need reasons to hope in the real world. And if hope can be found amid the catastrophe in the theater, then perhaps we can find hope amid the News of our TVs.
Jesus's followers were looking for reasons to hope. But they were even worse off. Jesus had just ripped away their most solid reason for hope. Just before today's Good News, or Gospel, reading: Jesus has just told them that the Temple in Jerusalem, their greatest assurance of God's presence and favor, will be destroyed. And for those disciples who first heard this Good News, this was not a movie. By the time this Gospel was written, the Romans had besieged Jerusalem, conquered the holy city, and reduced its temple to rubble. If Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed savior of Israel, then what reason is there for his followers to hope for the "redemption" He says is coming near?
And yet, that is exactly what Jesus calls his followers to hope for, to trust that their "redemption is drawing near." You might have noticed that I use the words, "Gospel" and "Good News" interchangeably, because they're saying the same thing. "Redemption" is another one of those church words that begs for translation into everyday English. It means release, rescue, liberation. Jesus promises that though stars may fall, nations be confused, and people faint from terror, his disciples' liberation is coming near. But their hope cannot be based on military destruction, the acquisition of money and worldly comforts, or the enactment of a political platform.
Their hope is based on Jesus, the Son of Man, who will come in a cloud. But Jesus has already come in a cloud. When he was transfigured, and the fullness of his blinding glory was glimpsed, a cloud overshadowed him. And of course, those hearing this Good News knew of his resurrection, his triumph over death. So, what is Luke referring to here when he writes of the Son of Man "coming in a cloud with power and great glory"? Is this a reference to how he has already come, in his transfigured glory and resurrection, or how he will come again in the fullness of his power and glory?
It means both, his first and second coming. We know that the risen Jesus has changed the standard of "success" in this world. And by his resurrection, we have every reason to hope for our liberation from the futile struggle for personal success. Wealth, power, independence, a satisfied appetite: None of those last. Strange as it may seem, the most reasonable hope that we have is the one that is not based on any standard of success that we can measure. Our standard and our hope is Jesus; who came to us, who died and rose for us, and who is coming again, into our hearts. And on that, we have reason to hope.
With Jesus Christ as our standard, we also have reason to hope that the whole world will be liberated from envy, hatred, violence, destruction and death. And we are called to live out that hope on Sand Mountain, in Alabama, and in America in 2010. In the weeks ahead, we will be forming new foyer groups, dedicated to the ministry and mission of this Parish. One will focus on our ministry to each other, our pastoral care for each other. The other will focus on our outreach, our ministry and service to the world around us. In both cases, we will work to give those being served reason to hope, that in spite of sickness and poverty, everlasting life is within their reach, thanks to Him who was crucified for us and is risen for us. It must be through us that Jesus Christ gives reason to hope to the hopeless.
I have my own idea for a disaster flick. Call it AAA 2010, as in Albertville, Alabama, America, next year. Imagine the leaders of the nations in total confusion. Imagine the people fainting in fear. And when "all these things begin to happen, stand up straight and lift high your heads, for your liberation is coming near."
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