The Uniqueness of our Advent Hope
The Rev. Robert P. Travis
1st Sunday of Advent Sermon – 8:00 and 10:30am
Church of the Ascension, Knoxville TN
RCL Advent 1 Year A 11/28/2010
Text: Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:36-44
The welcome we look forward to
In the prophecy of Isaiah is fantastic!
People of all nations will stream
to the mountain of the Lord
like a river in the Smokey Mountains
Pouring over and around the rocks and other obstacles
Streaming into that holy city
Where all will be made new.
Some would find it scandalous,
That people of such diversity would all be welcomed,
Into the city of God.
And many who come shall say
“come let us go up to the mountain
of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths."
They’re not inviting us to go up there
So that we can be judged by human standards
Or where we will discover that we had it right all along
It is a place where we can learn to walk in his paths.
But wait!
I thought that was what we are supposed to be doing here,
In this life, right now, learning to walk in his paths?
Well this is a message of hope,
And it stands there as a way of understanding
The message in the gospel,
Which so often is used in a rather hopeless way
Of dividing the worthy from the unworthy.
You know,
That message from Jesus, describing the time
Of his return, is often interpreted these days
As a biblical proof that there will be a rapture,
Where the worthy will be whisked away,
While the unworthy will remain in torment
While a great tribulation occurs on the earth.
This view is made popular in the Left Behind books,
And movies, and is commonly taught in many
Evangelical churches around the world.
If one were new to the Christian faith,
One might believe that the rapture theology
was the only traditional way to understand
our view of the end times.
But in reality this view has only been around
for about a hundred and fifty years.
It was a nineteenth century invention by some scholars,
Who wanted to synthesize the variety of end-times
Prophecy that is found in the Bible.
For the history of Christianity,
150 years is a pretty new idea.
I was confronted with all this when I went to a recent
Gathering of some local Episcopal clergy,
And we heard one of our brother priests give a
Talk about a new book called,
“The Rapture Exposed.”
The author of that book argues that rapture discussions,
Where people commonly interpret Jesus’
Message of “two will be in the field,
One will be taken and the other left,”
as meaning that the faithful one will be taken away,
and the other left to suffer,
the author argues that this misses
the point in translation,
she argues that based on the historical context
“In Jesus’ day, people who were “taken” by the Romans
were usually taken to be
interrogated, imprisoned, judged, and/or executed
…
Plus, the context of this passage is in reference
to it being like the flood, where people were swept away,
or taken, by the flood.
Thus, Jesus’ hearers would have seen the one left standing
as the more preferable of the two.”
When I heard that I thought
Wow, that makes sense!
I wonder why so many are being mislead
By others who say
Faithful Christians will just vanish,
And the unfaithful will be left behind?
So I thought I was going to preach about that today,
And talk about the hope of the return of Christ,
As part of Advent,
And how we will all be left,
to enjoy His full return,
And welcome the remaking of the created order.
But then I decided to check some other sources,
As I usually do,
And I went to my German Bible,
The translation that Martin Luther made during the reformation,
And I found that the words translated from the Greek,
That we read as “taken,”
And “left,”
Have very different and very clear connotations.
The word for “taken” is aufgenommen,
Which means “gathered in”, or “received,”
That certainly doesn’t seem like the way
One would describe what would happen to those
Being swept away as unworthy.
And then the word for “left” is verworfen,
Which means discarded, or rejected.
That certainly is not the place I want to be in
When Christ returns, I’d rather be gathered in,
Received into the arms of the Lord.
So rather than being confirmed,
The new message I heard, was left unsettled,
And I struggled with what to preach about
This gospel message.
But it occurs to me, that this is in fact,
The blessing of being in the Episcopal Church,
In being a part of the Anglican tradition.
Because we are welcome in this Church to
Have discussions, and even controversy,
To disagree, even on the meaning of scripture,
And even to preach about things being not entirely
Decided in the Church.
We are a Church that invites every member to inquire,
And discern the truth of the gospel
Within their own hearts.
In fact we pray for every baptized Christian,
To be given an inquiring and discerning heart,
Not a heart that will simply receive teaching
As given, or believe because that’s what the
Church’s position on something is,
But to think about it, and work it through.
We understand what Paul means when he challenges
Believers to work out their own salvation
In fear and trembling, because there is a degree
Of anxiety in having to take responsibility
For your faith on your own.
And that is what freedom we have in this church,
And it is a wonderful thing!
The hope I see in recognizing that the debate
On the idea of the rapture is far from over,
Is that we are free to work this out in this church.
And I believe that is a valuable contribution,
That we make to the body of Christ in the world,
By representing the thoughtful church,
Where lay people are expected to come to their
Own understanding of their faith.
I think that is a brand of the faith worth spreading,
And it should not be drowned out,
just because ones with the stricter,
doctrinaire approach speak louder, or publish more.
This is the message of hope,
That I hear this morning in the prophecy of Isaiah,
Which goes against the notion that the rapture,
Ends the whole thing for those who have been faithful.
Those who are invited to the mountain of the Lord,
To the new Jerusalem,
To the holy city rising up above all the cities of humanity,
Are invited to go and learn from the Lord,
To learn to walk in his paths.
That means it’s not over then,
That we don’t finish learning
And growing just because we die,
Or just because Jesus returns and sets things right,
It becomes more wonderful, yes,
But we continue to learn and grow,
And become more and more what God made us to be.
That is an Episcopal version of heaven if I ever heard one.
Maybe Isaiah was an Episcopalian,
Ok I’m kidding,
But what I’m mainly trying to say here,
Is that this message of hope is a great way to begin this Advent season.
We are called to be different,
And we can rejoice in that difference,
When many of our Christian brothers and sisters,
Are going around this Advent, listening to Christmas
Music, and pretending like the season of Christmas
Starts on Thanksgiving, and ends on Christmas day,
We light our candles, week by week, one by one,
And sing “Oh Come, O Come, Emmanuel,”
And hold off on greening our church until Christmas Eve.
When they talk about the rapture as the end of the story,
We know that whatever happens,
and what exactly that will be isn’t even All that certain,
The journey of faith will continue, and the excitement
Of growing and learning will go on into eternity.
Our season of Advent is about the anticipation of Christmas, sure,
But it is also about looking forward
to the second coming of Christ,
and that is much more mysterious.
We like mystery in this Church,
and we like discussion,
We’re open to various interpretations,
And yet we can worship as one with all that diversity,
Rather than seeing a scandal,
We get excited about the idea
That all nations with all their diversity,
Will stream into the city of God in the end.
And that is a story worth sharing.
The Alpha Course is coming up,
Just two months from now.
Who do you know that would like to experience,
A different way of being Christian?
Who do you know,
who would like to discuss their doubts and misgivings,
In an atmosphere of acceptance and love?
Start thinking about who you would like to invite.
Because our faith is worth sharing,
And there are those who would not find Christ
Any other way.
1st Sunday of Advent Sermon – 8:00 and 10:30am
Church of the Ascension, Knoxville TN
RCL Advent 1 Year A 11/28/2010
Text: Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:36-44
The welcome we look forward to
In the prophecy of Isaiah is fantastic!
People of all nations will stream
to the mountain of the Lord
like a river in the Smokey Mountains
Pouring over and around the rocks and other obstacles
Streaming into that holy city
Where all will be made new.
Some would find it scandalous,
That people of such diversity would all be welcomed,
Into the city of God.
And many who come shall say
“come let us go up to the mountain
of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths."
They’re not inviting us to go up there
So that we can be judged by human standards
Or where we will discover that we had it right all along
It is a place where we can learn to walk in his paths.
But wait!
I thought that was what we are supposed to be doing here,
In this life, right now, learning to walk in his paths?
Well this is a message of hope,
And it stands there as a way of understanding
The message in the gospel,
Which so often is used in a rather hopeless way
Of dividing the worthy from the unworthy.
You know,
That message from Jesus, describing the time
Of his return, is often interpreted these days
As a biblical proof that there will be a rapture,
Where the worthy will be whisked away,
While the unworthy will remain in torment
While a great tribulation occurs on the earth.
This view is made popular in the Left Behind books,
And movies, and is commonly taught in many
Evangelical churches around the world.
If one were new to the Christian faith,
One might believe that the rapture theology
was the only traditional way to understand
our view of the end times.
But in reality this view has only been around
for about a hundred and fifty years.
It was a nineteenth century invention by some scholars,
Who wanted to synthesize the variety of end-times
Prophecy that is found in the Bible.
For the history of Christianity,
150 years is a pretty new idea.
I was confronted with all this when I went to a recent
Gathering of some local Episcopal clergy,
And we heard one of our brother priests give a
Talk about a new book called,
“The Rapture Exposed.”
The author of that book argues that rapture discussions,
Where people commonly interpret Jesus’
Message of “two will be in the field,
One will be taken and the other left,”
as meaning that the faithful one will be taken away,
and the other left to suffer,
the author argues that this misses
the point in translation,
she argues that based on the historical context
“In Jesus’ day, people who were “taken” by the Romans
were usually taken to be
interrogated, imprisoned, judged, and/or executed
…
Plus, the context of this passage is in reference
to it being like the flood, where people were swept away,
or taken, by the flood.
Thus, Jesus’ hearers would have seen the one left standing
as the more preferable of the two.”
When I heard that I thought
Wow, that makes sense!
I wonder why so many are being mislead
By others who say
Faithful Christians will just vanish,
And the unfaithful will be left behind?
So I thought I was going to preach about that today,
And talk about the hope of the return of Christ,
As part of Advent,
And how we will all be left,
to enjoy His full return,
And welcome the remaking of the created order.
But then I decided to check some other sources,
As I usually do,
And I went to my German Bible,
The translation that Martin Luther made during the reformation,
And I found that the words translated from the Greek,
That we read as “taken,”
And “left,”
Have very different and very clear connotations.
The word for “taken” is aufgenommen,
Which means “gathered in”, or “received,”
That certainly doesn’t seem like the way
One would describe what would happen to those
Being swept away as unworthy.
And then the word for “left” is verworfen,
Which means discarded, or rejected.
That certainly is not the place I want to be in
When Christ returns, I’d rather be gathered in,
Received into the arms of the Lord.
So rather than being confirmed,
The new message I heard, was left unsettled,
And I struggled with what to preach about
This gospel message.
But it occurs to me, that this is in fact,
The blessing of being in the Episcopal Church,
In being a part of the Anglican tradition.
Because we are welcome in this Church to
Have discussions, and even controversy,
To disagree, even on the meaning of scripture,
And even to preach about things being not entirely
Decided in the Church.
We are a Church that invites every member to inquire,
And discern the truth of the gospel
Within their own hearts.
In fact we pray for every baptized Christian,
To be given an inquiring and discerning heart,
Not a heart that will simply receive teaching
As given, or believe because that’s what the
Church’s position on something is,
But to think about it, and work it through.
We understand what Paul means when he challenges
Believers to work out their own salvation
In fear and trembling, because there is a degree
Of anxiety in having to take responsibility
For your faith on your own.
And that is what freedom we have in this church,
And it is a wonderful thing!
The hope I see in recognizing that the debate
On the idea of the rapture is far from over,
Is that we are free to work this out in this church.
And I believe that is a valuable contribution,
That we make to the body of Christ in the world,
By representing the thoughtful church,
Where lay people are expected to come to their
Own understanding of their faith.
I think that is a brand of the faith worth spreading,
And it should not be drowned out,
just because ones with the stricter,
doctrinaire approach speak louder, or publish more.
This is the message of hope,
That I hear this morning in the prophecy of Isaiah,
Which goes against the notion that the rapture,
Ends the whole thing for those who have been faithful.
Those who are invited to the mountain of the Lord,
To the new Jerusalem,
To the holy city rising up above all the cities of humanity,
Are invited to go and learn from the Lord,
To learn to walk in his paths.
That means it’s not over then,
That we don’t finish learning
And growing just because we die,
Or just because Jesus returns and sets things right,
It becomes more wonderful, yes,
But we continue to learn and grow,
And become more and more what God made us to be.
That is an Episcopal version of heaven if I ever heard one.
Maybe Isaiah was an Episcopalian,
Ok I’m kidding,
But what I’m mainly trying to say here,
Is that this message of hope is a great way to begin this Advent season.
We are called to be different,
And we can rejoice in that difference,
When many of our Christian brothers and sisters,
Are going around this Advent, listening to Christmas
Music, and pretending like the season of Christmas
Starts on Thanksgiving, and ends on Christmas day,
We light our candles, week by week, one by one,
And sing “Oh Come, O Come, Emmanuel,”
And hold off on greening our church until Christmas Eve.
When they talk about the rapture as the end of the story,
We know that whatever happens,
and what exactly that will be isn’t even All that certain,
The journey of faith will continue, and the excitement
Of growing and learning will go on into eternity.
Our season of Advent is about the anticipation of Christmas, sure,
But it is also about looking forward
to the second coming of Christ,
and that is much more mysterious.
We like mystery in this Church,
and we like discussion,
We’re open to various interpretations,
And yet we can worship as one with all that diversity,
Rather than seeing a scandal,
We get excited about the idea
That all nations with all their diversity,
Will stream into the city of God in the end.
And that is a story worth sharing.
The Alpha Course is coming up,
Just two months from now.
Who do you know that would like to experience,
A different way of being Christian?
Who do you know,
who would like to discuss their doubts and misgivings,
In an atmosphere of acceptance and love?
Start thinking about who you would like to invite.
Because our faith is worth sharing,
And there are those who would not find Christ
Any other way.
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