Sunday Homily - December 2nd, 2018 - Christ Is Indeed Coming

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ Coptic Icon

I.

One day, a local Roman Catholic priest
   and his friend, an Evangelical pastor,
      were standing on the side of a road with signs that read,
        "The end is near! Repent! Turn around before its too late!"
            And their plan was to show these signs to every car that passed by.

First vehicle: a big red Dodge Ram truck drives their direction.
   "The end is near! Repent! Turn around before its too late!"
   The driver, with eyes locked with these religious leaders, yells,
      "We don't need your crazy religious preaching!"
           and sped on past these two ministers on the road.
              There were screeching tires and a loud "splash."

Second vehicle: a Prius hybrid, young woman behind the wheel.
   She looks at these ministers, and the ministers wave the signs.
   "The end is near! Repent! Turn around before its too late!"
      She quickly averts her eyes from them, looking down at her Google maps
         and speeds on by them.
            Screeching tires. Loud "splash."

Third vehicle: sports sedan coming in at mach speed,
   college football flags waving in the air,
      loud music blaring.
      "The end is near! Repent! Turn around before its too late!"
         A window rolls down and two college kids call out
            a relatively sharp expletive as they speed by.
               Tire screech. Loud "splash."

The priest turns to the pastor and says,
   "This just isn't working. Nobody is listening!"

The pastor signs and says,
   "Do you think we should have held up signs that said,
       'Danger: the bridge ahead has collapsed' instead?"
       [credit: "The End is Near" joke at Comedy Central]

II.

References to the end times have become so passe,
   so culturally conditioned in our U.S. culture,
      that it has become the fodder for jokes and for sneering gazes
         of all kinds of people.
            And I anticipate that some of those who roll their eyes
               at "The End is Near" subjects
                  may be sitting right here this morning.

And, hey, I don't blame anyone for having this kind of stereotype in mind
   when the subject of End Times come up!
      Christianity has had quite a checkered past as it comes to "End Times" stuff,
         and you really don't have to look too far to find some really crazy examples.
     
[c.f. Munster Rebellion (C.E. 1534-1535); Left Behind book series;
           the "Blood Moon" interpretations of John Hagee and etc. in summer 2018]

"End times" theology is usually called Eschatology.
   And Eschatology is simply a word that is a combination of two Greek words:
     eschaton, which roughly means "Last" [etymology of eschaton/eschatos; etymologyonline.com]
     and logy, which refers to "the study of." [ibid]
        Therefore, the word Eschatology is "the study of the last things."

Christian Eschatology,
   Christianity's teaching about the "last things,"
      the "End is Near" part of our faith,
         is usually subject to two extreme interpretations.

The first is the easy stereotype we have already heard from:
   the fear-mongering, paranoia pandering, literalist interpretation.
     The "everything is going to H-E-double hockey sticks in a handbasket" interpretation.
     [examples of these are easy to find: just use Google, y'all]

The second is the other extreme:
   the total rejection of any such sort of finality or judgment of the world,
      relying on a particularly modern and post-modern interpretation
        of biblical eschatology.

The literal interpretation certainly has its deficits.
   Its biggest deficit is, maybe paradoxically, its tendency toward
      an entirely non-literal and culturally appropriated interpretation.

How many have heard sermons over how certain creatures
   in the book of Revelation actually refer to modern military technologies,
      such as Black Hawk helicopters or the M1A2 Abrams tank?
         Or have you ever heard someone or read somewhere
             how the Pope is the Anti-Christ in Revelation?

Now, a reaction to these literal interpretations
   sometimes takes the form of the second extreme interpretation of Christian Eschatology
   which while seeking to undo poor literalist interpretations,
       presents the end times as either a fluffy kitty cat that purrs around your leg
           or teaches that there is actually no end times coming at all,
               but rather an infinite process.*

*[This is a wide-ranging generalization, but will hold relatively true for some liberal Protestant, Anglo-Catholic (Anglican), Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox interpretations of the Bible that rely on an allegorical interpretation. Arguably, this allegorical approach may be attributed to Origen of Alexandria, and nuanced uses of allegory have been very influential in the history of Christian theology]

However, the middle ground, between literalism and its reactionaries,
   when what the Bible actually says
   AND when biblical genre and higher critical techniques are taken seriously,
      give us a much less specific, but much more faithful idea about the end:
         God wins, evil loses, and the universe is restored once and for all
            and that there is no question this has always been a literal and decisive event
               that occurs when Christ comes again.

But, as to who is saved and who is not,
   who deserves salvation and who doesn't,
      that is very clearly not our call to make:
        That's God's job.

That's the basic account of any kind of Christian Eschatology,
   and this world-turning event happens at Jesus's return in power and great glory,
      to set the world right, to bring triumph over evil,
        and to declare perfect justice to all whom it is due.

III.

The liturgical season of Advent,
   Advent, which means "coming,"
     begins with the discussion of the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ
        in the Eschaton of the World,
           the end and fulfillment of all things created.

And this basic account of Christian Eschatology is the lens we must use
   when we read any kind of Eschatology in the Bible:
      God wins, evil loses, justice and ultimate healing break into actual reality
      when Christ comes again at an unknown time in the future.

And whether we hear our Lord Jesus Christ this morning
   and perceive the echos of "end times" in his voice,
      or whether we hear the prophet Jeremiah talk about the good restoration of Israel.
        Or Paul's letter to the Thessalonians talk about the return of Jesus Christ
           WITH all the saints and all the company of heaven.

We teach the same Gospel, the same Good News:
    God will ultimately renew, recreate, and gain ultimate victory
        over all things that steal, kill, and destroy our lives.

And, in the very basic sense, we as Christians
   are called to walk in a very simple, but very difficult, narrow road:
      we are called to walk in the light of that ultimate Eschaton,
         where God has won, evil has lost, and justice and healing reign supreme.

And we are called to LIVE as if that Eschaton has already happened,
   will continue to happen,
      and will ultimately happen when we see Christ face to face in the ultimate end.

So, until that time, friends,
   live in the joyous light of that End of Days that is coming,
      but also recognize that the ultimate end is breaking into our reality even today,
        as we look to see Jesus at work even in our very lives and in the lives around us.

Go into the Searcy community with the recognition that justice will ultimately win,
   AND that we are to live in that expectation in the way we legislate our city and State,
      in the way that we change the oil in a customer's car,
        and in the way that we treat those who have had injustice befall them.

We can be those Christians who know the "End is Near"
   and who choose to walk in the JOY of that End rather than in fear.
      Because perfect love casts out fear,
         and when we follow Jesus into God's perfect will,
            we have no judgment to look forward to other than God's loving judgment of our lives.

And friends, remember the basics:
   God wins, evil loses, and Christ is coming again.

In the name of the + Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.