The end of the story is that God’s love wins. Christ will return and God’s love wins. We begin there…with that promise. We don’t know when it will happen, but we do know what will happen—Christ will return, and God’s love will win. So we live in expectation and anticipation of that promise.
Matthew 24:36-44 (Advent 1A)
How does it feel to know that something is going to happen, but not know WHEN it’s going to happen? I grew up with 5 brothers, and one of our favourite games to play in the car was “punch buggy.” In this game, when someone sees a blue VW bug, they’re allowed to yell “punch buggy blue!” and then gently—or, not so gently if you were my brothers—punch the person sitting next to you. This game brought a particular kind of watchfulness to our family car rides. We would be driving along a highway, keeping track of license plates, but then we would come over a hill and see that we were getting close to a city or town. All of a sudden the energy in the car changed. We knew what driving through a town meant. It meant we had to pay attention and be ready. We had to watch carefully so that we could spot the punch buggy before someone else. Or we had to be ready to receive the aggressive love tap from the brother who inevitably saw that VW bug that no one else spotted. We knew what was coming, but we didn’t know when. So we had to be ready. We had to be watchful. We had to stay awake.
I’m sure Jesus probably wasn’t thinking about VW bugs and car games when he talked to his disciples about his return. This is one of those passages that can easily be misinterpreted if not read carefully and in context. So just to briefly locate where we are in the overall story of Jesus—these verses today come before a section of teaching where Jesus is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, his own death, and then his return. Needless to say, his teachings don’t sit well with the religious authorities, and pretty soon the story shifts towards his trial, death and crucifixion—which we read during Holy Week. Unfortunately, this passage and the surrounding verses in Matthew have been used by some to create a story about God’s relationship with the world that is based in fear and judgment. Some of my brothers approached our car game that way.
But I wonder if there’s another way to hear these verses about what we call “the end times”? While I’m not qualified to answer all the questions that topic brings up, it is clear to me that Jesus was trying to ignite a sense of attentiveness. As we enter into the season of Advent—a season of watchful expectation—I wonder if there’s a way we can hear the verses about the “coming of the Son of Man” from a place of promise and assurance?
In our tradition, Advent is the first season of the liturgical year. In some ways it’s like the church’s New Year Day. Our gospel readings last year were from Luke, but today we begin hearing the story of Jesus through the words of Matthew. Last week was Christ the King Sunday, which we said is a Sunday where we remember that Jesus is an ‘upside down’ kind of king—a king whose power and reign is demonstrated through his sacrifice of his life for the sake of the world. So in Advent, when we get ready to welcome the presence of God into the world through a baby born in a manger to a refugee couple, we start with the end of the story.
The end of the story is that God’s love wins. Christ will return and God’s love wins. We begin there…with that promise. We don’t know when it will happen, but we do know what will happen—Christ will return, and God’s love will win. So we live in expectation and anticipation of that promise.
So maybe instead of thinking about it like getting into the car and anticipating the competition my brothers would get in to about who could proclaim “punch buggy” the loudest with the most force, it’s more helpful to think about the anticipation of your favourite family member arriving. You know they’ll be there, but you don’t know when. So you keep checking the clock. You keep checking the window. You want the food to be hot when they arrive, so you keep checking the oven. The promise is that they will get there. There will be a feast. It will be glorious. But until then, there’s this anxious anticipation that can feel like it goes on forever.
And let’s be honest. Maybe you’ve been in charge of kids for the hour before parent pickup or the hour before a birthday party. It’s not always fun to sit in the time of waiting, right? If you’ve ever had to sit in the waiting room in a hospital knowing that the doctor will come out with some sort of news, but not sure when that will happen, you know that waiting is not fun.
So, this ‘not yet’ time can be overwhelming and uncomfortable. We look at the world around us and trust that one day all things will be made right. But today governments make policies meaning that some people are in fear of their safety. The headlines tell us of yet another tragedy or disaster resulting from an unequal distribution of resources. We urgently yearn for a day when everyone will have what they need to live life to the fullest. But today…waiting is not fun.
Here is the tension we live with. We know that in Jesus, God came into the world and is with us. We also know that one day the brokenness of sin will be healed and restored once and for all. Knowing the end of the story doesn’t make the waiting any easier. But maybe that’s where our faith can be a source of good news for us: none of the chaos that we feel and experience today will ultimately destroy the love that God shows through the coming of Jesus. So we stay attentive. We remind ourselves and each other of the promises we don’t always feel capable of believing: God’s love wins. This promise invites us to stay awake—not just for what we wait for, but for the ways we can be part of demonstrating God’s love and presence today. [1] Advent reminds us that God gives us the gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love today, in the midst of the messiness and ordinariness of daily life.
Jesus’ teaching to the disciples about his return wasn’t meant to scare us or leave us with a sense of doom. The invitation to stay awake is an invitation to find ways today to share the promise of God’s love with others.
So what does your waiting feel like this year? Does it feel like you’re waiting for life to serve you yet another “punch buggy blue” blow? If it does, Advent offers the encouragement of God’s love and presence that enters into our suffering with us.—right now. As we anticipate the good news of Christmas, the season of Advent invites us to stay awake to the ways that God’s promise of love and life is real for us…today.
Amen
[1] James Boyce, https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/first-sunday-of-advent/commentary-on-matthew-2436-44-2