Heaven for the climate, and Hell for the people

Sermon-Year B-1 Advent-Nov.30, 2008, 2008
The Cloud of Unknowing,
"O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
This is a true story. I was dreaming the other night, dreaming about preaching today. And I couldn’t seem to finish the sermon. I was all over the place, with a thousand different points. Sort of like normal. And the sermon stretched to 20 minutes, then 25, then 30. And still I couldn’t find an ending, so I just kept going. And very quietly I heard a chant out in the congregation, “Di-ane, Di ane, Di-ane….”
I knew when I planned on my sabbatical that I would be returning just in time to preach for Advent. I will tell you a ministry secret-NO ONE LIKES TO PREACH THE FIRST TWO SUNDAYS IN ADVENT. The lessons are always about the end times the first 2 Sundays and NO ONE likes to preach then.
Jesus said to his disciples, "In those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see `the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory.
These are scary words. Christians in the early days (40s and 50s AD) heard words like this and believed that Jesus would return any minute-and they prepared to die. They were excited about the end of the world.
Throughout history, in most of the world’s religions, there have been predictions about the end of the world. Seventh Day Adventists begun by William Miller, who predicted that the world would end sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. Samuel S. Snow a disciple of Millers, believed that the end would come October 22, 1844.
The Jehovah’s Witness teach that the end times began in 1914 with World War I. Most religions in the world have a set of prophecies about when and how the world will end. Miss Watson is telling Huck Finn about heaven and the end of the world, and she described it this way: “She went on and told me about the good place. She said all a body would have to do there was to go around all day long with a harp and sing forever and ever. So I didn’t think much of it.” Years later when Twain was asked about the afterlife he said, he said he would choose “heaven for the climate, and Hell for the people.”
When times are bad, when lots of hard things happen at once, we begin to wonder-“is the end near?” Every earthquake, war, catastrophe, and hurricane is used as a symbol of the approaching end. September 11th has often been used as a sign of the end of times. When we were walking the Camino I would pick up an English speaking newspaper and we would constantly ask, “what else?” The collapse of the mortgage market, massive unemployment, the possibility of worldwide depression-there are an incredible number of websites blossoming predicting the end of the world. What else?
What did we just hear in the presidential campaign? Sen. Obama preaching hope, and Sen. McCain advocating change. Why? Because they understood how people were feeling. Worried, scared, apprehensive about the future, and people will listen to those who promise a better world ahead. When times are hard, we look everywhere, hoping, searching for some one, some system, some plan that will save us, rescue us from the doom and gloom we see everywhere. Everyone wants to know-what else is going to happen? And how will it all turn out.
Barack Obama picked up on this desire to appoint him as a savior when he talked at a Catholic Charities dinner in October: “..he needed to correct some misconceptions about his background. "I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the Planet Earth," he said….
We look to the world around us when terrible things happen, and we wonder, “where is God? Why are these awful things happening? TO ME? WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN???
Advent is the season we’re supposed to find out something about the world and about our faith-and it is not about when we discover when the end will come.
If we have learned anything the last few months, it is that the things we frequently put our trust in, will not save us. The things we count on, the anchors and foundations for our lives, are so precarious and uncertain: jobs, homes, banks, the government. We look to the normal, usual institutions that we count on-and everywhere we look we see how fragile and flimsy they are.
And that is what Jesus is trying to teach in this powerful reading from Mark. As one writer put it: “The storms will come.” The future will be tough. We will often be challenged.
It’s Advent. The world wants to know when the end is coming. That is the way of the world. Jesus simply says, prepare your hearts for something new. Stay awake.
Leo Josef Suenens a famous Belgian Roman Catholic Cardinal, once wrote, “I am a man of hope, not for human reasons, nor from any natural optimism, but because I believe the Holy Spirit is at work in the Church and the world, even when His name remains Unheard..”
In the words of Hans Oehmig, “Let us come alive as hope-bearers to a desperate world.
It’s Advent. It’s time for us to be proclaimers of faith. In answer to the question-“what else?” Let us answer, Hope is coming. Amen.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama said he needed to correct some misconceptions about his background.
"I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the Planet Earth," he said, in a reference to Superman.
He also listed his great strength as "my humility" and his greatest weakness as being "a little too awesome".


The story is told that when Martin Luther was asked what he would do if he knew that the world was going to end tomorrow, he replied without hesitation, "I would plan an apple tree this afternoon." Luther didn't speculate about the end of the world. He focused on the present. He would plant that apple tree today because he believed that what may happen in the future does not excuse us from what God requires of us now, today, in our ordinary living.


For the last 10 days the grandkids have been staying at our house and I learned what is the worst word there is to a 6 year old. “Wait”.
From "Celebration Preaching Resources": Jesus warns us to be alert, because we don't know what time it is. And, when Yogi Berra was asked what time it was, he said, "You mean now?"
Wal-Mart worker died early Friday after an "out-of-control" mob of frenzied shoppers smashed through the Long Island store's front doors and trampled him, police said.
The Black Friday stampede plunged the Valley Stream outlet into chaos, knocking several employees to the ground and sending others scurrying atop vending machines to avoid the horde.
When the madness ended, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour was dead and four shoppers, including a woman eight months pregnant, were injured.
"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, 'I've been on line since Friday morning!'" Cribbs said. "They kept shopping."

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Isaiah 64:1-9
O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence--
as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil--
to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
From ages past no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who works for those who wait for him.
You meet those who gladly do right,
those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
because you hid yourself we transgressed.
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls on your name,
or attempts to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
Yet, O LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD,
and do not remember iniquity forever.
Now consider, we are all your people.

Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18 Page 702, BCP
Qui regis Israel
1
Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock; *shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim.
2
In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, *stir up your strength and come to help us.
3
Restore us, O God of hosts; *show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
4
O LORD God of hosts, *how long will you be angereddespite the prayers of your people?
5
You have fed them with the bread of tears; *you have given them bowls of tears to drink.
6
You have made us the derision of our neighbors, *and our enemies laugh us to scorn.
7
Restore us, O God of hosts; *show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
16
Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, *the son of man you have made so strong for yourself.
17
And so will we never turn away from you; *give us life, that we may call upon your Name.
18
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; *show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind-- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you-- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Mark 13:24-37
Jesus said to his disciples, "In those days, after that suffering,
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from heaven,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see `the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
"But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake-- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."