An Advent Sermon
Back from 2022
The following sermon I preached while doing supply preaching at a church in the Pittsburgh area. The season is Advent, the topic is the threefold advents of Jesus (I know, original). But I hope that it’s an edifying read. The Text is Luke 21:25-36.
Luke 21:25-36
25 ‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’
29 Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30 as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
34 ‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’
Good morning. My name is Ben McCrimmon, and I’m a graduating senior at Trinity School for Ministry over in Ambridge. It’s my pleasure to bring God’s word to you this morning, as we begin our Advent journey together as a Church Body. Let’s pray together before I begin:
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be pleasing to you, o lord, our rock and our redeemer.
This morning, we enter into the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a time of preparation, a time of repentance, as we approach the Christmas holidays. Advent calls us to self-reflection, to consider our deep unworthiness, and the hope we have in the coming Savior.
Advent gets its name from the latin word adventus, which means, of course, to come towards, come to, come near. And because the Church year is nothing but the life of Jesus, we can assume that advent is about Jesus coming near--all of the times he ‘comes near’, to Bethlehem, to us here in his Church, and at the dread judgment at the end of this age. In this sermon, I will focus mostly on the first and the last advents: Jesus’ first advent is in humility, and then, on the last day, he advents in glory.
Jesus advented once in humility. That is, at the annunciation, Jesus was conceived “by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary” our creed says. The Holy Spirit overshadowed the blessed mother and worked in her a miracle. Just as the Spirit hovered over the waters at the beginning of creation, so here it resides on Mary in order to bring about a new miracle: the birth of your savior. Christ enters the world a babe without sin, so that he might elevate this human substance to participation in his divine life.
This advent is in humility, in humbleness. Here, Christ does not come in the full power of the Holy Spirit, but meekly, without pretense. He has work to do. Jesus’ earthly ministry is characterized by a long walk towards Jerusalem, towards the place where he will empty himself fully. He advents in a hidden way: even though he is God, he refuses to save himself from his fate, because it is exactly on the cross, in his sacrifice, that the clearest picture of God’s nature is shown. The first advent reveals the nature of God perfectly: God is love; God is Father.
But when Jesus advents again, that humility will be thrown off and the full glory of the Son shall appear, in the full power of God. That is, as the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, so shall he now overshadow the entire world, preparing it, remaking it, for the advent of the Son. And the universe, that is, the entire world, will creak and groan under the weight of Christ’s appearing. Full divinity comes into contact with creaturliness again, but now all of creation--and us creatures especially--cannot handle it. The Sun will dissolve like snow, the earth will blaze with fire--these apocalyptic images tell us that creation will at once be destroyed and remade, as you were, when you were sprinkled with the waters of regeneration in your holy baptisms. The Holy Spirit will transfigure the entire earth in a cosmic baptism at the Advent of the Son.
The picture Jesus’ words paint for us human beings: the end will be experienced as a cataclysm. The earth and stars will proclaim it; but only human beings will recognize the end as a dread judgment, where the wheat and chaff are divided and the chaff is burned up. There will be no mistaking it: face to face with the Son of Man, who is the image we bear within ourselves our entire life, the only result can be judgment. Our being is revealed before us to the degree to which we’ve obscured our original design, the degree to which we’ve allowed sin to infect our heart and our thoughts and our deeds, and we experience anguish, dread, because all is made real, all is made known, all comes under divine judgment. The sheep and goats in each of our hearts are divided, we see our deeds for what they really are, whether they were performed for the least of these or for only ourselves, whether we offered a cup of water to one of these little ones or impassively walked by the man beaten senseless on the side of the road, whether we extended compassion to our family, or if we took our debtors by neck and demanded them to pay us in full.
This is the dread judgment. When all things shall be laid bare before all, when all shall be fully revealed as it is, warts and all, when we shall see fully the blazing fires of divine love, and realize that so often we have chosen unlove, or self-love, or love of objects and things, instead of that perfect, heavenly, blissful love which God designed to be the center of our beings.
For this reason, judgment is always an act of love. Jesus is not coming back because he is angry with you. The Holy Spirit will not transfigure the world as your punishment. You dead will not be raised to simply suffer a fate worse than death. Christ advents and the world is transfigured. The advent of Christ is the advent of love into the world, a love so powerful that it cuts into the heart of everything, that it divides what is sheep from what is goat, what is wheat from what is chaff, what is good from what is evil, what is lasting from what will never last--this love will transform everything. Nothing will be the same--love will find its way into every nook and cranny of creation, and sublate it into the pristine, divine love of Father, Son, and Spirit.
So what can we do? “Watch and pray” our text tells us. Do not distract yourself with the things that will be burned up in the fire, do not build on the foundation of your faith with straw or grass. Don’t use this time to get distracted or senseless--drunk our text says. Instead, Jesus calls you to repent. Repent of your selfishness and then do righteousness. There is still time to build something that is lasting--for good is eternal--but you need to start today. The dread judgment is an urgent summons to take your spirituality seriously, to take your life seriously, and to take your neighbor seriously. For the end is coming!
But above all, pray. God the Father has formed you into the body of His Son and laid on You his holy Spirit for this reason. It is the Father’s good desire to give you the kingdom, he desires to give you every good gift and every righteous deed. He desires to forgive your sins when you repent, he desires to bind you together in the unity of love. And he has done all of this and more, in the glorious crucifixion of Jesus Christ. On the Cross, the Father has reconciled you with Himself through Christ, he has placed on you His Holy Spirit, and he has brought you into relationship with all things good, holy, and righteous.
In our passage, Jesus tells us to pray because He knows that these things are only possible with God’s Holy Spirit. This Spirit remains on you, too: for it was given to you at your baptism. Baptism for you has been a mini-cataclysm, that small picture of the end, where your sins were burned up and you yourself were transfigured into a new human being.
Watch and Pray: I beg you to make these two things your spiritual exercises during this advent season. Watch yourself, discipline yourself, remain alert; but also trust in the magnificent merciful love of God, remain where He has promised to be, and hold fast to his promises. And in this way, prepare yourself for the coming advent of Jesus, when he will pour out the Spirit without measure on all flesh, and the entire world will be transfigured into His image, the image of the very Son of God.
In the Holy Name of +Jesus. Amen.