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Notes for Luke 21:25-36

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

Luke 21:25-36
Advent 1C
Preached on Nov 29, 2009 – Listen here.

Here is a behind the scenes look at my sermon prep for the first Sunday of Advent for 2009. The following may or may not have made it into the sermon:

The Text

My (attempt at a) translation

25) And there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars and upon the earth distress of the nations as the sounds of the tossing sea.
26) Fainting and fear of the people from the expectation of what’s coming to the inhabitants of earth, for the powers of heaven will be disturbed.
27) And at that time the Son of Man will be seen coming on a cloud with great power and glory.
28) And when these things begin to happen, stand up and lift your head because your redemption is near.
29) And he said a parable to them. Look at the fig tree and all the trees
30) which put out leaves already. You can see for yourselves that summer is already coming near.
31) So also whenever you see these things happening you know that near is the kingdom of God.
32) Truly I say to you that this generation will not pass away until all happens
33) heaven and earth will pass but my words will not pass.
34) Hold on to yourselves never be weighed down, your hearts in drunkenness and anxieties of the day and life; stand tall and don’t let that day come on you
35) like a trap upon all inhabitants of the face of the earth.
36) Be watchful in all hours, praying you have strength to flee all these things about to happen and stand before the Son of Man.

Context

Preceded by more signs of the end times.
Followed (immediately) by Judas agreeing to betray Jesus → Last Supper. Given this context, are these end times sayings more of an allusion to Jesus coming death?
This text is part of Jesus’ response to the Disciples’ question “When will [not one stone will be left on another, every one of them thrown down] happen and what will be the signs that this is about to take place?” (cf v.5-7)
Verse 37 says Jesus went out on the Mount of Olives – is the first reference of this place in this gospel? If so, would this be a connection of this text to the passion? First instance is in Chapter 19. Four references total in Luke.

Redaction (compare Matthew, Mark, Luke accounts)

For parallels see Matt 24.29—44 & Mark 13.24—37
Both Mark & Matthew quote directly from Isaiah 13:10; 34:4 “The sun…moon…stars…heavenly bodies will be shaken.” Luke maintains the same order and some phrases, but it is by no means a direct quote.
Both Mark & Matthew say these signs will happen after the suffering, while Luke appears to say it will preceded.
Luke v.31 “you know that the kingdom of God is near.” while M&M have “You know he is near, at the very gates.” Who is he? It could be Son-of-Man or it could be “it”
All agree completely on verses 32-33 “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
However, while M&M have (not 100% in agreement) “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Luke has no mention about the knowledge of the end times. Although later, Luke exhorts that believes always keep vigilance because you don’t know when it will come upon you. “Be alert at all times.”

Grammar/Important Words

Verse 25, see BDAG for “astrois” – “Normally showing sailors the way at night” p.146 Perhaps Luke is trying to use these ideas (sun, moon, stars…) to say that they could serve as pointers of the times to come.
Verse 26 – “the power of heaven will be thrown down.” Not a gentle coming, or entirely happy-positive look on the nearness of the kingdom of God.
Verse 28: any significance to the word ginomai here?
Verse 31: NRSV: “You know that the kingdom of God is near.” Greek: near is the kingdom of God. Could there be an emphasis on the nearness/immanence based on word order?

Scriptural References

The fig tree is mentioned only one other time Luke’s gospel, chapter 13.
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ” NRSV

Son of Man in Daniel 7.

Verse 25 – “The sun, moon, stars, earth” See Isaiah 13:10; 34:4 – seen as a victory for Israel, freedom from Babylon.

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First Sunday of Advent Sermon Transcript

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

Here is the transcript for my sermon preached on the first Sunday of Advent. You can listen to it here.

——-

Well, it looks like everyone survived Black Friday. Did anyone try this year? Not a single one? Well, you are some smart people out there. I tried going Black Friday shopping once in my entire life. That’s right I said, tried to go Black Friday shopping. In fact, it was last year – turned me off to the whole experience for the rest of my life I’m sure. I think the problem was I set my sights a little too high. I was aiming for the big crown prize of Black Friday shopping which is Wal-Mart. I went there first thing in the morning, I had my sights set on that product I wanted – The GPS systems were really big that year. After waiting for about half an hour to find parking, fighting through the crowds to get up there through all of Wal-Mart, went right-directly to that department I knew that GPS system would be…I just found…another line. I saw people pushing and shoving, a few people beginning to tear up, and all sorts of disgruntled faces on the shoppers. I threw my hands in the air, I gave up. I said forget about this mess and my wife and I left, gave up on Black Friday shopping and had breakfast instead.

Click to continue »

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The Call

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

Jan 25, 2009
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Mark 1:14-20
First Christian Church of North Hollywood, CA

Speaking for myself, I am shocked at the Disciple’s response in the Gospel reading today. Look at James and John in particular. These men were wealthy, or at least well enough. They were in their family business. They owned a boat and were able to employ others. And they threw it all away, leaving their poor ‘ole dad behind to fend for himself. James and John were completely bonkers! What could ever possess someone do to such a thing?

Last week, Our Pastor Bob Bock told us that all ministers can tell you about their call to the ministry. And it is certainly true. I experienced one of those subtle calls which Rev. Bock tells us is the most common. In my case I was a child when the small voice began to call my name.
Since my high school days the idea of going into the ministry had been put in my head. First at church camp when a pastor first suggested that I might be called, later to have that call confirmed by my own pastor and members of my church. I attended Bethany College, a Disciples school in West Virginia. My time there was coming to an end and I had to decide whether to continue to say yes to the call or go on to something else. The religious studies professor at Bethany suggested I look into the seminary which he attended – Fuller out here in Pasadena. I took a look, saw that it was a good fit, applied and was accepted.

One apparent problem however was that it was 3000 miles away, and I didn’t have any family and friends in LA. And, I can’t say my girlfriend was exactly thrilled about the idea. But I was determined. And in the summer of 2005 I packed up my all my worldly possessions (which fit in my car at the time), kissed my girlfriend goodbye and drove off to the West Coast. I came here without any family, friends, a job, and just a bit of cash, because I believed I was supposed to complete the next step in my call here. This story does have a happy ending. For one, I am able to meet you and serve this church, and I married my girlfriend 2 years latter. we are both finishing grad school this summer.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking, wow this guy is bonkers just like those disciples! Who would pick up and go somewhere like Los Angeles of all places!? Especially without friends, family, a job; and leaving behind a girlfriend, trees, snow, seasons, and clean air!?

Well, this story is more about the call than it is about the response.
Our gospel story opens today with a summary of Jesus’ proclamation: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Eugene Patterson’s the Message, offers a helpful translation “Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.”
It is in light of this proclamation that Jesus makes his call to the first disciples. It is an urgent call; because God’s Kingdom could break forth into history at any moment, and in fact it already has! So hurry up, there is no time to delay, I need you now! The disciples respond immediately because the call is urgent.

This is one of those rare and sudden calls. But with the understanding of such urgency, of such magnitude, Jesus calls his disciples using a metaphor:
“I will make you fish for people.” Now, that is quite a strange call. These disciples are already fishermen! Not “get up and go…preach, teach, pray, sell your stuff, enter seminary.” It was “get up, go, and do…exactly what you have already been doing! – to fish. Being fishermen is what defined the disciples prior to their call. It is how they made a living, it is what they did.
We are all too familiar with the idea that we are is what we do. One of the very first questions you are asked when you meet a new person is “what do you do?” But Jesus asked these fishermen “why do you do?” And the call was not “do something else,” it was “come and do this for the kingdom of God.”

The call is, the difference is the reason which lies behind why they are fishermen. Jesus is promising a transformation. Jesus offered a new reason for being.

What is radical in this story is not the response. But rather it is the call itself. Christ has an urgent call for his disciples: hurry up, we don’t have much time, and what I require from you is nothing less than your very being. In fact Jesus did not call them to do anything fundamentally different than what they already knew, the call remained “I will make you fishermen.” The urgency in Christ’s call however cuts right to the very core of who we are. Tthe reason behind, the why, their purpose in life has changed. “I will make you fishers of people.” They are no longer fishermen to support their livelihood, but for the kingdom of God which has broken into history. Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James and John to use their gifts and skills in the kingdom.

One of the tv shows I follow fairly regularly is Eli Stone. It’s the story of a successful San Francisco lawyer, who is working his way up to be a partner in his law firm. One day, out of the blue, Eli begins to see visions. He is convinced that these visions are from God, and that God is trying to tell him something. Eli listens to the call, sometimes reluctantly. But God doesn’t tell him to stop being a lawyer, to sell all of his possessions, or to go into the ministry. In fact, God tells him, through his visions, which cases to take – to keep on being a lawyer. Eli remains in his vocation, but with a renewed motivation, a new reason for the work which he does. He is called to use his skills, to live his life, for the glory of the Kingdom of God.

This is the essentially the Gospel story we read today. Christ calls us to be transformed, not in what we do, but why we do it. I was a student when God called me to head out to California. I was called to continue my studies for the Lord.
If you are a teacher, teach others about Christ; if you are a writer, tell others about the Kingdom, if you are one who serves, serve others for the glory of God; if you are a mother or father, raise up children of God. In whatever you do, do so for the Lord.

This is the call Christ has for us today. And it is no less radical, and demands no less radical of a response as those first disciples which we read about. Christ asks for your whole being, to use your gifts in his kingdom. It is a decision which means we say “yes” every day to that call. Be radical in your response, this is what it means to be called a disciple.

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Recognizing Jesus

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Dec 28, 2008
First Sunday After Christmas
Luke 2:22-40
First Christian Church of Hagerstown, Md

Have you ever seen one of those images of Jesus? They show up all the time on rocks and trees, on ceiling tiles, and grilled cheese sandwiches. People flock from all over to witness it or they pay large sums of money in order to somehow own this supposed miracle.

The most recent occurrence which I can recall was a sighting of Jesus on a power-line transformer in Kingsville, Texas this past November. “hundreds of people have come on foot and in car to check it out, even one very sick woman with her daughter came here to pray for a speedy recovery,” reports kiii.tv, the local station which covered the story.

Even I have seen, with my own eyes, one of these wonders; outside of my in-law’s home in South-western Pennsylvania. I recall the first time I saw it my heart skipped a beat. I wandered closer to the image which I found on a log next to the pond. It was unmistakably Christ: his soft, inviting eyes and a crown of thorns appeared to be etched into the wood. My in-laws, Ed and Elaine, don’t need to ward off the crowds however. And they haven’t placed the item on eBay. This story never appeared in any newspaper; and I believe you are the first to hear of it outside of the Budner household. “Its not a miracle” the public would say. Because, you see Ed is an artist and he carved the image himself.

I asked him about this image one day and he told me that it was not planned out, he just started craving one day. He said “I did not see a face in it before I started carving. I just went for it and that’s what came out.” Somehow those other images are deemed miraculous because they are some sort of natural accident, untainted by human hands. It is a miracle, they would say, because human beings had nothing to do with it. Natural is synonymous with miraculous; humanity is not.

The miracle of Christmas, which we recalled last Thursday, flies in the face of this reasoning. The baby named Jesus was born long ago in a town called Bethlehem and it was miraculous. Besides his virgin birth, the prophecies fulfilled, the traveling star and the wise men – Jesus himself was a miracle. The first miraculous image. Not in trees, moss, nor any other inanimate object but in the flesh and blood of a human being. The miracle of Christmas is that God became human, in the flesh AND…what is truly miraculous…God became a man in such a way that human beings, you and I, are able to recognize him!

This is what Simeon did in our Gospel account today. He was an old man who was serving in the temple. He knew that the messiah would come some day and he waited patiently, knowing that Israel would be redeemed through him. He had assurance of Christ’s coming because “it had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he saw the Christ of the Lord.” Finally, one ordinary day, God fulfilled this promise which was made to Simeon. The child Jesus was presented in the temple, as was customary in his day. When Simeon did see the promised Christ child he, saw the Christ child not only with his eyes, but he also welcomed him into his arms. Simeon experienced the Christ.

He held the promise in his arms, the divine image, and he praised God. After praising the holy family, Simeon prophesied about the work which Christ would accomplish throughout his life. Being a mere image was not enough, but it is because Christ caused many to rise and fall, that he was opposed, and a sword pierced him that our Christ, the image of God, has great power. The Christ child was not a two dimensional image, but the living and breathing God.

Just as Christ did more than simply appear, we must do more than simply to observe or acknowledge him. This miracle, the miracle of Christmas; God come in the flesh; is a miracle which demands a response. It is not one which we can glance at as we pass by. It is something that must be experienced fully. With one’s eyes, with one’s head, and with one’s heart. Simeon realized this when he held Jesus in his arms. It was a life-changing experience and a fulfillment of his expectation.

That Jesus was born some 2000 years ago does not mean that we are unable to see and experience him now. Christ is alive and well, through the Holy Spirit in his church, in this particular church in Hagerstown. He is at work in the Sunday schools, in your homes, and in your mission work both locally and globally.

God came in the flesh in the baby Jesus born long ago- and Simeon praised God. What then is our response? We, the church, are the body of Christ. We have become what Simeon prophesied: the light and glory to the nations that through us Christ may be known. And so, like Simeon, we praise God for his self revelation through his Son. And, like Anna the prophet who followed Simeon in today’s Gospel reading, we speak about the Christ child to all who look for redemption.

So, I say to you: Ed’s image of Christ in the log is a miracle and those found in the wild are not. The miraculous is not found in a pile of rocks or a natural arrangement of water stains. The miracle is that human beings are able to recognize Jesus the Christ. That we are able to point to an image and recall the living God who entered into space and time. When you hear about the next miraculous sighting of Christ remember that it is true – but not only as a graphic representation, God has broken into history. He looks for your response of faith, a response of praise, and a hopeful anticipation of his return. Let your light shine that others may know that Christ has truly come, this is the miracle of Christmas. Merry Christmas!

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Christmas B1 translation

Monday, December 15th, 2008

22) And when the days of their purification were complete, according to the law of Moses, They [Mary and Joseph] brought him [Jesus] into Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,
23) according to what has been written in the law of the Lord that “every male who opens the womb [first born children] shall be called holy to the Lord,
24) and to give a sacrifice according to what has been said in the law of the Lord: a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
25) And there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, this man was righteous and pious, waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26) And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he sees the Christ of the Lord.
27) And he went, by the spirit, into the temple and the parents brought in the child Jesus to do what was customary concerning him, according to the law.
28) And he [Simeon] received him [Jesus] into bent arms and he [Simeon] praised God and he [Simeon] said:

Simeon’s Song
29) Now You free your slave, Lord; according to Your word in peace.
30) Because my eyes (have seen) Your salvation,
31) Which You have prepared in the face of all peoples,
32) Light of revelation to the nations, and glory to Your people, Israel.

33) And his [Jesus] father [Joseph] and his mother [Mary] marveled upon these sayings about him [Jesus].
34) And Simeon blessed them and he said to Mary, his mother, “behold, he will lay into destruction and raise up many in Israel and be a sign opposed.
35) And a sword pierces your own soul – a revelation from many thoughts of the heart.
36) And Anna was a prophet, daughter of Phaneul, from the tribe of Asher, she was advanced in many days. She lived with her husband for seven years after her [marriage]
37) and then she was a widow until the age of 84, she did not depart from the temple fast, she worshiped and prayed by night and day.
38) And at that moment, She [Anna] praised God and she spoke about him [Jesus] to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem
39) And when all was complete according to the law of the Lord they [Mary, Joseph, and Jesus] returned to Galilee to their own city of Nazareth.
40) And the child grew and strengthened, completing in wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

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Christmas B1 Text Selection

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

I was invited to preach at my home church on December 28, the Sunday following Christmas day.

The Revised Common Lectionary readings for the day are:

Isaiah 61:10-62:3 (Roman Catholic: Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14)
Psalm 148 (Roman Catholic: Psalm 128:1-5)
Galatians 4:4-7 (Roman Catholic: Colossians 3:12-21)
Luke 2:22-40

I like the Gospel text for this day. It is Jesus being presented in the temple. It continues the Christmas season, which is fresh in everyone’s mind and contains imagery of the baby Jesus. And yet, this story is about more than the “cute” baby Jesus in the manger; it is about the recognition of his role as messiah.

This church practices believers baptism, normally around the age of 13 (for individuals who grew up in the church). For children of believers there is an infant dedication liturgy which happens shortly after birth. This church may be able to easily relate to the story in this way – a baby dedication for Jesus.

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