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This non-biblical story has Jesus walking down a dusty road one day. He came upon a man sitting in the road, weeping. "Why are you crying, my son?" Jesus asked. "Because I'm blind," said the man. Placing his hand on the man's shoulder, Jesus said, "Be healed, my son, and go your way." The man jumped to his feet and went off singing and dancing. A little farther down the road, Jesus encounters a woman setting in the road weeping. "Why are you crying, my daughter?" Jesus asked. "Because I am lame," said the woman. Placing his hand on the woman's shoulder, Jesus said, "Be healed, my daughter, and go your way." The woman jumped to her feet and went off singing and dancing. A little farther down the road, Jesus encounters another man setting in the road weeping. "Why are crying, my son?" Jesus asked. "Because I'm trying to get elected president of the United States," the man replied. And Jesus sat down in the road and wept with him. Last Sunday someone shared a prayer concern about our current election mess. It’s not too often that a prayer concern elicits laughter. Perhaps our laughter was a sign of our apprehension about flaws in our democratic system. Maybe it was about the politicking, posturing, and legal manuevering. We love to poke fun at our politicians. I have to wonder if it wasn’t also about our dislike for chaos. Let’s face it. Humans don’t like chaos. When it comes to our way of life we like predictability. We may complain about some laws our legislators make us obey, but life with a few screwy laws beats anarchy any day. Let’s think about chaos for a few moments. Before the earth existed there was chaos. In the beginning God’s word hammered out clearly defined boundaries: heaven and earth, night and day, land and water. Creation was secure and dependable. Chaos was out. Order was in. But how would you feel if this creative process began to reverse itself? How would you feel if suddenly there was no more gravity? How would you feel if the oceans began to boil? This is what Luke’s apocalypse describes. Everything solid starts coming loose. It is like a movie running backwards. Signs "appear in the sun, the moon and the stars." The chaos monster of the deep, conquered in Genesis, appears to be stirring to life once again in the "roaring of the sea and waves." The nations are "confused" by the vast, oceanic commotion. Instead of order and delight, there is "fear and foreboding." Not even the changeless skies that arch over out earthly home are secure, for "the powers of the heavens will be shaken." Everything solid is coming loose. When everything solid comes loose, the most common human reaction is to run and hide, to find a refuge and take cover, to do whatever is needed to survive. How different the response that Luke urges his readers. "Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Apocalypse is creation in reverse, and creation in reverse is the occasion to welcome a new possibility for life. When everything comes loose you and I may be tempted to jump to the "fear and foreboding" stage. But we also have another option. We have the option of standing up and raising our heads. Why? Because our redemption is very near. Do you seek a life without chaos? Even if we want it I’m not sure it is possible. Birthing and raising children is certainly not an orderly affair. Driving in rush hour traffic is often chaotic. Our inner emotions often make life feel unorderly. When we think about it a purely ordered world is pretty boring. A solid world is a depressing world. It has no openings, no windows through which hope may shine, no doors that lead to a transformed creation. The gospel would never have spread through a world sealed tight by Caesar’s power. The church would have heard the Roman soldiers marching through the streets and despaired at the thought that they would go on marching forever. The brutal facts of daily life would have suffocated the passion to proclaim the gospel if the church did not believe its redemption was "drawing near." Several years ago, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks did a comedy skit called the "2013 Year Old Man". In the skit, Reiner interviews Brooks, who is the old gentleman. At one point, Reiner asks the old man, "Did you always believe in the Lord?" Brooks replied: "No. We had a guy in our village named Phil, and for a time we worshiped him." Reiner: You worshiped a guy named Phil? Why? Brooks: Because he was big, and mean, and he could break you in two with his bare hands! Reiner: Did you have prayers? Brooks: Yes, would you like to hear one? O Phil, please don't be mean, and hurt us, or break us in two with your bare hands. Reiner: So when did you start worshiping the Lord? Brooks: Well, one day a big thunderstorm came up, and a lightning bolt hit Phil. We gathered around and saw that he was dead. Then we said to one another, "There's somthin' bigger than Phil!" We must admit that there are times when God is not the center of our lives. We have other gods like Phil. You know what they are: money, fame, success, things, popularity, health. And we become very good at convincing ourselves that order can be found in these "gods," that is, until one day when chaos shows up at our door. A lightning bolt strikes down our "gods". When we realize that our money is gone, our fame dissipates, our success disappears, our health deteriorates…as we stand in the midst of that chaos we can realize that there is something bigger than those things. There is hope. There is redemption. There is God. There is a time to build and a time to break down. You probably already know about the need for things to break loose in your solid world. You already know that the little "gods" in your life need to die. You already know the growth that can happen when chaos disrupts the order in our lives. As we light the first candle of Advent will you believe that this season of expectation, of awaited birth and celebration will break something open in your heart? Will you pray that the Christ child will crack the hardened shell of a world obsessed with greed and violence? Will you add a spiritual discipline by reading the Advent devotional and scriptures every day? Take a look at the unlit Advent candles. Each one can stand for some solid reality we wish would be cracked loose: an animosity that needs to be released, an injustice that needs to be set right, a fear that needs to be overcome. Each Sunday as we light a new candle we can see grace displacing bitterness. We can see justice correcting a wrong. We can see faith building hope where fear had once prevailed. Helen Dorothy Charleroy tells this wonderful little story. She and her grandson had returned from a morning in the woods, where they studied wildlife, trees, plants, and especially ants. Back at home they had his favorite lunch - peanut butter sandwiches, milk, and home-made applesauce. As he ate he kept staring at his grandma and finally asked, "Nana, are you getting old? Will you die soon?" "Yes," I said, "but not too soon. You'll probably be out of college, and when Jesus comes again I'll have eternal life and be young forever!" "Nana," he said, "if Jesus will make you younger, do you think he'll make me five again? ‘Cuz I'm having an awfully good time now." All of creation…all of life is full of chaos and order. This Advent, this Christmas will be no exception. Over the next four weeks we will experience times when everything solid seems to be coming loose. "When these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Let this season be a time that, despite the chaos, despite the order, we will have an awfully good time. |
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12/03/00 - When Everything Solid Comes Loose
