advent 1 ramblings

the vicarofvice is in the house

Advent 1 Rambling on Luke 21

“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 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.”

I’ve thought about this for some time:
It matters how we take leave from places and communities.
We’ve all experienced a number of times, when people leave poorly, there is often significant collateral damage. . .
How about entrances?
As we enter the new year, how do we want to proceed?
The Lectionary seems to point us to hopeful expectation...

Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

In his book Loving Jesus, Mark Allen Powell, says a most interesting thing. He wants to suggest that you and I should live in eager anticipation of Jesus’ return. He even speaks of “waiting for that day with breathless anticipation” and of looking to the sky when the liturgy has the congregation say “Amen! Come Lord Jesus!”
While that is a bit whacky, there is something there.

Here are a few quotes from Loving Jesus.

Recognizing the absence of Jesus arouses urgent anticipation of his return. The Bible encourages this, indeed, I think it encourages us to expect Jesus to return soon, within our own lifetimes. . . .

interesting. He concludes this paragraph

I think that death, if it comes, should take us by surprise. We do not expect to die - we expect Jesus to come for us. Such an expectation is not based on doctrine or intellectual speculation. It has nothing to do with prophecies being fulfilled over in Israel. It is more an expression of attitude or hope - a matter of the heart. pg. 61

Here is where this is kind of interesting for preaching:

Expecting Jesus to return soon is part of the poetry of faith. It is piety, not theology or doctrine. Poetry does no follow the rules of grammar, and piety does not always follow the rules of reason, but both make sense in ways that transcend such rules. Expecting Jesus to return soon is a matter of the heart, an expression of the poetic language of love that sustains our relationship with the one who is both present with us and absent from us. pg. 63-64

There is poetry to the season of Advent, and we enter the season with this word from the Gospel of Luke. . . How do we work the poetry of this text, and proclaim the promise that gives hope?
I wonder if one might well work with Powell’s emphasis that the absence of Jesus arouses anticipation. Anticipation of what? A Merry Christmas? Or, that God is at work in this world, and “your redemption is drawing near.”
The Underminer:
Whose intro line in The Incredibles is: “I live underneath you, but nothing is underneath me!”

DoLessHarm goes for Textweek Status

It seemed to me that we weren't really "blogging" on our blog.
I'd like to see us work at changing that.
SOOOOOOO
I've changed the template, to see what you might think of that, and starting with the new year, I'm hoping we could have a sort of virtual text study. . .
a bit of Rambling on the Gospel!
LET'S GET READY TO RAMBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!