Sermon - 11/28/21

<p>Over the past week and a half, while struggling to get well after being quite ill, I became increasingly aware of the way we are living in a time of tension between the quarantine lockdown of 2020 and a hopeful future time when we <strong>might, just might</strong> move beyond Covid-19. This present time is fraught with disease, danger, and chaos. And, what is blatantly and manifestly clear is that full recovery and a return to normal will <strong>not</strong> come to fruition until more people get vaccinated. So, we indefinitely live in what might be called “<em>in-between times</em>.”</p> <p>Today marks the beginning of a new church year and, on this first Sunday of the new year, we are reminded of the way we live within the tension of yet <strong>another</strong> form of <em>in-between times</em>. As Christians, we live between the “Already” and “the Not yet” … that is, between “the Kingdom that <strong>has</strong> come” and the “Kingdom that is <strong>yet to fully come.”</strong> We live in “in-between times.” As we begin the season of Advent, we are invited to look in <em>two</em> directions – to look back to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, and to look forward to Jesus' return when he will bring God's kingdom on earth to fulfillment at the end of time. Therefore, Advent begins with a reading that looks toward Jesus' <strong>return</strong>. In other words, we begin this season by looking deep into the future – to the end of time. And, today, as we begin traveling through the gospel of Luke, we are given a cosmic picture, one that reaches out in time, incorporating the end of history. We are given words that remind us to be watchful, to be alert and be ready, <strong>not</strong> for the coming of a baby, but for the second coming of Christ. These are words about the end of time as we know it and, yes, there will be an end, whether it is the end of our lives, or the ultimate end of the world.</p> <p>          This section of Jesus’ speech from the temple in Jerusalem is full of frightening images, confu