Those who know me know I love a good apocalypse. That means this is my favorite time of the liturgical year. As we slide into Advent, the lectionary turns to signs and warnings of the inevitable end. Not really what we have come to expect as retailers have for weeks told us it is Christmas time. As much as we anticipate the little baby Jesus, it is also the time of judgment. It is as much an ending as a beginning and, in fact, they are one and the same. We are always and forever living through beginnings and endings, often at the same time. The liturgical calendar – and Advent in particular – allows us to rehearse this annually, both in our personal lives and in the wider world.
We rehearse because, from the center of it, the shape of the apocalypse is hard to discern. We can be so destroyed by the ending that we miss the beginning. Or so distracted by the beginning that we ignore the ending. Thus, the apocalypse, which really means “revelation,” is missed. We lose sight of the truth of our lives. We lose the opportunity to live into the ongoing revelation of life in God.
But it is not yet the end; it is still a couple of weeks until Advent. No, this is still the waiting, the living through. According to Luke, this is the time of signs and portents: war, plague, famine. It is the time of discernment. Notice that Jesus does not promise that things will not fall apart, but asks, How will we account for ourselves in times of trouble? He encourages us to have patience and endurance and promises that, in the end, we’ll be okay.
Please join us this Sunday, 11am at Kidd Springs Rec Center, as we talk about warnings of the end, Paul’s exhortation to work, and whether we will really be okay in the end – or what that might mean. Also, please bring some extra money as we will be taking up a special offering for the people of the Philippines hit by Typhoon Haiyan.
Grace & Peace,
Scott
Help Us Plan!
The leadership of Church in the Cliff is currently doing some strategic planning and we need your help! If you could please take a couple of minutes (really, a couple of minutes) to complete a survey, we would really appreciate it. You can take the survey online or we will have paper copies available on Sunday.