Watching For God Together

Mark 13

November 30, 2014

Advent 1

A few years ago, I went camping in Big Bend

in south Texas with a group from my previous congregation.

The stars at night are big and bright....

The sky there is beautiful 

at night because it’s so dark

you can see more stars 

there than I have ever seen.

And one of the nights that we were there,

There were a lot of shooting stars.

Most of the people had gone into their tents

and the few of us who were sleeping outside

started to notice them.

We spent the next couple of hours

lying there, monitoring different parts of the sky a

and saying, "over here, over here, look over there".

Even though I was ready for bed before we saw them,

I was wide awake looking at them.

My eyes were open and I was super alert.

I didn’t want to miss any of them

and I was responsible for looking at my part of the sky.

I didn’t want to let anyone down.

I saw about five or seven shooting stars myself,

but four of us must have seen thirty shooting stars together.

This is the attentiveness that

the season of Advent calls us to.

To wait with one another, to keep each other alert, to be aware.

Not just for the month of December,

but as a practice for all times.

We are asked to be awake with expectation about God

in tune to what we will see and hear and feel.

Not complacent or unaware, but paying attention.

This is why people gather together with other people, 

not only the church, but with family, friends, in schools, clubs, meetings…

We join with others for support, to hold each other up,

for comfort, enjoyment, for companionship,

so we can learn from other people

and also so they can help us see what we can’t see.

 That’s why I think it’s so great to share Christmas with children

because they can see things with new eyes that we can’t with our old.

And these are the same reasons the church gathers together

at Advent and every week. We are waiting for God together.

The gospel for today from Mark

comes after a long couple of passages

where Jesus talks about the suffering

that will happen in the world and to his followers. After that,

God will come, Jesus will come, with power and glory.

The heavens will be shaken, the sun the moon the stars.

And we’re told to keep awake, to be aware,

because we never know when it will happen

It’s strange and scary imagery

and not knowing when makes it seem worse.

Someone asked in one of our bible studies if these

apocalyptic passages were meant to scare people

into behaving a certain way.

It’s a valid question, and these parts in the bible

certainly have frightened people controlled them

and made a lot of people act pretty paranoid.

But I don’t think that’s what Jesus was trying to do.

I think this apocalyptic message is a sign of hope.

The people of Mark’s time had been through the mill,

There was  Jewish uprising in Jerusalem,

and Romans destroyed the indestructible temple,

And many many people died.

Josephus, the historian, claimed that more than a million people died.

Who knows if that number is true, but it's obvious that

the tragedy was immeasurable,

it certainly it seemed like the end of the world.

The suffering for them had already happened.

But Jesus promised that the suffering

would not be the end.

Misery would not have the last word.

Suffering is how you know God’s presence will be there.

So when there is suffering – and there will always be suffering -

keep watching for it, be alert to it.

God will call us together from the four corners

and we will be united as one.

Through out all ages and in all lives

there is suffering.
We’ve certainly had tragedies in our lifetime,

when it seemed like the end has certainly come.

When it seems that injustice has won out.

And Jesus’ promise is for us then:

That is the time we know the most that God is with us.

We need to watch for God’s presence.

Keep awake and alert.

And we do that together,

so we can point these signs out to one another

and when we fall asleep or get cynical or exasperated,

or just plain tired, someone else is there to keep watch and remind us.

Like people watching for shooting stars.

Look, over there, I think I saw God working there.

We can see much more together than we can alone.

As Paul writes,

“By God we have been called into the fellowship of Jesus”

God has created us and called us to be in community.

In families, churches, in neighborhoods,

with people from all places and times.

To wait, to watch, to live together,

To care for one another, to encourage one another,

to eat, to sing, to pray, to rejoice, and share sorrow.

To offer hope to each other.

Today, right now, this Advent,

We have been called to wait for God together.