November 29, 2009 Cycle C
It would appear that suspense or films that frighten and scare us are most the rage. Witness the popularity of films like “Paranormal Activity” or “2012.” When we sit in a darkened theatre we know “something wicked is on its way. It’s coming, coming, coming.” The music, of course, enhances the anxiety and threat of a surprise around the corner. We expected it and we paid for it, no doubt, so that’s why we’re there. However, in real life we prefer to stave off the arrival of unforeseen and uncontrollable events.
Some of you in the Church who are baby boomers remember the earlier memories of elementary school. There was that period of time that we went through a periodic safety drill known as “duck and cover.” During the early part of the Cold War when Americans feared a missile attack from the Soviet Union, it was common for teachers to instruct students on what to do in the event of a Nuclear War. If the air raid sirens ever went off the teachers advised the students that they were to immediately duck down under their desks, pull their knees up to their chins and cover their heads with their hands.
Today of course this advice seems absurd. If Nuclear War ever were to burst forth upon the earth a school desk would provide scant protection. That’s why American schools stopped conducting “duck and cover” drills many many years ago. They were pointless and only served to increase everyone’s anxiety level.
There are, of course, many today who still wait for unseen forces awaiting them, like minefields in the course of their lives. It seems to disrupt everyone’s plans.
For example, we have sickness, loss, unemployment, financial reversals, natural disasters, criminal acts. Or we may face rejection or betrayal from an unsuspected source. It would seem for some that there is always a shadowy background in our days. Something is coming, coming after us. We can’t read the handwriting on the wall to know what it is however. We don’t know if we should prepare to receive this stranger arrival, or seek to prevent it.
We begin the new Church Year in the spirit of expectation. We don’t call this season Advent for nothing. “Something is coming” and we’re asked to prepare for its arrival. Is it a good surprise, or a bad one? Is it something you’ve been longing for, or something that’s going to ruin everything? If we have to decipher the arrival from today’s readings that we just heard, you might say that it could go either way. Jeremiah insists wonderful days are coming, an era of justice and security. But Jesus warns that nations will be in anguish. The heavens will shake and people will die of freight. Which way will things go?
Jesus’ advice to His disciples is really, when you look at it closely, is the opposite of “duck and cover.” Rather than advising them to hunker down in hard times and hope for the best, Jesus instructs His disciples to “stand up and raise your heads.” Sounds kind of counterintuitive. Right? Who would ever think of raising their heads when the fury of judgment day is raging all around? Who would? Well, a Christian would. That’s who. A Christian who believes God’s promises and knows them to be true. If we are a people of justice and right, then the time that is coming will be the best season of all. It will be the answer to our prayers, to the day of salvation, to deliver us from every evil. That is, of course, if we are people of justice ourselves.
However, if we seem to be a people who benefit from systems of injustice and oppression, or stand on the backs of other people and enjoy good things at their expense, then the words of Jesus might remind us to be afraid, very afraid, because the day will be coming that will bring liberation and freedom to those held captive. The same day will close like a trap on those who are oppressors.
This life has things to be feared. No doubt about that. If we didn’t fear the worse case scenarios as I said, “Illness, poverty, pain, suffering, and all the rest” we would be considered foolish. Yet ultimately for the just, Jesus is sharing Good News. He’s telling us that all of our fears are ultimately nothing when laid up against the great plans God has for this world and for all who live within it.
We come today then to celebrate the Eucharist and find strength so that we might set aside our anxiety’s and worries, and live with our heads held high; we have received God’s promise of salvation, God’s promise that He will protect and be with us. The God that we await during this Advent season will ultimately appear as the God of Light, for our redemption is at hand.
Amen. Amen. Mgr. Tom, Pastor Chist the King