"Look Up, Look Busy!"

11-28-21

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

“It’s the end of the world as we know it…and I feel fine!” Actually, no, I don’t feel fine! I feel stressed! There are too many cars on the road, too many people shopping at Giant, my packages are all delayed because of “supply chain issues,” covid cases are trending back up even though vaccinations among 5-11-year-olds are rolling out. I would much rather stay home and binge watch “The Great Christmas Bake off” on Hulu. 

Especially since this week even though it’s advent, and everyone around us has gone full-tilt Christmas with carols on the radio and Christmas trees up and decorated… here we are with nary a manger or angel or Mary or shepherd or even a scrap of hay … instead we have crabby Jesus and, “it’s the end of the world as we know it…” and nobody is feeling fine.

Have you ever seen the bumper sticker or memes that reads “Jesus is coming – look busy”? Like how dare Jesus find ou taking a nap or slacking off when he comes back. It reminds me of that Christmas song about Santa that is weirdly creepy… you know the one that goes  Santa “you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout...” you better look busy or Jesus may bring you something worse than coal. 

But I’m not sure how exactly I’m supposed to be “looking busy,” especially when it seems as though Jesus must be ready to come back any minute. Between the unpredictable acts of violence, refugee crisis stretching on, the effects of climate change getting really scary…. So much pain, fear, suffering has happened just the last few weeks.

It might cause us to question whether these are the very signs Jesus was talking about. Should we “look busy”? Or should we duck and cover? Stockpile our basements with Mac and Cheese and toilet paper (again)?

Well, Jesus has an opinion about what we should do to get ready for his impending arrival. Not look busy. Not squirrel away supplies like a doomsday-prepper. But also, not to be weighed down by fear. Jesus tells us to stand up and raise our heads, be alert, full of prayer and hope. Because another kind of future is on our way to us – not our future, but God’s future, where we will live as part of God’s Queendom/ kin-dom/ kingdom.

During another time of great upheaval in human history, the prophet Jeremiah shared similar words of encouragement to an overwhelmed people. The people of Israel were conquered by a foreign nation – one of many during the centuries - and they were forced to become unwelcomed refugees in a strange land, defeated, defenseless, and dejected, they might have given up on God and given up on hope.

We fast forward to the first followers of Jesus hearing these words written by Luke. At this time, Jerusalem had yet again been destroyed, this time by the Roman Empire. Their beloved place of worship was gone, their city devastated, countless people died, and their world had become unrecognizable. Which left the early followers of Jesus wondering, can God still show up, even after all this? Is God’s kingdom still near, will God be able to break into all the doom and gloom of this present moment?

If THIS kind of stuff is what we’re going to be getting during Advent, let’s do as the rest of the world does and skip over Advent completely, right to Christmas carols and peppermint lattes. But I will let you in on a little secret. In Advent, time refuses to behave properly. I dare say, it becomes downright wibbly-wobbly.

During the season of Advent, Jesus comes to us as a baby and as a grown man. He was born, he is here, and he will return…. but we don’t know just when and how until he shows up. His Queendom/kin-dom will come, and at the same time his kingdom IS ALREADY HERE among us. From the past we find hope for the future, and the future becomes the “now.”

From Bethlehem to Vienna, God has given God’s people a head’s up, to lift our heads and look up, that from the dead stump of tragedy, a branch is going to spring up, to show us that despite all the chaos and the fear and the pain, God is still going to SHOW UP. Even when all hell breaks loose. While the rest of the world is telling us to duck and cover, or look busy and hustle for our self-worth, Jesus says to stand up and see where he is showing up. Because otherwise we might miss where Jesus and the Queendom/ kingdom are breaking into our world RIGHT NOW.

And in most unlikely places, even in the full-on advent of the Christmas shopping season, there are still plenty of opportunities to witness Jesus. Today we recognized a historic moment of inclusivity for the Scouts in our first class of young women eagle scouts. Tomorrow night we will be a presence in the Vienna community during the annual church street stroll. We have been stepping up to help support our Afghan family, even though their arrival in our lives was a total surprise. I might even choose to be courteous of that slow car ahead of me, even if they have that bumper sticker that says, “Jesus is coming, look busy!”

Every Sunday when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer “Thy Kingdom Come,” we are looking toward a time where God’s justice and mercy will reign. We look forward to a time when there is no more racism, sexism, classism, ableism of any kind, where fear and war and violence and greed and death no longer rule us. And every time we pray for God’s kingdom/ Queendom/ Kin-dom to arrive, we are allowing ourselves to be open to being part of that arrival. And not just by “looking busy” and being distracted, but instead by being aware, alert, and ready to LOOK for what and who is bringing in God’s kingdom.

Until God’s kingdom comes in its fullness, and Jesus does come back, surfing on a cloud, we wait, and we hope. That is the heart and soul of the season of Advent. We don’t know what the world will bring to us around the next corner or in the next news cycle. But we can keep our heads raised knowing God is going to show up, both in the manger and in the mundane. Thanks be to God, AMEN.