World In Need
A Sermon on Isaiah 64:1-9/ Mark 13:24-37
by Griff Martin
For the First Sunday in Advent
For the Beloveds of First Austin: a baptist community of faith
November 29, 2020
*This document comes from an oral manuscript.
Incarnate and Coming God, we ask that you once again take the Word and transform it into a living and breathing reality we can all together experience. Make us attended to your presence here in this space and in these words God, for if we are aware of your being here then nothing else will matter, but if we are not aware of your being here then nothing else will matter. In the name of the Creator, the Christ and the Comforter.
If I could add anything to the nativity set it would be a tree… but not the tree you are thinking of, if you are thinking of a tree decorated with twinkling lights, bright ornaments and an angel on top. As much as I love a well decorated Christmas tree, I think placing a tree like that in the nativity would be as tacky as putting Santa next to the manger or the Easter bunny next to the empty tomb. Some customs and traditions need the space in between so that both can be fully celebrated on their own merit.
The tree I am thinking about adding to the nativity is at full maturity about 30 feet tall and has smooth white bark. It has large fragrant leaves, with hints of mint and a lot of earthiness, and bears produce that start off as a small flower and then turn into a coveted fruit. And it’s very important in our faith.
It’s the third tree to be mentioned by name in the Hebrew scripture, although I think a good argument can be made that it’s actually the first tree to be mentioned by name since the other two are the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge and I don’t know about you, but those trees don’t grow in my backyard and never once have I asked The Natural Gardener if they had any Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in stock.
It’s the fig tree which is the third tree mentioned, the first by name… sew garments for yourself using the fig tree leaves. This tree plays an important role for us starting then, it’s part of the promise of the Promised Land -- “a land of vines and fig trees where you will eat without scarcity in which you will not lack anything,” and when describing a time of political stability the Hebrew scripture describes them “under their own fig tree” and it’s a central image in Jeremiah and then we get to the New Testament where it grows even more, Jesus has parable after parable about fig trees.
And there is that story which is one of my favorites where Jesus is traveling and he sees a fig tree off in the distance and it’s in bloom and that is very telling, if a fig tree has buds and flowers on it it, then it should also have figs on it. But when he gets closer to the tree and there are just flowers, no fruits -- Jesus curses the tree and it dies. It’s one of the brilliant human moments of Jesus’s humanity on display, like watching someone you really admire deal with their kid mid epic tantrum and in that moment you realize we are all so much alike.
The fig tree is as symbolic in our faith as the Cross or the Dove or the Trinity or fish and bread or the Sun and Moon or a cup of wine.
And the fig tree is the tree that welcomes us to Advent, the Fig, not the Frasier Fir.
Which is not the only thing to notice about this Advent welcome we receive this Sunday, which seems a bit off, when it comes to first things, we start off with the last things. Remember that Advent starts off in a very odd place, which are God’s favorite starting places, the unexpected and surprising places where you would not think to first look.
And Advent begins not with a “Once upon a time” fairy tale story beginning, but an “end of the world, hellfire and brimstone” space. The first text we encounter on our journey is Jesus talking about some crazy things about clouds and winds and coming again and people disappearing and staying awake. Here Jesus sounds like one of those preachers your crazy uncle loves who preaches on late night sketchy cable channels. It’s Jesus via Pat Robertson and Paula White.
I am sure that when Jesus starts this rant, the disciples are looking at each other with that typical look… Someone is taking the cup from him to see if he did the water to wine thing again but without sharing… because none of what he was saying made any sense. It is doom and gloom about how broken things are, it’s a greatest hits of the Hebrew Bible apocalyptic imagery remix.
Until he gets to the fig tree again, and their ears perk up because we are in Mark’s Gospel and it has only been two chapters earlier in that same Gospel when the so hungry-there is a fig tree-oh it has no fruit-curse and die incident occurred, it’s pretty fresh on their minds and they have been sitting with that trying to figure it out and maybe this is a clue.
“Take a lesson from the fig tree. From the moment you notice its buds form, the merest hint of green, you know summer’s just around the corner. And so it is with you. When you see all these things, you know he is at the door. Don’t take this lightly. I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for this one, too -- these things will happen. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out."
In the midst of talking about all the bad things to come and how broken and hard things are going to be, Jesus returns to the fig tree. Jesus reminds us that the fig tree is a prophet of its own, when you see the growth on it, the green flowers, you know that a few things are about to happen: fruit is going to be produced and summer is almost here. So Jesus takes this fig tree and reminds the disciples, when things fall apart and it seems like all is lost and nothing is the way you want and you are broken open, well, take heart then, because I am at the door, I am close by.
And then he adds very odd commentary, that this promise is for those right there at that moment and for generations to come, because the world is full of toils and troubles and brokenness, and Jesus will always be close by when things are broken and troubled. It’s not a promise of a second coming of Christ as much as a promise of presence.
Broken and troubled are some of Jesus’ very favorite starting places if we will just join him, if we will let him in the door.
And this goes against our very southern upbringing… if you were raised like I was, when you had guests over and you invited people over it was only when the house was nice and ready, clean and tidy. I mean, I vividly remember Monday evenings when I was told to go and clean my room because the housekeeper was coming tomorrow (to which I only responded one time, "Isn’t that what we pay her for?" … my room was not cleaned for a few visits after that -- I did it).
It’s very southern that your house needs to be in order for guests… and like we have with a lot of things, we have made our southern charm and manners into Divine Standards when the truth is the Divine has no standards, God is the girl who can’t say no, God is the guy who always takes back a cheating partner, God is the one that wants to be invited in when things are a mess because mess is God’s favorite starting space.
God is the friend who comes over when life has just had its way with you and things have fallen apart, God is the friend who knocks on the door at the right wrong moment and insists that you invite her in despite that things are not picked up, that the bed is unmade at 5:00 in the afternoon and you are still in your pajamas and that the dinner dishes from last night have not been done yet and nothing is ready for dinner tonight yet and you have nothing in the fridge. God comes on in and tells you to go take a bath, said with just the appropriate tension of love and get it together. And you come out in fresh sweatpants and the friend has cleaned things that you hoped no one would ever see but there is no judgement. And the dishes from last night are in the dishwasher and miracle of miracles you had everything you needed in the fridge for fried rice and there were enough eggs and you smell brownies in the oven. And with all that goodness, the friend sits you down at the table with a glass of ice cold water and says, “Now, let’s make a plan…” And even though you never wanted to invite this friend in, this friend saved your life. That is God.
So when life seems like too much… Maybe, for instance, it’s the year that is best described as a ‘mental health pandemic in the midst of a racial pandemic in the midst of the covid 19 pandemic," maybe there, for example, is a good place to let God in. Or maybe when you are at your wits end because it’s more time at home and working and zooming and homeschooling and on top of all that you are supposed to plan Christmas, maybe that is a good time to let God in. Or when you are at the end of your rope because you can’t handle more bad news this year, more loss, more depression, more grief, you feel like you are losing it all, maybe then is a good time to let God in.
When our country is in crisis, when we are finally dealing with our original sin of race and the myth of whiteness, when the divide between rich and poor has become a chasm of despair, when our political divide seems impossible to ever bridge again, when the church is not sure what is next, when the COVID numbers increase…
It’s then the fig tree is producing her first few green shoots to summon us that something new is about to happen, that God loves to start with the impossibles, that God loves a challenge and God is just waiting for the yes from us, yes God, join us.
That is the story we are going to be journeying through all of Advent… God taking the impossible, the unlikely, the broken, and finding a way for some faithful person -- be it Mary, Joseph, a Shepard, an inn keeper, a wiseman or an angel to say yes, come on God, let’s do something new.
You see, today we start with a blank nativity, just a big old sky full of stars and broken land. And that is where God begins then and today. The nativity, the incarnation, did not happen on a blank slate… It happened in a world in which things were pretty broken, leadership was not what Israel wanted, they were being oppressed, their faith seemed stagnant and nothing was really going their way.
And that is when God found the team of folks willing to say yes.
God saw the brokenness, God cursed it just like Jesus did the fig tree and said it’s time to do something. To demand more of our world, of our God and of ourselves.
First Austin, take time to look around our world and to see the brokenness and to curse what needs to be cursed so that you can demand more of it and you can join God in whatever God is about to do.
See the world, listen for the call of God and find hope this day because the fig tree is in full bloom, which means that God is ready to do something very new and very big -- will we say yes?
The fig tree blooms have just come out and they remind us of this hope… “Hang on just a little bit because just when you are sure that you cannot endure, God will intervene to turn the world right side up.”
Come quickly Lord Jesus… Amen and Amen.
*artwork: Advent Triptych, by John Swanson
A World in Need (advent poem 1)
By: KB
In any case, a surface is built on something. Like this morning;
the pancakes I ate rose from the goo of mixed goods, the gumminess
of their past. Just a century ago, I would not have been permitted
to write this poem. Just yesterday, I looked up every law that still
discriminates against who I love, how I think, & the color of my skin.
When we welcome light in, we must also leave the door open
for darkness. We must insist it take its coat off, make it a meal, ask
if it likes its coffee cinnamoned & milky. The surface of any progress
is the result of the gunk of human destruction. Who knows
what will happen when we reckon with the past in preparation
for the future. Who knows what the new season may bring
if we don’t start it with running. Greetings, brokenness & other
errors of the present. My name is trying and failing. I’m here
to shower you in hope.
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