People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world,
For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (Luke 21.26)
What a strange way to begin our season of Advent preparation! This is certainly no stroll through the Cherry Creek Mall to admire the decorations and do a little shopping.
Jesus’ words are far removed from “Sleighbells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening” that accompanies us as we prepare for Christmas with visits to Target and Macy’s. These words are not the kind of preparation for Christmas that we in America are used to! This apocalyptic language sounds very strange to us.
But as the Christians in the Bethlehem prepare for Christmas, these words describe their daily reality. Their daily routines—going to school, to the market, to work—are filled with uncertainty and fear and foreboding. Uncertainty about whether they will be able to get to work in Jerusalem in the morning. Foreboding that the soldiers will come with bulldozers and demolish their homes because they could not get a permit and so they added a bedroom and a bathroom for their growing family anyway. Fear that the helicopters flying overhead will start shooting again.
And they have a keener sense of the nearness of the dominion of God too. We, who depend on our detailed plans, our bank accounts and our calendars, do not need God’s dominion. In fact, God’s dominion will probably interrupt our plans. The coming of God’s dominion will probably interfere with the Bronco game on Sunday and our night out on Saturday.
But in Bethlehem, where getting to work is uncertain (you might be stopped by the soldiers at the checkpoint and your permit confiscated), and people are fainting in the crush of bodies waiting to pass through the Bethlehem checkpoint, and you never know when the next war will begin……these words of Jesus in the temple might actually be comforting. Because he reminds us that whatever tumultuous events happen on the earth, they are not the end of the story. God is. If your brother is arrested or your home is bulldozed, this is not the end of the story. God has promised us that. And God’s dominion, God’s rule, God’s way of life, is not far away. It is near, as near as the sprouting fig leaves in springtime. And we can be part of this new life.
If we are alert, on guard, we can give children hope for the future. We can create spaces for healing in our communities. We can give our youth a sense of their own worth and abilities.
This is what the people of the Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem are doing in their community. Read about their peace-building work, bringing “life abundant” to the people of Palestine: http://www.annadwa.org/ . Watch their life-giving programs scroll across your screen. Click on the icons at the bottom of the page and read about their work. And join in this work by making a Christmas gift to support their programs. Or volunteer with a community program giving abundant life to our own children, who also need more than bank accounts.
Photo shows swimmers in class at the Wellness Center in Bethlehem.
God of the roaring sea, you are our only security and your promises are sure. Keep us mindful of your faithfulness and renew us in this season of the church’s New Year, so that we rededicate ourselves to being your partners in renewing your broken world. In the name of your Son, our teacher. Amen.
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