Series: Unto Us Child is Born
“But in those days, following that distress, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’” Mark 13:24-25 NIV
Wait a minute. What is going on here? This Sunday is the first day of Advent on the church calendar, and, more than that, it is almost Christmas. Thanksgiving is over along with “Black Friday,” “Cyber Monday,” and all those important holiday rituals. The shops and malls are playing “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” and “Winter Wonderland,” everything is decorated to the hilt, but if we dare to gather in church this Sunday, we will hear the gospel thundering about the sun being darkened, the moon without light and stars falling from the sky. Sounds more like the end of the world than the beginning of Advent.
But wait (again), there’s more…
“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” Mark 13:26 NIV
So, are we waiting for the end, or are we waiting for a beginning? Of course, it’s both as in every end is a new beginning. As we see the tons of signs in our world pointing to the end (war, hate, violence, etc.), perhaps we are called to live as signs of the coming Kingdom (hope, peace, joy and love). Either way, until then, we wait. How we wait is what matters now.
This Sunday we light the 1st Advent candle – the candle of hope. It is because of the sure and certain hope of the resurrection we can wait with a sense of excitement and in anticipation of Christs return, when all the wrongs will be set right.
For unto us a child is born,
Pastor Rob
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