Sermons at St. John’s Presbyterian Church

Looking Back to the Future

Transcribed from the sermon preached November 29, 2009

Jason Guy, Intern Minister

Scripture Readings: Luke 21:25-36

          Some of you likely recognize the title of my sermon today as coming from the 1985 sci-fi adventure movie Back to the Future. Initially that name stuck because it was a catchy phrase that summarized some of what I want to talk to you about this morning. However, as I meditated on the scripture and themes of today, I realized that this somewhat ridiculous film exemplifies a bit of what our role is in entering the Advent season.

          Marty McFly, Michael J. Fox’s character, after meeting up with the eccentric Doc Brown is shown a time machine made from a souped up Delorian, an iconic, classically 80s looking car. Marty gets into the car and is of course accidentally transported back to the year 1955 where he meets his parents when they were his age, and is required to correct the timeline after his mom falls in love with him instead of his father thus causing himself to never exist.

          For all the comedy of this situation, something else happens while Marty is back in time; he begins to understand why his parents are in the situations that they are in the present day. He sees the relationship between his father and his boss develop as one of a high school bully and a nerd. He also learns some unpleasant truths about the character of his parents. In the end all is set right when Marty engineers a scheme that forces his father to stand up to the bully, winning is mother and even improving upon the situation in the present day.

          Well, last Sunday was the end of our liturgical year, it was Christ the King Sunday, a celebration of Christ enthroned reigning over the kingdom of heaven, ornate crown on his head, scepter in hand, surrounded by saints and angels. This is likely an image some of us are not entirely comfortable with but for the early church, it represented the coming of God’s kingdom, the culmination of the Christian story. It celebrates a time when we all will have plenty, when God's people relate to one another in love, with none going hungry, and the world is ordered as it was created to be.

          Yet, as the church liturgical year begins again with the season of Advent, we know that all is not right in the world. Advent interjects, disrupting our comfort and reminds us of what we already know. We know that we are surrounded by injustices that do not match even our incomplete view of what the Kingdom of God on earth might look like. So, often that means we are stuck. We can’t see where God is present in the world, we are caught up in not knowing what to do or we become overwhelmed by what it means to act with justice, kindness, and humility in our particular situation, or to love our neighbors given the people around us.

          So, why does this all matter? We heard the words of promise from the book of the prophet Jeremiah and the affirmation of faith and hope in Psalm 25. Those were both written long ago. Jeremiah speaks to the rebuilding and re-habitation of Jerusalem following the Babylonian exile and destruction of the First Temple in 587 BCE. That was long ago.

          Luke offers up an apocalyptic vision, a glimpse of the final moments before God is to come. It is likely that this was written following the destruction of the 2nd temple and attributed to Jesus. This too was long ago. And it may be difficult to see the relevance of either of these situations in our concrete everyday lives.

          No doubt, in both of these authors speak to a time of calamity and a need for a new way of relating to the divine in the world to come. Jeremiah speaks of the branch of David, a new ruler that will set things right. Luke speaks of Son of Man, a figure frequently found in apocalyptic texts, that signifies the coming of one with great power who will bring divine order.

          It is tempting to view Luke in terms of deciphering when Christ will return, but I would argue that this misses the point. We are told to be on guard, we are told to watch for signs and that the kingdom of God is near. This is literalist, linear view is likely uncomfortable for many of us. Prophecy in this sense doesn’t fit well with many understandings of human agency in a post-modern world. However, the kingdom is at hand. God is still working in our lives and we do need to be aware, to keep watch, to keep our eyes open for when that is happening for us. This is our hope for today.

          You see, Advent acknowledges that we are still waiting. That God isn’t finished with us yet. The church year is cyclical. While one week we celebrate the sovereign rule of God as exemplified by Christ as king, the next week we acknowledge the need for hope. That God’s kingdom is present in our midst but is not yet fully realized in all of creation. The need to continue waiting and the important role for prophets and prophecy in the sense that there is still much injustice to speak out against.

          Meditating on the role of grace in the hope and that accompanies this waiting I was reminded of a story I once heard at a Methodist youth conference.  During the Holocaust, in the winter 1940 in a small French mountain town a cold Jewish refugee knocked on a door seeking refuge from Nazi pursuers. Andre Trocmé, a Protestant minister answered the knock and took her in. This set off an effort by his entire village to take in other persons like this woman.

          In the end more than 5,000 people that were fleeing persecution were sheltered. Trocmé when questioned by authorities merely stated, “These people came here for help and for shelter. I am their shepherd. A shepherd does not forsake his flock. I do not know what a Jew is. I know only human beings.” While he was eventually forced into hiding himself, the village continued this effort. Eventually a movement spread from this village setting off a rescue effort that spread beyond the town as an underground network to safety in Spain or Switzerland. This was later to be called a “conspiracy of goodness.”

          Circulating on the Internet is video that I recently came across that attempts to frame the season of Advent in similar terms. It is for an organization appropriately called the Advent Conspiracy. I recommend looking it up if you get a chance. In this video the contrast of what the season leading up to Christmas with all of its business and worry about finding the right gifts is contrasted to with the relational gift of the life of Jesus. It calls on us to do the same in our giving. It points out that we, as a nation spend 450 billion dollars on holiday celebrations where as it would take only 10 billion to give life in gift of water. This conspiracy started as one church in 2006 and has since grown to a worldwide movement that focuses on providing clean water for those without it.

          Does that sound familiar? St John’s as a community understands this concept well. In the short time I have been here I have been introduced to the power of such conspiracy be it in the work of the sanctuary movement, funding a health clinic, or digging a well. There is a real presence of God in these acts and gifts.

          While last Sunday we looked at giving of ourselves in our pledges and offerings, the story doesn’t end there. Our reality is calls on us to do more. This is where the hope lies though. What if we were to give relationally, to work with one another in our keeping watch for God moving in our lives? In letting God work through us in the lives of those around us? What if we took this time of Advent to prepare not just our hearts for the coming of Christ into our lives again but to prepare the world for the relational work of God?

          As we go from this place, entering into the Christmas story once again, let us look back to the words of the prophets, to the message of the Gospel, and to future of the hope that is God still working in the world.  The clip I was just discussing, ends with this phrase, you are free to conspire. May it be so it be so for all of us.