Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on 3rd December 2006, First Sunday of Advent, by Rev. Dr. Jochen Teuffel. The scripture readings that day were Jeremiah 33:14-16, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 and Luke 21:25-36.


25 «There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.
28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.»
29 Then he told them a parable: «Look at the fig tree and all the trees;
30 as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near.
31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
32 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place.
33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
34 «Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly,
35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth.
36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.»

Apocalypse now, the signs are pointing towards the end. The whole cosmos is upside down, Sea and waves are roaring, the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Inevitably Jesus’ announcement of those signs remind us of pictures of natural disasters we can watch almost every day on TV, obviously pointing towards a global catastrophe because of a drastic climate change causing rising sea-levels and devastating typhoons.

Yes, there are drastic predictions in terms of global towards future which are every thing but promising.

25 «There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.»

Jesus’ announcement sounds strange, contrary to our expectation: There a global catastrophe (Greek “overturn”) coming and he asks us to stand up and raise our heads in the midst of this event. Normally, a catastrophe evokes the need for protection, seeking shelter, running away. Run for your life. It seems as Jesus called us to face the upcoming catastrophe directly, with open eyes.

There are some caveats to be made: Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.» The emphasis is on our redemption in the context of God’s actions. When God himself is shaking the powers of the heavens then certainly the day of the Lord is about to come.

God’s decisions are not to be made by us. We are not to seek for a global catastrophe, particularly if it is induced by human misbehavior in terms of global ecology. God’s works including the Day of Judgment are not to be mistaken with disastrous human behavior. We are not called to destroy what has entrusted to us as God’s creation.

However, Jesus’ message to his disciples still stands: When these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

We need his promise in order not to faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world. Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

There is no final catastrophe to be expected which will separate us from Christ. As he says: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

His word frees us from all too human imaginations of a global catastrophe which wipes out the entire life on Earth. Human apocalypticism fueled by all this disastrous pictures imagines a global catastrophe as the definite end. That is it and that was end, R. I. P, rest in past (not peace). The global catastrophe imagined will bury life, the whole Earth one cemetery. In the past there was life on Earth but in Future there will be only the death of life left.

Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Christ’s words stand: In the very end the future will not be determined by human beings with all their technological empowerment which have mounted up to a global scale. The future of heaven and earth are not in human hands but in God’s living Word, in which he created heaven and earth. And no human achievement, no human power and even superpower can thwart God’s Word. God is not to be overpowered by human-made destructions.

Humanity can only forecast death towards future, but God’s promise for the future is life, life inseparably connected with God through Christ. The New Covenant inaugurated by Christ’s blood shed on the Cross and sealed in his resurrection will not cease to exist but become reality for the whole Earth. And this will be the global catastrophe Jesus is speaking about. Actually the Greek word “catastrophe” means “overturn.” The final advent of Christ is a global catastrophe, a universal overturn of the destructive powers of the world, for the sake of life recapitulated and restored in God’s steadfast love.

Yes, Christ’s advent will shake heaven and earth, because the power of death and the power of sin are to be overcome. And we all know how strong and effective these powers are on Earth. They have to be and they will be overpowered us. The final disarmament of death is the global catastrophe Jesus announces to his disciples. Therefore his words stand:

Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

I recognize the members of KUC as those who are engaged in Church and society not only for their own sake. They seek more than personally comforting messages. There are enough opportunities in Hong Kong to find Churches or congregations which please the spiritual needs and desires of their members. Probably those churches are doing better than KUC in this way.

However, a particular vigilance towards the development of the society and an engagement for the preservation and protection of human rights matches the global dimension of Christ’s advent. Christ with his work is much more than my personal savior. And in terms of his judgment to come there can be no private life or faith kept. In the very end our human life will become public, unsecured of family ties, possessions and positions.

Nevertheless, in spite of all the engagement for others we have to be reminded that there is someone about to come and to bring something which cannot be achieved by all our efforts.

In the very end justice and peace fulfilling heaven and earth are God’s work. And this is our only hope and assurance. We know how insufficient human efforts and achievements can be. One situation addressed and probably improved, and two other situations will come to our mind. Addressing these cases and another four incidents will occur. There is no moment thinkable where one can say: Mission accomplished, justice is done.

But all these efforts which so often appear to result in minor and even irrelevant achievements will finally be assumed into this cosmic catastrophe where Christ overpowers death and sin.

With the expectation of the final restoration of God’s justice, human work for justice and peace won’t be in vain. Yes insufficient and according to human standards sometimes fruitless. But Christ’s Word stands: No loose heart, Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

It was the late president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gustav Heinemann, an active member of the Confessing Church during the time of the so-called Third Reich, who encouraged his Church after the Second World War in 1950:

“A high price was paid for our freedom through the death of God’s son. No one can put us in new chains, for God’s Son is risen. Let us answer to the world when they want to frighten us: Your rulers are going, but our Lord comes.”

Your rulers are going, but our Lord comes, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.»