Wake Up!
First Sunday in Advent
Text: Mark 13:24-37
There is a scene in one of my favourite movies that begins with the lead character sleeping in front of a computer. The images on the computer rapidly flip past image after image, set to an automated search. Thomas Anderson is looking for something, what it is, he is not quite sure. All we see is a name that keeps appearing on the screen, “Morpheus.” If we know a little bit about Greek literature, we know that “Morpheus” is the master of dreams. We’re not given too much time to ponder this fact, and the irony that this character is asleep looking for one named after the master of dreams. Suddenly, the screen goes black, and the words “Wake up, Neo” appear on the screen.
These words prove far more prophetic in the story’s plot than we can imagine.
Some of you may have already guessed it: this scene is from the 1999 blockbuster film “The Matrix.” As slick and as high-tech as this film was, and even as violent as it is, the film is absolutely filled with Christian imagery. Among other things, the call to “wake up” keeps recurring through the film… so much so that the music that runs over the closing credits is a song called “Wake Up” performed by the appropriately named rap-metal group “Rage Against the Machine.”
It seems rather funny to talk about summer blockbuster films on this first Sunday of Advent… where wreaths and candles, and the promise of the Christ Child seem to be far more appropriate. But Advent is never quite what we expect; it’s funny that way. Here at the start of a new year, we don’t look back to the beginning. We look forward to the end. Here on the first day of the new church year, we do not focus on the past, but we anticipate the future where Christ promises to meet us. As Advent begins, we in the church are called to wake up to God’s redeeming presence with and amongst us.
Waking up and becoming open to new life and new ways of being are not only central themes to the movie, The Matrix, they are also central to our Gospel reading for this morning. Mark’s Gospel presents Jesus instructing his followers to prepare for the end of the world, and the coming of the Son of Man:
There will be signs of the end of the world in the very cosmos itself, and these are signs that go beyond wars and catastrophes, that include more than persecution for their beliefs. The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple may happen (and did), but these are not signs in and of themselves that the end of the world is at hand.
Jesus goes on to reminds his followers, including us, that the coming of the Lord will not just be in the form of the baby born in the manger. The coming of the Lord will be in the form of the Son of Man in glory. This is the hope of the Kingdom of God, fully realized in the fullness of time. The Greeks call this parousia. But no one –not even Jesus himself knows when in our time this might actually be. In Mark, Jesus goes on to say:
Jesus foretells a day when the world will be radically changed by the advent of the power of God in its fullness. “Therefore, keep awake,” warns Jesus. Keep awake… Maybe it’s a better translation to say “wake up!” When we look forward to the end, when we anticipate the future, it is far too tempting to see this conclusion as some distant, far-off event. Jesus tells us that it is near at hand… It may be as close as the next second. It is so imminent, in fact, that the future comes and takes up residence in the present. The Christ who will arrive with power and great glory at the end of time comes to us also before the end of time.
But Jesus does not wait until the end of the world, or even until our death, in order to approach us. God is eternal and time-less, future, past, present blend in God’s eyes. Christ is always appearing in our midst; the lord of a million disguises… turning up in the most unexpected of places. We learned from Matthew last week, “Lord, when did we see you?” We need to watch…to keep alert…to wake up… so that we might see the coming of God among us.
Mark’s gospel reminds us that God is everywhere…if only we have eyes to see…and ears to hear…Open our eyes, God is right here! Watch…keep alert…wake up…Be ever mindful and open to seeing God among us… The Advent promise of Immanuel is as tangible as the person next to us.
But seeing God at work and recognizing God in our everyday lives is not an easy thing to do. We fail to see God in the beauty of this earth and the creatures that live on it. We do not see God in one another, nor do we see God in ourselves. Oddly enough, what Jesus is saying to us is “Wake up… don’t be so focused on the future that you fail to see me in the present!” The presence of Christ among us is often a matter of opening our eyes, waking up to a reality that we had never seen or understood before. The trouble is, we never quite know when or where that might be, or what it might look like.
I stumbled across this story of two young people talking about their jobs.
“I’m looking for another place to work,” one told the other.
“Really? I thought you were happy with your job?” his companion replied.
“Well, I was happy enough. But yesterday, when my boss came in, so excited, and said to me, ‘Boy, come over here. You won’t believe what I got yesterday! You are going to be green with envy,’ and stuff like that. Then he pulled out a picture of a car, and he plopped that picture down on my desk. It was a pretty high-end car, a Jag I think. He said to me, ‘Eat your heart out. That’s what I’ll be driving from now on.’
“I sat there scratching my head. It sounded kinda silly when I thought about it. His life was actually made better; he really had a good reason to go on living for one more day, because he got this car! Then he said to me, ‘Kid, if you keep your nose to the grindstone, one day you can get to be like me.’ He turned and left my office. Those words stuck in my head: ‘Kid, if you keep at it, one day you will be like me.’ I thought to myself, ‘Great! One day I’ll actually look like you. I’ll have no greater point to my life than to get some car and think that gives me a life worth living.’ It was for me an awakening, a moment when everything came into focus. I’m getting out of this job, leaving this office, getting as much distance between me and him as I can. God help me if I ever grow up to look like him!”
Our times of awakening may not be this dramatic, but they can certainly be just as life-changing. Starting down this Advent road, Jesus calls us to wake up, to see the world in a new way… the way that God is in the moment, and how the fullness of time is already upon us.
Neo’s words at the end of the Matrix echoes the words of Jesus to his followers:
“I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin.” Jesus tells us that not even he himself knows as to exactly what the future holds… he doesn’t know when the son of Man will come in glory. He tells us that in the meantime, don’t sit around waiting for the end to come. Don’t get complacent, because we may actually miss the fact that God is present with us right here, right now. Wake up!
Advent is not a predictable, rolling around of the same old message of Christ’s birth, a retelling of a story that we already know too well. Advent is the message about the fullness of time. Advent is about the possibility that comes with transformation. Advent is about a new heaven and new earth, a new church, a new us; a world where anything is possible. God is with us! Wake up!
Amen
Text: Mark 13:24-37
There is a scene in one of my favourite movies that begins with the lead character sleeping in front of a computer. The images on the computer rapidly flip past image after image, set to an automated search. Thomas Anderson is looking for something, what it is, he is not quite sure. All we see is a name that keeps appearing on the screen, “Morpheus.” If we know a little bit about Greek literature, we know that “Morpheus” is the master of dreams. We’re not given too much time to ponder this fact, and the irony that this character is asleep looking for one named after the master of dreams. Suddenly, the screen goes black, and the words “Wake up, Neo” appear on the screen.
These words prove far more prophetic in the story’s plot than we can imagine.
Some of you may have already guessed it: this scene is from the 1999 blockbuster film “The Matrix.” As slick and as high-tech as this film was, and even as violent as it is, the film is absolutely filled with Christian imagery. Among other things, the call to “wake up” keeps recurring through the film… so much so that the music that runs over the closing credits is a song called “Wake Up” performed by the appropriately named rap-metal group “Rage Against the Machine.”
It seems rather funny to talk about summer blockbuster films on this first Sunday of Advent… where wreaths and candles, and the promise of the Christ Child seem to be far more appropriate. But Advent is never quite what we expect; it’s funny that way. Here at the start of a new year, we don’t look back to the beginning. We look forward to the end. Here on the first day of the new church year, we do not focus on the past, but we anticipate the future where Christ promises to meet us. As Advent begins, we in the church are called to wake up to God’s redeeming presence with and amongst us.
Waking up and becoming open to new life and new ways of being are not only central themes to the movie, The Matrix, they are also central to our Gospel reading for this morning. Mark’s Gospel presents Jesus instructing his followers to prepare for the end of the world, and the coming of the Son of Man:
“But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and theAdvent is all about the coming of God into our midst. Mark’s gospel is a fitting reflection of that expectation. There is no corner of creation that is unaffected by the advent of God. Three times Jesus repeats the warning “Keep awake.” The warnings presented here are before Jesus moves to his cross. In the context of our church year, it is a call to expectancy, preparation, self-examination, and heightened awareness. Wake up! The coming of God compels us to change.
moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and
the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26Then they will see “the Son of Man
coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. Then he will send out the
angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to
the ends of heaven.
There will be signs of the end of the world in the very cosmos itself, and these are signs that go beyond wars and catastrophes, that include more than persecution for their beliefs. The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple may happen (and did), but these are not signs in and of themselves that the end of the world is at hand.
Jesus goes on to reminds his followers, including us, that the coming of the Lord will not just be in the form of the baby born in the manger. The coming of the Lord will be in the form of the Son of Man in glory. This is the hope of the Kingdom of God, fully realized in the fullness of time. The Greeks call this parousia. But no one –not even Jesus himself knows when in our time this might actually be. In Mark, Jesus goes on to say:
Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he
may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to
all: Keep awake.”
Jesus foretells a day when the world will be radically changed by the advent of the power of God in its fullness. “Therefore, keep awake,” warns Jesus. Keep awake… Maybe it’s a better translation to say “wake up!” When we look forward to the end, when we anticipate the future, it is far too tempting to see this conclusion as some distant, far-off event. Jesus tells us that it is near at hand… It may be as close as the next second. It is so imminent, in fact, that the future comes and takes up residence in the present. The Christ who will arrive with power and great glory at the end of time comes to us also before the end of time.
But Jesus does not wait until the end of the world, or even until our death, in order to approach us. God is eternal and time-less, future, past, present blend in God’s eyes. Christ is always appearing in our midst; the lord of a million disguises… turning up in the most unexpected of places. We learned from Matthew last week, “Lord, when did we see you?” We need to watch…to keep alert…to wake up… so that we might see the coming of God among us.
Mark’s gospel reminds us that God is everywhere…if only we have eyes to see…and ears to hear…Open our eyes, God is right here! Watch…keep alert…wake up…Be ever mindful and open to seeing God among us… The Advent promise of Immanuel is as tangible as the person next to us.
But seeing God at work and recognizing God in our everyday lives is not an easy thing to do. We fail to see God in the beauty of this earth and the creatures that live on it. We do not see God in one another, nor do we see God in ourselves. Oddly enough, what Jesus is saying to us is “Wake up… don’t be so focused on the future that you fail to see me in the present!” The presence of Christ among us is often a matter of opening our eyes, waking up to a reality that we had never seen or understood before. The trouble is, we never quite know when or where that might be, or what it might look like.
I stumbled across this story of two young people talking about their jobs.
“I’m looking for another place to work,” one told the other.
“Really? I thought you were happy with your job?” his companion replied.
“Well, I was happy enough. But yesterday, when my boss came in, so excited, and said to me, ‘Boy, come over here. You won’t believe what I got yesterday! You are going to be green with envy,’ and stuff like that. Then he pulled out a picture of a car, and he plopped that picture down on my desk. It was a pretty high-end car, a Jag I think. He said to me, ‘Eat your heart out. That’s what I’ll be driving from now on.’
“I sat there scratching my head. It sounded kinda silly when I thought about it. His life was actually made better; he really had a good reason to go on living for one more day, because he got this car! Then he said to me, ‘Kid, if you keep your nose to the grindstone, one day you can get to be like me.’ He turned and left my office. Those words stuck in my head: ‘Kid, if you keep at it, one day you will be like me.’ I thought to myself, ‘Great! One day I’ll actually look like you. I’ll have no greater point to my life than to get some car and think that gives me a life worth living.’ It was for me an awakening, a moment when everything came into focus. I’m getting out of this job, leaving this office, getting as much distance between me and him as I can. God help me if I ever grow up to look like him!”
Our times of awakening may not be this dramatic, but they can certainly be just as life-changing. Starting down this Advent road, Jesus calls us to wake up, to see the world in a new way… the way that God is in the moment, and how the fullness of time is already upon us.
Neo’s words at the end of the Matrix echoes the words of Jesus to his followers:
“I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin.” Jesus tells us that not even he himself knows as to exactly what the future holds… he doesn’t know when the son of Man will come in glory. He tells us that in the meantime, don’t sit around waiting for the end to come. Don’t get complacent, because we may actually miss the fact that God is present with us right here, right now. Wake up!
Advent is not a predictable, rolling around of the same old message of Christ’s birth, a retelling of a story that we already know too well. Advent is the message about the fullness of time. Advent is about the possibility that comes with transformation. Advent is about a new heaven and new earth, a new church, a new us; a world where anything is possible. God is with us! Wake up!
Amen
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