Grace and Peace to you from God our creator and Sustainer, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that abides in each of us.  Amen

This past Friday morning, I had to go to the doctor for my annual physical.  Can you imagine going in for your annual physical the morning after Thanksgiving?  I can’t wait to see how my blood tests come back, and oh, my weight.  I told the doctor he had to take five pounds off my weight to deduct for everything I ate on Thursday.  In all seriousness, I do worry about these things because they are signs/indicators of my overall health.  It is important to watch these signs and be aware of what is happening in one’s body if we want to stay healthy.  I mean, isn’t that why, as we get older, we go in for annual physicals, so we can monitor and maintain our health?  You know, the same is true for the body of Christ, the Church.  We need to constantly monitor our health and make sure we are aware of the signs that indicate our health, or lack thereof.

Just a couple of weeks ago, we read from Chapter 13 of Mark’s Gospel where Jesus foretold the destruction of the Temple.  In response to his teaching, the disciples asked Jesus to tell them when this would happen and what signs they should watch for so that they would know when the end was coming.  I think it was a great question, and one that I correlate to my annual health checkup.  You see, I go in every year so the doctor can help me see and understand the signs of aging.  He looks at what is happening in my body, and then he advises me as to how I might live my life to stay healthy.  Now, for the most part I am doing well, but there are things changing in my body, and he has highlighted some of these signs for me so that I might watch for them and understand what they mean for my life. I can certainly choose to ignore these signs, it is up to me, but if I want to continue to live a long and healthy life, I can respond to these signs and use them to make my life even better. 

Now, if you remember, when the disciples asked Jesus about the signs they should watch for, Jesus basically told the disciples that no one but the Father knows the answer to when the end will be, not even Jesus.  However, Jesus did tell them that before the end came there would be wars, and rumors of wars, natural disasters, and even famines, and that all of these things must occur before the end would come.  These would be some of the signs that would bring about change.

Our text today on this first Sunday of Advent is Luke’s version of this same story.  But Luke goes beyond the things that the disciples and you and I can see around us; Luke adds cosmic things to the signs we must watch for, such as signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars.  I equate Luke’s explanation to getting a physical.  You see, once all my tests are back, my doctor will be able to tell me things happening in my body that I would not know on my own.  Luke, whom many believe was a physician, also lifts up signs that the people of Jesus’ day would not be able to explain on their own.  In Luke’s day, the technology did not exist to explain happenings such as eclipses, or shooting stars, or earthquakes, or climate changes such as an el niño.  When such things occurred, they saw them as signs of cosmic changes and God’s intervention in the world.  Today we may have scientific explanations for all of these, but I will argue that these are still signs that God’s Kingdom is coming, and they are signs that we should respond to.  Jesus said all these things would happen in this time between his first coming, that is, his birth, and his coming again, the time of final judgment.  In other words, we are living in the end times; we just do not know how long the end will take. 

A good question we might ask ourselves today is if the signs are all around us that we are in the end times, what does it mean for us today and what should we do while we wait?  This is the same thing I asked my doctor Friday morning after my physical.  What do I need to do to continue to live a healthy life?  Now, the fact of the matter is I know I will die some day, that is inevitable, but in the meantime I want to be healthy and enjoy all God has blessed me with.  Today our texts challenges us to look forward to Jesus’ coming again and ask the same question, While we wait for that judgment day, the end, how should we live our lives?

Now, the answer to this question will depend upon your view of end.  How many of you have seen the movie 2012?  I have not seen it yet, but as I understand it this movie depicts a scenario of the end as a catastrophic end.  Life as we know it will be destroyed.  If the world is really going to go “poof” someday, I would argue how we live our lives today will not matter.  I do want to see this movie eventually, but I want to make something very clear this morning: “The end” that this movie and so many other legends portray for the world is NOT an end that is described in Scripture.  The end as described in our Gospel today is very different from a catastrophic disaster.  According to Luke, when the end comes the Son of Man will come, and He will come in a cloud “with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27).  This vision of the end is described throughout the Scriptures, and it is specifically mentioned by Matthew (24:30, 26:64), Mark (13:26, 14:62), Luke (21:27), Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 4:17), and by John in his Revelation (1:7, 14:14).  In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, the dead and the living will rise up to meet him and “we will be with the Lord forever”.  At first glance, that sounds like we will be leaving this earth, doesn’t it?  So maybe the earth will be destroyed.  No, just the opposite!  You see, in ancient times, when a king would come to visit a town within his kingdom, he would come “in all his glory.”  This meant that he would ride in his chariot with all his armies into the town.  It would have been rude and completely wrong to allow the king to ride in unescorted; therefore, the townspeople would watch for him, and when they could see him coming they would ride out to meet him and then escort him into the town, announcing his arrival as they led him in.  When Jesus comes again, his followers will rise to meet him and escort him here.  The end as we know it refers to the end of the earthly rulers as we know it; the end as referred to in Scripture is the beginning of God’s complete reign here.  This means how we live and treat this world now will make a difference in the end.  The specifics of how we are to live are right here (hold up Bible).  Jesus said it is as easy as loving God and loving our neighbor.  For us to best understand this, we should dwell often in the Scriptures and allow God’s Word to wash over us as individuals and as a community.

The signs of the times are telling us that God’s Kingdom is coming.  Today we are called to look to the future with hope and excitement, not fear and trembling.  Today we are called to live a life where we can hold our heads high and receive our judgment with excitement and anticipation.  Brothers and sisters, as we once again await the coming of our Lord this Advent season, knowing that one day God’s complete reign will be fulfilled and earth and heaven will be one again.  This is the day we are awaiting, and may we wait with joyful anticipation.  Amen