Sermons:

• Something’s Coming Luke 21:25-36; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13  (see below) Rev. Karen A. Goltz     
   

• The Advent of the Lord, Luke 21:25-36, by Sue in Cuba, KS
   

• Here I Come, Ready or Not, Luke 21: 25-26, by Dr. David Rogne 
   

• Facing the Future, Luke 21:25-36, by Rev. Rick Thompson 
   

• God's Postal Carrier, Jeremiah 33:14-16, Roy E. Fowler
   

• Be alert! Be attentive! God is Coming! Luke 21:25-36, Rev. Thomas Hall
   

• Can You Read the Signs of the Times? Luke 21:25-36, by Jim Hill from B.C.

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Something’s Coming
based on Luke 21:25-36; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Rev. Karen A. Goltz

            Whenever I read this text, I can’t help but think of a song from West Side Story.  “Could be, Who knows?  There’s somethin’ due any day, I will know right away, soon as it shows!”  There’s a strong sense of excited anticipation through that whole song.  Tony’s been dreaming at night that he’s reaching out for something, something he hasn’t experienced yet, but that he will soon.  It’s just barely out of reach for him, and he doesn’t even know what it is he’s reaching for.  But he can’t wait until it happens.  As Riff is leaving after he’s convinced Tony to be his lieutenant at the war council that night, Riff casually says, “Who knows, maybe what you’re looking for will be at the dance tonight.”  And Tony repeats, “Who knows?”  And then it strikes him, really.  “Who knows?”  And then he starts his song.

            Excited anticipation.  We live in a world of endless possibilities.  Some experiences we seek out, others just sort of happen, sometimes as expected, sometimes out of nowhere, cannon-balling down through the sky, gleam in its eye, bright as a rose.  Who knows?

            Sometimes there are indications that something’s going to happen.  Tony had his dreams each night.  He didn’t know what they meant or what they indicated, but they were enough of a sign to let him know that something was coming.  Luke’s gospel uses trees as an example.  As soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already approaching.  The week before Halloween week I saw the employees at the Hallmark Store putting out their Christmas inventory, and I knew that Christmas was coming.  Now that we’re past Thanksgiving, it seems like Christmas has already taken over.  I haven’t needed to look at a calendar for that; the decorations are signs enough that it’s coming, and it’s coming soon. 

            Could it be?  Yes it could.  Somethin’s comin’, somethin’ good, if I can wait.  Advent is often mistaken as a time of preparation for Christmas.  I mean, look at the timing.  Christmas is a big event in our culture, and it can require a lot of preparation.  The Hallmark Store’s been preparing since before Halloween.  Other businesses waited until just before Thanksgiving.  Even our lectionary reading for today talks about the coming of the Son of Man, and we understand that to mean Jesus is coming into the world as our Savior.  The next two Sundays, we’ll read about John the Baptist and how he’s preparing the way of the Lord, giving people a heads up that Jesus is coming.  The Sunday before Christmas we’ll meet the pregnant Mary as she visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is actually at that time pregnant herself with the child who will grow to be John the Baptist.  And then the reading appointed for Christmas Eve is Luke’s birth narrative, complete with the inn that had no room for Mary and Joseph, the manger, and the shepherds in the field who come to see, at the direction of the angel.  It’s easy to mistake Advent as a time to prepare for Christmas.

            And I don’t want to diminish that celebration.  I’ve already started planning how to decorate my new place because I’m ready for Christmas.  The nativity scene I painted in ceramics several years ago will be set up in my living room as soon as I unpack it, and I love driving around and looking at the lights on the houses.  But this excited anticipation we have for Christmas only coincides with Advent.  Advent actually reminds us that the living and resurrected Christ is coming into the world again.

            As Lutherans, we generally don’t talk too much about the second coming of Christ.  I have yet to hear two Lutherans heatedly arguing about whether the rapture will be pre- or post-tribulation, and a good number of Lutherans I know have no idea what exactly people are talking about when I use words like ‘tribulation’ and ‘rapture.’  As Lutherans, we don’t give too much thought to the end of the world.  When we come to an apocalyptic text like this one, or like the one we heard two weeks ago that told us that wars, famines, and earthquakes are only the beginning of the birth pangs, we tend to pick a different part of the text to focus on.  Like I did two weeks ago.  I chose instead to talk about faith and the temple.  [continue]