2016C 26 Pentecost Inwardly Digest and Endure Luke 21:5-19

13 November 2016 Christ Episcopal Church

The Rev. Nancy S. Streufert

There was a time early in the Churchs history that the season of Advent was longer
than the four weeks most churches observe today. An ecumenical group calling
themselves the Advent Project Seminar has been working over the last decade to restore
a longer Advent. Part of their mission is to raise awareness that the season of Advent is
about much more than the anticipation of the birth of Jesus, Gods unprecedented
breaking into time and history in the form of a human infant.

Actually, the larger focus of Advent is the waiting with longing for the fully manifested
reign of God, the culmination of Gods plan for the redemption of all creation, when we
are promised that Jesus Christ will return in glory to finally set things right in the
world. We can think of the period between the birth of Christ and his anticipated return
in Glory the period we are in now as the already but not yet of Gods reign. By this
we mean that the kingdom of God has already started, but has not yet been fulfilled.
And so we wait with anticipation and hope for the return of our Lord and King at the
Last Day.

Biblical scholars disagree about a lot of things, but there is widespread consensus
among them that the central focus of Jesuss teaching is the kingdom of God, what life
will be like when Gods reign is total and Gods mission of reconciling the world is
complete. And so what the Advent Project seeks to do is to restore a seven week Advent
that allows us to prepare more fully for the coming of Christ his birth at Christmas
AND return in Glory.

Every Sunday, we read Scripture from a common lectionary designed by an ecumenical

group that, among other things, serves to increase the visible unity of the Church. Think
about it, Christians all over the world, Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Nazarenes,
and many other denominations are reading and preaching on the same Scripture that
we are today. And the reason I bring up the Advent Project is that the Scripture readings
after All Saints Day take on the character of the fulfillment of Gods mission on earth,
so the lectionary is already in place to expand Advent rather seamlessly and
ecumenically.

A seven week Advent season would put us today in the second week of Advent. In
todays gospel from Luke, Jesus speaks about the end times when the temple will be no
more. He tells his disciples that before the last day, "Nation will rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places
famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
Well, that sounds like what is happening in our world today, does it not? The Middle
East is roiled in war and destruction and despair. Haitis already desperate condition
from the 2012 earthquake was just compounded by Hurricane Matthew: crops are

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 2016C 26 Pentecost Inwardly Digest and Endure Luke 21:5-19
13 November 2016 Christ Episcopal Church
The Rev. Nancy S. Streufert

ruined, roads are washed out, the threat of cholera is spreading, and the devastating
poverty continues.

In America we have been through a sort of hurricane of our own in an election cycle that
has been racked with unprecedented nastiness. The emotions I saw expressed on
Facebook this week ran the gamut: sadness, joy, fear, horror, relief, heartbreak,
uncertainty, hope. Looking back through history, though, we see that catastrophe and
war and uncertainty are nothing new.

The theme of our Education for Ministry seminar group this year is Living into the
Journey with God. We are currently in the process of wending our way through the
books of the Old Testament. We are learning about the trials and tribulations and
temptations of the Israelites as they migrate from Egyptian slavery to freedom in the
Exodus, as they wander forty years in the wilderness of the Sinai desert, as they prepare
to enter into the land that God promised Abraham and his descendents. This week our
study takes us into the conquests of Joshua and the ruling of the judges, those military
leaders or charismatic figures that are chosen by God for their abilities to lead Israel
against its enemies and not necessarily for their fine moral character.

As followers of Christ, we are part of that salvation history of Gods people and indeed
we are on a journey with God just as the ancient Israelites were. And like them, we wait
with longing for an end to the violence and the wars and the oppression and the
poverty and the waste that seem never-ending in our world. With the Psalmist we ask,
Oh Lord, how long?

Waiting can be passive or it can be active. The Catholic theologian and author Henri
Nouwen describes passive waiting as the kind that is irritating or even hopeless that we
cant do anything about. But the waiting described in Scripture is anything but passive.
Whether it is the ancient Israelites or people like Mary who are waiting for God, they
are waiting very actively. They have faith that the seed has been planted, that
something has begun. Active waiting means to be present fully to the moment, in the
conviction that something is happening where you are and that you want to be present
to it.

We find ourselves living in times when the work of active waiting seems especially
urgent and that is why I am talking about Advent today even though it is two weeks
away.

Jesus has something to say to his disciples and to us about how we are to wait: This
will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your
defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your
opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.

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 2016C 26 Pentecost Inwardly Digest and Endure Luke 21:5-19
13 November 2016 Christ Episcopal Church
The Rev. Nancy S. Streufert

How will Jesus give us the words and wisdom we need to stand up for truth and justice
and goodness in the world?

Our Collect for today is instructive:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so
to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and
ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior
Jesus Christ.

Some of us are enthusiastically reading a new book by Derek Olsen called Inwardly
Digest: The Prayer Book as Guide to a Spiritual Life. The goal of the Christian life, Dr. Olsen
writes, is to bring the whole Body of Christ to Christian maturity. We do this by
cultivating maturity in ourselves, modeling it for others, and encouraging them in their
own paths.

And how do we do that?

It is through discipline in our spiritual practices reading and digesting Scripture, in

the sacraments, in our private devotions that we mature in the Christian life. And the
most reliable measure of Christian maturity, Dr. Olsen says, is an honest appraisal of
how we treat those around us.

It is the Holy Spirit who works in us that brings about our Christian maturity. And the
Spirit cannot be manipulated to work in us only when we feel like it. The point of a solid
devotional practice is not momentary surges of emotion. And this is where discipline
and endurance come in. Christian transformation is measured in years and decades.
Throughout that time you can bet that there will be long stretches that feel a lot like
work. There will be periods of dryness and setbacks and back-sliding. But any goal
worth striving for demands hard work and discipline and endurance.

St. Paul spoke about endurance in his letter to the Romans:

We boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and

endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not
disappoint us, because Gods love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit that has been given to us.

Jesus says, This will give you an opportunity to testify. I find these words to be the
most important of any that are being spoken today. Testimony takes many forms. Your
way of testifying will be different from mine or anyone elses. Find a way to testify to
Christs truth and love in your world that works for you.

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 2016C 26 Pentecost Inwardly Digest and Endure Luke 21:5-19
13 November 2016 Christ Episcopal Church
The Rev. Nancy S. Streufert

We are living in a time of great opportunity for the Church. Trust in Jesus when he says
to his disciples and to us: I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your
opponents will be able to withstand or contradict By your endurance you will gain
your souls.