Sermons

“Abiding in Anticipation ”
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Luke 12:32-40 – Rev. Rebecca Littlejohn
Vista La Mesa Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), La Mesa, California – August 11, 2019
Second of four in the “Abiding in Christ” Series

Holy God, bless the speaking and the hearing of these words, that we might live in expectation of your presence and continually be making ready for you in our hearts and our world. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Did you know it takes three years for a grapevine to bear quality fruit? The 2019 General Assembly theme, “Abide in Me” came from the gospel according to John, chapter 15, verse 5, where Jesus says “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit.” Knowing that a grapevine takes three years to bear fruit adds a whole new wrinkle to this verse; paying attention to Jesus’ choice of metaphor helps us realize that there is waiting involved!
And thus it is that the second reflection in our Abiding in Christ sermon series might be more appropriate for Advent, because our theme today is Anticipation. The Jesus teaching in the passage we just heard from Luke is very keen on us abiding in anticipation. “Be ready!” “Stay alert!” “Dressed for action, with your lamps lit!” At first he uses this master and slaves metaphor, which we’ll come back to later, but then he switches it up completely and makes us the homeowner while he compares himself to a thief! Jesus really, really wants us to stay awake. Not just till ten, not just till midnight, but all night long if necessary. And as it’s turning out, it is necessary.
The original, early-church audience for the gospel of Luke had been convinced that Jesus was coming back sooner rather than later. I wouldn’t doubt there were some who had already given up, because he hadn’t appeared yet. They needed this encouragement to hold on and keep alert, because things weren’t unfolding on the timeline they’d hoped for. Two thousand some years later, we need to hear it too. Like those early Christians, we may need to re-configure our understanding of what it means for Jesus to come back and be in our midst. If we want to bear fruit – good fruit from the True Vine – we need to practice our waiting skills. And not just waiting, but active anticipation. Anticipation is more than waiting. As I wrote in the August newsletter, “lingering with expectation is different than random loitering in the general area.” A grapevine may produce fruit in three years, but only if someone takes care to prune and dress the vines in the ways that lead to abundance.
So let’s look at all three of these verses, to see what they can teach us about abiding in anticipation, that is, living as though we truly expect Jesus to show up and help us bear fruit, today, tomorrow, or maybe some other day, no matter how long he tarries. Think about the difference between coming home at night with the porch light on and with the porch light off. That’s what Jesus is talking about when he says the master will have all the slaves sit down and relax at the table while he serves up some late-night spaghetti. When we leave the porch light on for God – when we stay up reading, or working on a puzzle, or even just scrolling through Facebook, but staying awake whatever it is we’re doing – because we’re waiting for God to get in, God is so very, very pleased. Like “let me make you a feast” level of pleased!
But over the long haul – and two thousand years later, I think we can call it the long haul – just staying up reading or playing games doesn’t quite cut it. There are some specifics to keeping this alertness going while we’re also living the rest of our lives. Because every-day life has a way of shifting our focus if we’re not careful. Jesus gets at this in the first few verses of the passage we just read from Luke. It’s a matter of priorities. Are we living for the sake of everlasting love, or for our own fleeting enjoyment?
The prophet Isaiah has even more to say about this. Those were some pretty strong words about religious hypocrisy we heard there. We might be tempted to assume that Jesus telling us to be alert for his return means we should hold more religious ceremonies and dedicate more stained-glass windows. But Isaiah makes clear that our readiness for Christ’s appearance is more dependent on what is happening outside the church than inside the church. Does the state of the world show us to have been “willing and obedient”, or are our hands “full of blood”? “Wash yourselves,” the LORD thunders, “make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Aim to do all of that, and it will keep the porch light on!
We really shouldn’t be surprised that the way to prepare for Christ’s presence in our midst – Christ Jesus who taught us to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves – is to make life easier for those very same neighbors. Honestly, if I may mix metaphors for a moment, I get the feeling that if the householder from the first metaphor had known what time the thieves from the second metaphor were coming, he would have made sure there was plenty of spaghetti left for them. What better way to make sure your house won’t be robbed?
“Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” So much good to be done! So much evil to seek the cessation of. Do we grow weary? Is it hard to see any progress? This is where we must turn to Hebrews. For what does it mean to abide in anticipation if not to live with faith? “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” “The conviction” it says. Is it your conviction that the world is in God’s hands? Is it your conviction that “justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream”? Is it your conviction that there is good news for the poor and this must be the year of the Lord’s favor? Are we living like we have such convictions? Are we ready to die in faith without having received these promises, but feeling as though we have seen and greeted them from a distance?
What does it mean to live for the sake of a promise we will likely never see fulfilled, yet expecting every day that, indeed, we yet might? It’s the reason we live out our faith in community. It’s why we’re wired to get such a thrill from being part of something bigger than ourselves. It’s the reason we have both memory and imagination, for these are the forces that power anticipation. We humans never live simply in the present moment. And despite what others may say, I think that’s a wonderful gift! To be able both to remember that so many before us held fast in tough times and to hope that our times will get better is how we survive the challenges the present moment offers us. If we can live each moment as if we’re preparing for Jesus to show up, we are both called to action and called to hope. And action is always better when it comes with hope.
It may seem like we have a long time to wait. But if you look at all the justice that needs doing, all the oppressed that need rescuing, all the orphans that need defending and widows that need pleading for, it hardly seems like there could be enough time. Abiding in anticipation is not a passive activity. There are vines to be pruned, and lamps to be trimmed, and evil to be given cease-and-desist orders. There are meals to be shared, and showers to be cleaned, and clothes to be sorted. There are important conversations to be had, and grudges to be forgiven, and fears to be faced. There are petitions to be signed, and hugs to be given, and policies to be changed. There are refugees to be welcomed, and surgery patients to be visited, and new levels of emotional maturity to be growing toward. There are children to sing to, and ramp railings to be installed, and the year of the Lord’s favor to be proclaimed. Yes, there may be a long time to wait, but there’s a lot to be done in the meantime!
Have you seen that bumper sticker that says, “Jesus is Coming! Look Busy!”? It’s not completely off. It’s just that instead of merely looking busy, we are called to be fruitful. Because, if I may mix metaphors again, being fruitful is how we keep the porch light on. How sad would it be if Jesus had to stumble back into the world in the dark, not sure where the step is, or even the doorknob? How ironic would it be if he arrived and found us all “still sleeping and taking our rest”? Didn’t he probably get enough of that the first time around?
So what will keep you awake? What will keep you engaged in ministry so that God knows your porch light is on? There are so many ways to be fruitful, so many ways to seek justice and do good. The thing is for you to find yours, for us to find ours. We may each have our own, but there is certainly much good we can do together. Sometimes we will be busy – weeding, pruning, tying up vines – and sometimes we will be waiting while God does God’s work, like the rain and the sun bless the vineyard. The trick is to abide in anticipation, whether we’re busy or whether we’re waiting, whether the promise is on the horizon or hidden from view. Let us encourage one another to linger with expectation! Alleluia and Amen!