“Invasion of Holiness”

Mark 13:24-37[1]

What are you concerned about this holiday season? Has watchfulness even made your short list on this third day after Thanksgiving? Most of us are concerned about paying bills by the first of December…and then how we’re going to pay off this year’s Christmas debt. We’re concerned about the next doctor’s appointment and taking care of the last round of leaves. But are we concerned about Advent? It’s not on most people’s radar. If it weren’t for churches lighting Advent candles, most of us wouldn’t remember the season of watchfulness and waiting we’re just beginning.

But if this Advent is like most others, there will be moments when God breaks in and startles us with a reminder. How does that happen? Maybe you’ll find a long-lost Christmas ornament buried in the bottom of a box this year and that one ornament will transform your whole Advent thinking with freshness. It’s something very familiar, yet becomes new. Author Barbara Tober commented, “Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected from happening.”[2] But sometimes by the mercy of God, our traditions, despite our best efforts to keep them …well, traditional…, are interrupted and new life springs forth.

Author Frederick Buechner wrote, “Advent means ‘coming,’ of course, and the promise of Advent is that what is coming is an unimaginable invasion. The mythology of our age has to do with flying saucers and invasions of outer space, and that is unimaginable enough. But what is upon us now is even more so – a close encounter not of the third kind but of a different kind altogether. An invasion of holiness. That is what Advent is all about.”[3]

An invasion of holiness. Of all people you would think I would be among the first to notice an invasion of holiness, wouldn’t you? After all, I’m your pastor! My name is Greggory. It means, “To be on the alert or watchful.”[4] Yet, I get just as sidetracked as anyone during the holidays, perhaps more than some! I like my traditions traditional. And I’m not always alert to the movements of God. So won’t you join me in looking again to the ancient story that helps us regain our focus?

Today’s text does not come from the beginning of Christ’s life but near the end. He and his disciples have just come out of the temple[5] and have gone up to the Mount of Olives. There, Jesus began to tell them again, not an old story about when he was born, but about a promise of his final return. In Mark 13:24-25 Jesus weaves together some words from the ancient prophets Joel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Amos[6] into a promise of hope of how everything would change. All this imagery of stars falling from heaven and the sun turning dark points to a real turning point in history. Jesus said that when he comes again, it’s not going to be business as usual. There will be an invasion of holiness!

And isn’t that a big part of Christ’s story – history gets changed. Lives get turned upside down. Those without hope get a new lease on life. That’s what I read when I thumb through the New Testament. A young couple from Nazareth shuffles through the wilderness on the way to Bethlehem. The young woman has a baby in a stable – the Messiah. Then they flee to Egypt because Herod wants to kill the child.[7] But God’s there all the time. A blind man from Bethsaida sees again because Jesus spits on his hands and rubs the man’s eyes.[8] A woman caught in adultery is shown compassion and forgiveness.[9] A criminal condemned to die on the cross alongside Jesus is promised to live forever because of his repentance and belief.[10] History gets changed when Jesus invades the common and traditional but I often miss it because I’m either looking in the wrong direction, or not looking close enough.

Earlier this year, the new Star Wars movie, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, was coming out. Seven weeks before the movie was to come out, Star Wars fans lined up for tickets outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Earlier movies in the series had opened at this theatre and fans were sure the last movie would be there as well. But Twentieth Century Fox decided to open the movie at another theatre, about a mile away. Theatre employees at Grauman’s tried to tell these exuberant fans but the fans thought it was merely an attempt to get them off the property so they stayed put. They were sure since every other Star Wars movie was at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the last one would be too.[11] Because they were looking the wrong way, the missed the tickets they coveted so.

Because we are in danger of the same thing happening with Christ’s Advent, we must pay close attention to what Jesus says. Jesus speaks of the importance of being alert. We need to be awake and on our toes looking for the arrival of Christ into our lives. This is the fourth time in this chapter that Jesus is telling the disciples to be on their guard.[12] An invasion of holiness is imminent! Look again at some of the expressions used in verses 32-37:

(v. 33) “…Beware, keep alert; for you do know know…”
(v. 34) “…be on the watch.”
(v. 35) “Therefore, keep awake…”
(v. 37) “And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

The warnings are clear and direct. An invasion is about to take place.

A few weeks ago on Veteran’s Day …yeah, I know it’s early…we put up our Christmas tree yard decoration. At the time, it seemed like simply a task that I wanted to get out of the way. Once it was up and the kids saw it, we just had to light it. Many of you have seen it and some have even commented on our early decorations. Eli looked at this tree before we turned the lights on and said, “That’s our triangle.” That description fit my attitude quite well. It was simply a triangle made of wood with some electrical wires attached. Nothing enchanting about it; nothing magical. But as soon as it got dark and he saw it illuminated, it became our “O Christmas tree”… as in the first line from the song, “O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree…” Now every night when it gets dark Eli crawls up in the chair and looks for his “O Christmas tree.” There’s a sense of wonder and amazement in how he says it that I don’t often have. For me, this has become my own personal invasion of holiness this year.

How do you think you might be invaded with holiness this year? Keep alert! Stay awake! Watch out!

Amen.

[1] I also preached on this text at Cane Creek on November 28, 1999. I’ve used some of my exegesis from that sermon but the illustrative material and direction of the sermon is different this year.

[2] Barbara Tober, Awaken: The Art of Imaginative Preaching, Advent-Epiphany 2005-2006, p. 7.

[3] Frederick Buechner, Behold: Arts for the Church Year, Advent 2005-Epiphany 2006 (Year B), p. 4.

[4] Thomas Oden and Christopher A. Hall, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Volume II, Mark (Downers Grove, ILL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 34.

[6] Cross-reference what Jesus said here with Joel 2:10; 3:15; Isaiah 13:10; 34:4; Ezekiel 32:7-8; and Amos 8:9.