St. Charles Episcopal Church, St. Charles, IL
The Second Sunday in Advent - December 4, 2011
Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8
Guest Preacher: The Reverend Shelley Forrester

To listen to the sermon as it was preached at the 10:45 am service, click here.

An earnest seminary student came to class one day with an urgent pastoral care question for the professor of Theology. "Today, I ran into this guy who said that he was an atheist," she began. "And, he said that he could prove that God does not exist because he's never come back. Because Jesus has never come back in all these past 2,000 years and that was proof that God does not exist. He went on to point out that many of the bad people of this world, get away with their crimes and never suffer, while innocent people suffer all the time. So, being a do-gooder was really pointless. I didn't know what to say. What do I do with that? Well, of course, the professor had faced these kinds of questions before and was not only able to relate it to a few Bible passages right off the top of his head but he was also able to explain theological ideas this student had not been exposed to; idea about how God lives outside of time and how Christ is already with us right now doing his work in the world. And, that those who have been participating with Christ are the ones who see him in his glory at the Parousia, another Greek term I will talk about in a minute. See, the subject of theology is sort of mis-named really. From the Greek words where the term comes from, it means study of God. But, really it's more like a conversation about God, or a way of thinking about God that lets one see God at work in the past and the present and assures God's works will be going on into future.

Let me point it back to today's lesson from 2nd Peter. The community that Peter was writing this letter to wasn't to vastly different from the world today and the view our atheist friend held wasn't too far off the mark from the way people viewed God either. Peter was writing this letter to a group of churches, many were the same churches to whom Paul had written. Teachers were rising up in these churches who said, "Wait a minute! Hang on! Wasn't Jesus supposed to return within our lifetimes? Well, if that is so where is he?" Some started preaching this idea that if we as Christians really get ourselves organized and behave properly, and then Jesus will come because we've fmally got our act together. That's what Jesus is waiting for." Others said, "No, that's not it." They preached that the second coming was just a story told to get us to behave ourselves and to follow the laws of God. Since Jesus died for our sins, it's all said and done and we don't have to worry about Jesus judging us in the end. We are all forgiven for everything, past, present and future, and so we can all go about living our lives and not worry about it.

But, Peter writes to the churches, no, that's not it at all. Neither one of those arguments explain what is really happening.

"Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day," Peter wrote. "The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed." In effect, Peter is saying, yes, the Lord wants all of us and is patiently waiting for all of us to get it and that may be why it seems to us that he is taking so long. But, beware! The day will come when all things will be revealed including the true motivations behind our behavior. Those who escaped punishment on earth will get their just desserts. Those who truly served God by serving his creation and loving those people around them will receive their just rewards.

But, strive for the promise not because you want to go to heaven, but because you know that Jesus is with you right here and right now.

That word Parousia that I mentioned earlier. That's another ancient Greek terms that we don't really have a single word translation for in our modern English. Maybe it's because that word alone sums it up so well, but we have forgotten its meaning because we have forgotten how to think about and talk about God in mystical terms. We have become so concrete and empirical in our thinking that we cannot hold things in our imaginations for very long without having some proof that validates our thinking Like our atheist friend, we need to have some kind of evidence that our perceptions match reality or vice versa, and if we don't get it, then the notion needs to be rejected.

Thus, for him, Jesus has not come back, therefore there is no God.

Parousia means "coming," but at the same time it also means, "presence." The presence of God, of Jesus, is everywhere all the time, even now in our bad economy with its worries about the future. We have often heard is said that God's time is not like our time. Well, I would take that a step further and say that God lives completely outside of our concepts of time. For us, that could mean that he lives completely outside of time itself.

"For a thousand years in your sight {oh God} are like yesterday when it is past or like a watch in the night." Peter is paraphrasing Psalm 90, verse 4, in his letter. Christ is present with us right now and as Christmas approaches again this year, I hope the rest of the world will become aware of that presence even if it is for a brief moment. Hopefully, that brief moment will transcend the boundaries of time for more people and the charitable love and goodwill of the Christmas season will transform into a permanent way of life where Christ's return is not only waited for, but even desired.

Finally, the professor said to the seminarian, next time you run into your atheist friend, tell him that the bad stuff happens because of our brokenness, not because God doesn't exist. God does exist, and if he can participate with God in his reconciliation of his creation, then he will see all the evidence that he needs. Amen