Apathy, Anxiety or Faithful Discipleship
Reflections on Matthew 24.36-44
RCL Advent 1A
27 November 2022
Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral
New Westminster BC
Matthew 24.36-44
Jesus said, “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
Biblical scholars have been known to refer to particular texts in scriptures as ‘texts of terror’. These texts are considered terrifying for at least two reasons. First, some are clearly intended to produce ‘the fear of God’ in the imaginations of the audience to whom the text was first addressed. Second, others are terrifying because of the use later generations made of them to justify attitudes and actions we find horrifying today.
Some years ago my former colleague Harry Maier chose to preach on a text of terror. He warned us in advance that we might be surprised to hear this text described this way and then he proceeded to begin his sermon.
You better watch out.
You better not cry.
Better not pout,
I’m telling you why.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
I have never been able to hear that song again in the way I had before Harry’s sermon.
Think of it for a moment. Santa Claus’ coming is told in such a way as to produce terror rather than joy. Parents use Santa Claus as a threat to coerce their children into behaving so that they will receive presents rather than be enrolled on the ‘naughty not nice’ list. Brrr!
We could, if we wanted to do so, create just such a song based on this morning’s text of terror from the 24th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew.
You better watch out.
You better not cry.
Better not pout,
I’m telling you why,
Jesus Christ is coming to town.
But I think there is a more healthy and faithful way to hear this text, a more fruitful and hopeful way.
The late David L. Bartlett, former professor at both Yale Divinity School and Columbia Theological Seminary, wrote that contemporary Christians react in two ways to texts such as this morning’s Gospel. [1]
(i) Some Christians might view Matthew 24 as an archaic text best left unread and unremarked. It represents a world-view we do not share. Such an attitude leads to perpetual apathy regarding the notion of the coming of divine judgement. Who needs heavenly doom and gloom in the face of multiple wars and global climate change?
(ii) Other Christians, often from more conservative, even fundamentalist, traditions see texts such as Matthew 24 as being at the heart of Jesus’ message. We live in a world of perpetual warfare between good and evil. Our only hope is to be on the right side of God in the coming day of the Lord. No one will want to be left behind, so we better do our best to interpret the signs of the times, even construct elaborate timelines, to make sure we know what’s going on. This attitude, Bartlett wrote, can lead to a state of perpetual anxiety.
But there is, I think, a third way, a ‘middle way’ to use a favourite Anglican self-description of our tradition. This middle way hears today’s gospel message as both a reminder and a call to renewed responsibility on the part of Jesus’ disciples.
(i) It is a reminder that you and I are co-workers with God in God’s on-going mission to restore and renew our world.
(ii) It is a call to renewed responsibility to do what is good in God’s eyes: (a) to do justice, (b) to love kindness and (c) to walk humbly with our God.
As this Advent beings, the 70th Advent of my life, the Evangelist calls us to do justice. Justice beings with small steps, perhaps as simple as participating in our ‘First Nations 101’ parish book study, but such small steps can lead to the restoration of right relationships. In such small steps we “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” [2] No apathy. No anxiety. Just faithful discipleship.
This Sunday Matthew calls us to love kindness or, to be more faithful to the prophet Micah’s Hebrew, ‘to love others as faithfully, compassionately and steadfastly as God has loved and continues to love all that is, seen and unseen’. Such love is also known in small acts such as thirty years of feeding people a simple meal, week after week, regardless of the weather or holiday. In such small acts we “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving (our) neighbour as (ourselves)”. [3] No apathy. No anxiety. Just faithful discipleship.
Matthew’s words are a summons to walk humbly with our God. Such humility is found in our careful stewardship of the resources of “this fragile earth, our island home”. [4] In this stewardship we “strive to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation, and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth”. [5] No apathy. No anxiety. Just faithful discipleship.
In the parish where I grew up and was nurtured in the faith, Advent always brought the singing of a hymn by Arthur Campbell Ainger to the tune ‘Purpose’ by Martin Fallas Shaw.
God is working his purpose out
as year succeeds to year:
God is working his purpose out,
and the time is drawing near;
nearer and nearer draws the time
the time that shall surely be,
when the earth shall be filled
with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea. [6]
Ainger wrote the hymn convinced of two things: (i) “God is always at work to realize (the divine) will for the world and humanity” and (ii) “God works in humanity to act according to (God’s) purposes”. [7]
My friends, God is working God’s purpose out – with us, for us, sometimes despite us. But the time is always drawing near – whether in our personal lives, in our world’s life or in our universe’s life. But not with terror. Not with apathy. Not with anxiety. Just faithful, hopeful and steadfast discipleship.
[1] Feasting on the Word. Year A. Volume 1.
[2] The Book of Alternative Services 1985, 159.
[3] The Book of Alternative Services 1985, 159.
[4] The Book of Alternative Services 1985, 201.
[5] The Book of Alternative Services 1985, 159.
[6] The Hymnal 1982, #534.
[7] ‘God Is Working His Purpose Out’ from Wikipedia accessed on 25 November 2022.
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