Creekside Church Sermon of November 30, 2003 "Birth Pangs" Luke 21:25-36	Rev. David Bibbee
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"There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars and sea. Panic and perplexity will sweep the earth. The threat of doom will knock the wind out of the powers-that-be. The heavens will be shaken. Now when these things take place, look up. Raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near."

I loved visiting my Grandma Bibbee. Pies and cookies were always in stock. After I consumed generous portions late in the evening she said, "You better not eat any more tonight or you'll be seeing bears with calico tails." The prospect of pie-induced dreams about calico-tailed bears didn't phase me. But she always said something when it was time to leave that troubled me. "I'll see you on Sunday, Grandma." She would always reply, "The good Lord willing." "Why wouldn't the good Lord be willing?" I wondered. One day, it finally dawned on me. It was Grandma's way of saying things won't always be the same. We don't know what might happen between now and then. We can't say with certainty that we'll see each other next time. There will be a final good-bye. It was her way of teaching me that present arrangements aren't permanent.

"There will be signs. Panic. Perplexity. Fear. Now when these things happen, look up, because your redemption is drawing near."

Its necessary to get off on the right foot this Advent. The message that God humbled himself, coming in a baby born to poor parents in an obscure village in a nowhere part of the world, takes center stage. Exit stage left with the sled and reindeer, chestnuts roasting on a open fire, Bing crooning "White Christmas," and doing our duty to help the economy through crass Christmas consumption.

Advent is about Christ in the cradle, but the Christ of the cradle is the Christ of the cosmos. The biblical texts for Advent are about the tremendous shift of power when God shall finally have God's way with the world. Our leaders in Washington have been busy crafting what they call, "The New World Order." Advent tells us that this Order bears little resemblance to the one that is coming. The present arrangements are even now being dismantled. .

Today's text from Luke belongs to a type of biblical literature called "apocalyptic." Apocalyptic literature paints a picture of the circumstances surrounding the end times. It employs images of distress, darkness, chaos and destruction. The world at war against God. Upheaval in heaven and earth. The moon turned the color of blood. The handle falls off the Big Dipper. The North Star loses its bearings and heads south.

There was a time I wouldn't preach a text like this. Too distressing, too frightening, and too abused by Christian writers who claimed to have cracked the biblical code revealing the immanent return of Christ. I wondered why, if they were so sure of Jesus' speedy return, they bankrolled the millions they received in royalties and kept writing sequels. There was no question about the identity of the characters on stage for history's closing act. The Beast of Babylon was the Catholic Church. The Antichrist was the Pope, or some said King Juan Carlos of Spain. The universal bar code was the means by which those left after the Rapture would be tattooed with the mark of the Beast--666. And today, the "Left Behind" book series by Tim LaHay has sold millions of copies. But while the books may be good suspense novels, biblical scholars criticize the way the Bible is used to support the author's biases.

Twenty years ago I didn't see a need to preach apocalyptic texts. The world was a might fine place. I loved being alive to enjoy it. I still do, but as I will elaborate later, our reaction to Jesus' teaching about the passing of this world will be shaped by our station in life. Twenty years ago I didn't give much thought to the end. Richard Nixon had resigned his presidency. The Vietnam War was over. We wanted to believe what the Beatles sang: "Its getting better all the time... getting so much better all the time." Like I said, I was young then.

I'm middle-aged now. I've been hit by those hard knocks my elders said would come. I've seen all I want to see of the dark acts human beings commit. Don't get me wrong-- I love this world and I love life, and I believe that Christians are COMPELLED to do what they can to right the world's wrongs and be beacons who live the gospel and show others the way.

But given present conditions I am not terribly optimistic about the future. I have noticed that Paul McCartney has downgraded his optimism from the, "Its getting better all the time," days. In a recent recording he sings about our need of, "Hope for deliverance from the darkness that surrounds us." I admit I am pessimistic about the prospects getting this derailed world back on the tracks with human ingenuity and good old Yankee know-how. I also realize that noting lasting can be built upon a foundation of gloom. Pessimism about the world moves us toward optimism in God's ultimate victory. As Jesus said, "In this world you will have much tribulation, but fear not, for I have overcome the world."

Its significant that scientists and sociologists are speaking in apocalyptic terms, warning of what will happen if current trends are not reversed. There is a hole in the ozone layer over the Arctic that is growing larger, allowing ultra-violet radiation to reach the earth, leading to a dramatic increase in skin cancers. We now know that global warning isn't a fabrication of radical environmentalists as politicians and oil company executives have said. Glaciers all over the world are melting. Coastlines are eroding. Human activity is having an impact upon weather patterns. Around the world there are massive crop failures and drought because rains that could always be counted upon have not arrived. Our most productive farmland is being paved over to grow strip malls instead of crops.

If by some miracle all pollution would stop today, it will take generations for the earth to recover. People are dying prematurely because of toxins in the air and water. At the very time when protective measures should be accelerated, our current administration is relaxing pollution standards to stimulate economic growth. We think our way of life is an entitlement and don't stop to think that future generations will pay dearly for our lifestyles.

"There will be signs in the sun, moon, stars, and sea. Panic and perplexity will sweep the earth... the heavens will be shaken.

Super viruses and bacteria have appeared which do not respond to our most powerful antibiotics. AIDS has claimed millions and will claim millions more and still there is no cure. We are scared to death because we're been told it is just a matter of time before some terrorist organization finds a way to detonate a nuclear or biological device in our country or some other with horrific results. Meanwhile Jews and Palestinians continue killing each other, and we're sending more young men and women to Iraq on a mission that isn't working out as easily as we were told, and the respect and admiration with which the world had for America is being replaced with suspicion and hatred

"There will be signs in the sun, moon, stars, and sea. Panic and perplexity will sweep the earth.... the heavens will be shaken."

Years ago I wouldn't have preached such a sermon. Years ago you wouldn't have listened to such a sermon. Too depressing. Christmas is coming. You're supposed to make us feel good. These words from Luke have an unsettling relevance. The apocalyptic no longer applies to some distant future. It has a familiar ring to it because these are apocalyptic times.

Back in 1865 in Columbia, South Carolina these words appeared in the diary of a woman named Mary Chestnut: "Sherman's troops marched off in a solid column, leaving not so much as a blade of grass behind. A howling wilderness, land laid to waste, dust and ashes." What Mary Chestnut described, in an almost apocalyptic way, was the devastating end of the Old South. Life as it had been known had come to an end. But there was one item in her diary she had neglected to mention.... the slaves were dancing in the streets! How a person responds to the end of one world and the beginning of another depends on how "at home" they are with the present arrangements. What is bad news for one is a celebration for another. The world ruled by Christ and his law of love will not be a delight for everyone.

Look at the horizon and tell me what you see. You won't see the slogans that have been used as banners for the latest do-it-ourselves fix-it plan for the world. There won't be a sign of The New World Order, The Road Map to Peace, Operation Enduring Freedom, or Shock and Awe. It is totally appropriate for Christians to be pessimistic about the state the world is in, but only if they are optimistic of what will come it its place. The purpose of apocalyptic writings isn't to depress us or scare the wits out of us. It is to give us hope. Jesus said that when we see the signs-- when we see these things take place, we should look up, raise our heads because our redemption is drawing near.

The labor that proceeds the birth of a child is an ordeal for the mother. How can something as wonderful as the miracle of childbirth be so painful? The mother isn't sure if what she is dying or giving birth. Its an inadequate analogy, but there will be a new world, God's world, born out of the death of the world's temporal powers. I'm speaking here of something I am incapable of describing. I cannot tell you how it will be. I cannot tell you when it will be. I cannot paint a literal picture of how it will come to pass. In Romans 8, Paul said, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed... We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail until now; and not only creation, but we ourselves as we wait for our redemption."

It is time to lift our heads. The Christ born in a stable, raised on a cross, and sealed in a tomb, is the Christ who was raised to rule. Now is the time to lift our heads and open our mouth and tell the never-ending story of Jesus Christ who came to forgive us, save us, all because he loves us.

Brethren pastors don't typically use military analogies to point to a truth, but since it is the capital "T" truth we are after, let me tell about the definitive moment which decided the outcome of World War II. It was called D-Day. The outcome of this battle could very well have determined the outcome of the war. It was a devastating, bloody battle that took place on the shores of Normandy. Thousands of lives were lost. But on that day, the war was won. It wasn't over. There would be more battles to fight, but the outcome was clear.

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