I spend a lot of time getting prepared.
This past spring and summer, John Goff and I spent hours riding our bikes up and down the hills of Travis and Williamson Counties getting prepared for some major cycling events around Texas. I spend a good part of the week getting prepared for my Sunday morning reflection on the scripture lessons. Nodie and I meet every month at Starbucks to plan the music for the upcoming month's worship. Right now, we're getting prepared for the Advent and Christmas seasons. I'm currently working with the Deacons getting prepared for the weekday Advent worship service and luncheon in December, and with the Board of Christian Outreach getting prepared for freeze night shelter and the Christmas Dinner. A number of us at church are getting prepared for our upcoming meeting with George Mitchell, the Executive Director of the UT Coop, to discuss parking options in the new parking garage he's going to build across the street. Whit Bodman and I are getting prepared the adult Christian education series we'll be hosting in the new year.
Since I'm a goal-oriented person, I like anticipating the future and getting prepared for it. I like training on my bike for the big rides, reading a bunch of books in preparation for an adult ed. series, organizing and planning special events. Getting prepared for something gives me a sense of purpose. It gives my life meaning and direction.
Both of today's scripture lessons deal with getting prepared for a future event. That future event is the parousia of the Lord. Parousia is a Greek word meaning coming, arrival, or being present. In his Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul refers a number of times to the parousia of Christ--the coming of Christ--and he counsels the Thessalonian Christians to be prepared for the "day of the Lord." In Matthew's Gospel, the disciples ask Jesus, "what will be the sign of your parousia?" What will be the sign of your arrival? Jesus responds with a long discourse on the parousia of the Son of Man, and then tells them the parable of the wise and foolish maidens as a cautionary tale to be prepared.
The parousia of the Son of Man, the Lord, or the Christ was a fundamental belief shared by the earliest Christians. In a nutshell, they believed that God had resurrected the crucified Jesus from the dead, and had exalted him to the status of the Christ, the messiah, the Lord. The exalted Christ now sat at the right hand of God, but would soon return to earth in a manner reminiscent of the Son of Man, a heavenly figure seen years earlier by the prophet Daniel in a vision.
Some of the New Testament writings concerning the parousia link the arrival of Christ with the judgment of the faithful and the unfaithful, the righteous and the unrighteous. In the passage we read from Paul's letter today, Paul hopes the Thessalonian Christians will be found blameless on the "day of the Lord." New Testament writings also link the parousia to the end of the current age, the resurrection of the dead, and the coming of the Kingdom of God in which Christ will rule as sovereign Lord.
The earliest Christians believed the parousia was imminent. Paul seems to have believed it would occur very soon. But when the parousia didn't happen as soon as expected, its delay began to trouble Christians. In Matthew's Gospel, written some 30 or 40 years after Paul's letter, the parable of the wise and foolish maidens addresses the delay of the bridegroom, and warns Christians that despite the delay, they must be prepared.
The parousia seems to have been a powerful source of hope for the early Christians. Actively awaiting it, getting ready for it, being prepared for it seems to have provided the early Christians with meaning, purpose, and direction in their lives. They seem to have oriented their whole lives around the parousia. It was not a matter of if Christ comes, but when Christ comes, so be ready.
Today, actively awaiting the parousia--getting ready for it and being prepared for it--still seems to provide many contemporary Christians with meaning, purpose, and direction. Two thousand years have passed since Paul and Matthew wrote, but many Christians still place their greatest hopes and expectations in the parousia, in the day of the Lord, in the imminent arrival of Jesus Christ. Many contemporary Christians take the vision of Daniel literally, believing the Son of Man--Jesus Christ--will arrive on clouds in power and glory to judge the faithful and the unfaithful, to bring this age to an end, and to rule over the faithful in the Kingdom of God as sovereign Lord. They orient their whole lives around this vision and they strenuously evangelize it because for them it's not a matter of if, but when.
But what about those of us who don't take this vision literally?
What about those of us who don't eagerly await the second coming of Christ on clouds of glory with heightened expectation? Those of us who don't believe in judgment day, the general resurrection of the dead, the abrupt end of the world as we know it, and the sudden manifestation of the Kingdom of God in which Jesus, dressed in a white robe, will rule as sovereign Lord?
For those of us--like me--who don't believe in these things, does this mean the parousia has no meaning at all? Is it just a fairy tale? Or can the parousia still have a powerful meaning for us? Is there a way in which we can still expect, get ready for, and welcome the parousia of Christ into our lives, our community, and our world?
I believe the answer is yes. In fact, the parousia does have powerful meaning for me. And to the extent that I do orient my life around my religious faith, I orient it around the parousia of Christ.
Here's what it means for me.
When Jesus' announced, "the Kingdom of God is at hand," he proclaimed the advent of the healing, reconciliation, and restoration of God's creation. Jesus called people to follow him into a relationship with God and other people, a relationship that would transform their lives, a relationship through which God would empower them as individuals and as communities to bring healing, reconciliation, and renewal to creation.
The ultimate fulfillment of God's Kingdom on earth is a state of shalom, a state of well-being, security, righteousness, justice, and peace for all people. Biblical scholar Walter Bruggemann calls this vision, "the central vision of world history in the Bible." It is the ultimate biblical hope.
More traditional and literal believers in the parousia of Christ believe God's Kingdom will arrive suddenly with the second coming of Jesus Christ in power and glory, and that only Christians like themselves will enjoy the Kingdom of God. I don't believe that.
Nor do I believe the world is gradually moving toward the Kingdom of God. We are not year by year, decade by decade, century by century, making progress towards the Kingdom of God. The world is not becoming increasingly more loving, righteous, just, and peaceful over time.
So how does the parousia give me hope then? If I don't believe Jesus Christ will suddenly arrive with the Kingdom, and I don't believe we're moving closer to God's Kingdom over time, how does the parousia of Christ give me hope?
Theologian Peter Hodgson helped me answer this question. In his book, God in History, Hodgson writes that human history does not progress like a single wave towards the Kingdom of God. Rather, the Kingdom of God is always concretely and visibly present in partial, fragmentary, contingent, and open-ended ways within specific communities of people who embody and practice the Kingdom lifestyle in their own time and place. I remember reading this some years ago while struggling with these issues and saying, "yes, that's what I believe."
When people prepare themselves for, open themselves to, and embody the living spirit of Christ, Christ's presence in and among them moves them to create visible communities that are liberating, healing, reconciling, justice-seeking, and peace-promoting. These Christ-like communities are ongoing acts of creation that offer real people glimpses of the ultimate state of shalom. Glimpses of God's Kingdom.
For example, when we as the Body of Christ, the church, create the conditions that provide security, warmth, comfort, and food to homeless youth in our freeze night shelter, we are making God's Kingdom, in a partial way, concrete and visible to them.
For me, the parousia of Christ--the arrival and presence of Christ--is an on-going reality. The Parousia is always knocking on our door. And when we get prepared to welcome Christ into our lives and into our community, Christ enters and works with us, and in us, and for us to create a little piece of the Kingdom of God in our time and place. All of our ministries that bring healing, security, food, comfort, and justice to people in this world here and now are manifestations of the parousia of Christ.
This is what I orient my life around. This is what gives my life meaning and purpose. This is what I spend so much time getting prepared for.
Will the ultimate vision of shalom for the entire world ever come to pass? Will the entire world one day in the future enjoy well-being, security, and peace? Will the Kingdom of God be manifest around the entire globe for all people?
That is a difficult question for me. It's one I really struggle with. I am not optimistic, but my faith gives me hope.
However, I do know this with absolute certainty. We, right here and now, can prepare ourselves. We can open ourselves to the living spirit of Christ. We can welcome the parousia of Christ into our lives and our community. And we, in our time and place, right here and now, can give the world a glimpse and a taste of God's Kingdom on earth.
So I end with the question that I asked you earlier this morning: brothers and sisters in Christ, are you prepared?
