Apocalypse Now!
Commentary
Shakespeare’s stage was pretty simple and bare — an open space out of doors where comedies, tragedies, and histories were enacted. Among those histories was a celebration of King Henry V, who was highly revered. As a young prince, he lived a riotous and shameful life. However, when his father died and he ascended to the throne, a young king, he became serious and saintly. In Shakespeare’s play “Henry V,” about the tumultuous Battle of Agincourt, a lone actor walks out on stage before the show begins and proclaims:
O, for a muse of fire that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention!
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!”
Instead, he laments that “…a crooked figure may attest in little place a million….” In other words, a couple of actors are going to have to stand in for the massed armies of England and France. And so, he calls on his audience to let “on your imaginary forces work.” We have to use our imagination.
In today’s scriptures, mighty events are predicted but the prophet Isaiah, the apostle Paul, and our Lord Jesus are all solitary figures intent on inspiring, warning, and even alarming their listeners so they took can see clearly with their imaginations that a great drama is taking place in our midst — but this is not a play about an historical event. We are looking at the apocalypse, and it is happening right now!
It might seem odd that we are discussing apocalyptic events on the first Sunday of Advent, when some would expect to look towards the coming of the infant king. Christmas carols have been playing for weeks wherever we go. Christmas decorations are everywhere. But the king who is coming is not always “gentle and mild.” He is coming to turn the world upside down, and then, upon his return, to turn it inside out.
Isaiah 64:1-9
Let’s start with Isaiah 64:1-9. The prophet speaks directly to God, in words that Shakespeare heard in church many times and was probably alluding to in his speech: “Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence….” Brushwood bursting in flame, water boiling over, mountains quaking, images used to call to mind God’s powerful acts of creation and judgment that might bring the nations to their senses before it is too late. “You meet those who gladly do right…” the prophet affirms, but we are sinners and need to make a sharp turn back to the worship of the true God! Isaiah, like a playwright, is calling upon us to use our imagination so that we can make that sharp turn before we are all caught up in apocalyptic judgment. Now is the time! In our communities, many people have lost touch with the church during the time of the pandemic, but some will return during this holiday season. It is important we inspire them with God’s might, God’s glory, God’s power, displayed in the cosmos around us as well as in that infant in the manger, to inspire them by the way we make the good news of Jesus Christ come to life in our communities, within our family, and out in the world, to help them see the glory of God in Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Paul may not allude to apocalyptic images in the opening verses of his first letter to the Corinthians (1:1-9) but that’s only because his listeners — and we — have heard this before and when he refers to “the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ” and the need for us to “be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” we already know exactly what he is talking about. What is important in this passage is the way Paul addresses the need for us to be one people, one in Christ, in order to be able to rely on each other, to lean on each other, once things start really happening. In this chapter, he will be referring to the problem of disunity. The house churches of Corinth, at least four in number, are aligning themselves with Peter, Paul, Apollos, as well as one acting as if they own Christ and no one else does. Instead of using the diversity of their families that serve in the house churches, they are acting as if they are not in need of their Christian fellow brothers and sisters. Paul talks about how we have been “enriched” in Christ, how “the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you,” and that “he will also strengthen you to the end,” because “God is faithful….” But that strength is to be drawn from our unity as one family in Christ. What are we together as congregations in our community? It’s not enough for us to keep our little group pure from the world. Jesus came into the world in a time of great danger because of the imperative of this good news. Let’s get with the program.
Mark 13:24-37
Oh, for a muse of fire! Oh, that God would once more tear open the heavens! Jesus, in Mark 13:24-37, recognizing that the awe the temple inspires in his disciples, reminds us that everything worldly will come to nothing. He speaks of the abomination of desolation, of wars and rumors of wars, of the danger of being caught up in the words of false prophets who claim to speak to his name, of the persecution that awaits the faithful, but also of the glory when the Son of Man returns with great power. The lesson of the fig tree — recognizing that the signs are always around us, and we must live like we are the last generation whether it happens in our time or not, and finally the watchfulness displayed by those servants who don’t know when their Master is returning so they must always be ready, these are meant for all of us in all generations!
Be ready! Be about the Lord’s work. Those words of Jesus — Keep awake! — remind us that we are always surrounded by opportunities to serve our Lord. We are turning the world upside down by our faithfulness, our stewardship, our ministries, and by the fact that we faithfully honor God in worship and in the world the rest of the week. Like that actor in Shakespeare’s play, we know a great drama is taking place — the birth, the ministry, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. We may feel inadequate to the task of bringing to life so that others may be inspired by Jesus and follow him. We may lament, O for a muse of Fire! or wish with Isaiah that God would do something straight out of the Bible that no one can miss. But our faithfulness is hard to miss in a world that avoids commitment. Of course, this is not just a show. Let us live our faith as if it matters — because it does!
O, for a muse of fire that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention!
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!”
Instead, he laments that “…a crooked figure may attest in little place a million….” In other words, a couple of actors are going to have to stand in for the massed armies of England and France. And so, he calls on his audience to let “on your imaginary forces work.” We have to use our imagination.
In today’s scriptures, mighty events are predicted but the prophet Isaiah, the apostle Paul, and our Lord Jesus are all solitary figures intent on inspiring, warning, and even alarming their listeners so they took can see clearly with their imaginations that a great drama is taking place in our midst — but this is not a play about an historical event. We are looking at the apocalypse, and it is happening right now!
It might seem odd that we are discussing apocalyptic events on the first Sunday of Advent, when some would expect to look towards the coming of the infant king. Christmas carols have been playing for weeks wherever we go. Christmas decorations are everywhere. But the king who is coming is not always “gentle and mild.” He is coming to turn the world upside down, and then, upon his return, to turn it inside out.
Isaiah 64:1-9
Let’s start with Isaiah 64:1-9. The prophet speaks directly to God, in words that Shakespeare heard in church many times and was probably alluding to in his speech: “Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence….” Brushwood bursting in flame, water boiling over, mountains quaking, images used to call to mind God’s powerful acts of creation and judgment that might bring the nations to their senses before it is too late. “You meet those who gladly do right…” the prophet affirms, but we are sinners and need to make a sharp turn back to the worship of the true God! Isaiah, like a playwright, is calling upon us to use our imagination so that we can make that sharp turn before we are all caught up in apocalyptic judgment. Now is the time! In our communities, many people have lost touch with the church during the time of the pandemic, but some will return during this holiday season. It is important we inspire them with God’s might, God’s glory, God’s power, displayed in the cosmos around us as well as in that infant in the manger, to inspire them by the way we make the good news of Jesus Christ come to life in our communities, within our family, and out in the world, to help them see the glory of God in Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Paul may not allude to apocalyptic images in the opening verses of his first letter to the Corinthians (1:1-9) but that’s only because his listeners — and we — have heard this before and when he refers to “the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ” and the need for us to “be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” we already know exactly what he is talking about. What is important in this passage is the way Paul addresses the need for us to be one people, one in Christ, in order to be able to rely on each other, to lean on each other, once things start really happening. In this chapter, he will be referring to the problem of disunity. The house churches of Corinth, at least four in number, are aligning themselves with Peter, Paul, Apollos, as well as one acting as if they own Christ and no one else does. Instead of using the diversity of their families that serve in the house churches, they are acting as if they are not in need of their Christian fellow brothers and sisters. Paul talks about how we have been “enriched” in Christ, how “the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you,” and that “he will also strengthen you to the end,” because “God is faithful….” But that strength is to be drawn from our unity as one family in Christ. What are we together as congregations in our community? It’s not enough for us to keep our little group pure from the world. Jesus came into the world in a time of great danger because of the imperative of this good news. Let’s get with the program.
Mark 13:24-37
Oh, for a muse of fire! Oh, that God would once more tear open the heavens! Jesus, in Mark 13:24-37, recognizing that the awe the temple inspires in his disciples, reminds us that everything worldly will come to nothing. He speaks of the abomination of desolation, of wars and rumors of wars, of the danger of being caught up in the words of false prophets who claim to speak to his name, of the persecution that awaits the faithful, but also of the glory when the Son of Man returns with great power. The lesson of the fig tree — recognizing that the signs are always around us, and we must live like we are the last generation whether it happens in our time or not, and finally the watchfulness displayed by those servants who don’t know when their Master is returning so they must always be ready, these are meant for all of us in all generations!
Be ready! Be about the Lord’s work. Those words of Jesus — Keep awake! — remind us that we are always surrounded by opportunities to serve our Lord. We are turning the world upside down by our faithfulness, our stewardship, our ministries, and by the fact that we faithfully honor God in worship and in the world the rest of the week. Like that actor in Shakespeare’s play, we know a great drama is taking place — the birth, the ministry, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. We may feel inadequate to the task of bringing to life so that others may be inspired by Jesus and follow him. We may lament, O for a muse of Fire! or wish with Isaiah that God would do something straight out of the Bible that no one can miss. But our faithfulness is hard to miss in a world that avoids commitment. Of course, this is not just a show. Let us live our faith as if it matters — because it does!
