To Stand Before the Son

Advent I; December 3, 2006

Luke 21:25-36

This reading prompts a lot of questions and one, in particular, has troubled me for a long time. Jesus promised that all these things would happen before the death of his own generation; that is, within about forty years of his words. In particular, it seems that he promises his coming again in the clouds with power and great glory by about AD 70. What do I make of that?

The most compelling response I have found, I think, is the one St. Augustine offers (Letter 199), namely that the coming of Christ in the cloud has two meanings. The first is that Christ comes to the world in his Church. The Book of Hebrews talks about the “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) that surround us, the saints, martyrs and faithful people who have gone before us and encourage us on our pilgrimage; Christ is certainly revealed in that cloud. If Christ comes to the world in that cloud, then certainly Christ did come in the clouds within his own generation, because the Church spread the testimony of Christ with power and great glory beginning only weeks after his Resurrection.

But Augustine does not stop there, which is part of why his words are compelling. He says that Christ has already come in the cloud of witnesses, but Christ will also come again in the cloud of glory at the end of time, when he comes to judge and to rule. That, of course, is our Advent expectation: that Christ will come again. He came quietly; he will come publicly. He came to die; he will come to rule. He came to be judged; he will come to judge.

That leads to another and more important question. The last thing Jesus says in this story is to make sure you are able to stand before the Son of Man. He is going to judge us, every one of us, on the Last Day, and so my question is: How can we stand before the Son of Man? I have a strong feeling that in front of Jesus I would wilt, not stand. He doesn’t even need to say anything: one look at his eyes would be enough. And I  feel this way not so much because I haven’t done enough for the poor – and I haven’t – and because I have done bad things – and I have – but mostly because I suspect Jesus will cause me to think about the people I have failed to forgive.

That’s me; what about you? When Jesus comes to judge, will you be able to stand before him or will there be something that causes you to shrink away? Popular literature is often given to thinking about coming face to face with Jesus as a happy experience of bliss, like being hugged by your big brother or playing with the chubby hand of the cuddly baby in the manger, but that’s not the picture the Bible gives. The King comes in glory to judge; how will you and I be able to stand?

Here are two things you must learn to do if you take seriously your relationship with Jesus Christ. You must learn to pay attention to his word and you must learn to pray. He says to pray for strength to escape the terrible things; well, frankly, I think we have a lot more than that to pray for. The main thing, however, is to learn to pray simply to be keeping company with God. If you need a course on that, we can do that here in your Church. Or if you want a recommendation for a book about prayer, or simply want to make an appointment to talk with me about your prayer life, that’s a much more important part of my work than helping balance the Church budget. You must learn to pray and to pray every day in order to be able to stand before the Son.

The other thing he says is that though heaven and earth pass away, his words will not pass away. You must learn to pay attention to his word in the Bible and by the Holy Spirit and in the great cloud of witnesses, the Church. That’s another thing I can help you with, if you need help. Listening to sermons is crucial to your spiritual well-being, but it is not sufficient.

Not to levy a guilt-trip, but to ask the sort of questions preachers are supposed to ask: Are you devoting as much attention to prayer as you are to getting your Christmas decorations up? Are you as concerned about reading the Bible as you are about your shopping? In other words, while you get ready for Christmas, are you also getting ready for Christ?

We give time and attention to prayer and to the word of Christ not in order to make ourselves good enough to stand before him; although you and I are capable of tremendous moral improvement, I don’t think we will ever be good enough to stand before Jesus. We pray and listen to Christ’s word in order to train our minds to rely on God.

An important developmental step in childhood is, “I can do it myself!” Likewise, a parent learns to be patient and allow the child to tie the shoelace or button the coat or whatever it is, knowing the job would get done faster with help but that it is important for the child to be able to do it “myself.” Then, in adulthood, an important developmental step is learning that I can’t do it all myself. I need to learn to rely on God and to rely on others for help. Our habit of mind is to think of ourselves as independent and capable of making it through life on our own, but to stand before Christ when he comes to judge we need to rely on Christ. You and I may wilt before him, but he does indeed reach out a strong hand and lift us up to stand before him.

When you keep company with God and study the word of Christ you train your mind to think in terms of reliance upon God. Heaven and earth may pass away, but the word of Christ will not pass away.

Thank you for the word of Christ and for the gift of prayer. Give us faith to stand before the Son when he comes. Amen.

Robert A. Keefer

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Clarinda, Iowa