So today is the beginning of Advent.  And don’t we need it?  When the days are at their darkest, and it already seems like an eternity since it was summer we need the Advent message.  And I’m not just talking about the darkness caused by the onset of winter.  I’m also talking about the spiritual climate.  It’s dark.  We’re surrounded by human suffering; we endure our own pain in mind, body and spirit.  We look out on a world of anguish, alienated from itself and separated from God.  And in this darkness we light little candles.  We ourselves are tiny Advent flames piercing the darkness.  Little signs of hope breaking out.  In the darkness there is hope because the light is breaking through.  Like when a man was strolling through a park one evening and passed by a game of little league baseball. He stopped and noticed that the fielding team was struggling a bit.  And he asked a boy in the outfield what the score was. The player answered, "We’re down eighteen to nothing."   "Wow," said the spectator, "I bet you're discouraged."   And the boy replied "Why should I be discouraged?  We haven't batted yet!"

Now in today’s Gospel reading Jesus calls the distressing things that happen in our world ‘signs’.  He says “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars.  The heavenly bodies will be shaken.  On earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity.”  People will “faint from terror, apprehensive at what is coming on the world”.  Jesus says these are signs of something about to happen.  We read this and we say ‘yes, these are signs, all right – signs of terrible suffering, pain, death, injustice’.  In fact, we can think they’re signs that everything that is opposed to God and mankind has won.  But Jesus says ‘Yes, they ARE signs’.  But they’re not signs of something terrible.  They are signs that God is, in fact, in control.  He is, despite appearances, bringing everything to a good and perfect conclusion.  These frightening events are just the birth pangs, says Jesus, of something so wonderful that words can’t adequately describe it. 

And to illustrate the point that we should look out for the signs and read them correctly Jesus tells a little parable.  He says, “Look at the trees.  When they sprout leaves you know that summer is near.  Those leaves are signs that something is about to happen.  And in the same way”, he says, “when you see these signs in creation you know that something is about to happen.  The Kingdom of God is about to arrive.”

The coming of Christ, the end of suffering, death and pain, the end of this desperate and sinful order of things, and the fulfilment of God’s never-ending kingdom of justice, peace, joy and love.  And that’s the good news that the signs point to.  Giving birth is not pleasant (so mothers tell me).  And we fathers can probably remember being told during labour “This is your fault - you got me into this.  You’re never touching me again.”  But that excruciating pain is merely a sign, a sign that something far better and far greater is about to happen.  And when that event finally occurs the hours of pain and are quickly forgotten and she knows they were worth it.  Painful signs, but what they signify is unspeakably wonderful.
So, when Jesus said these scary things about gruesome signs, he was not trying to get his followers worried.  He does not want us to despair and fear.  Quite the opposite.  The message of Advent is hope.  Look again at what Jesus says.  He doesn’t say, “Things are going to be terrible and you’re all doomed.  You may as well give up because everything is going to be unbearably awful.”  No, he says, “When you see these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near.”  Stand up, and lift up your heads because redemption is near.  The troubles of our world and the pains we experience each day are not signs of impending doom.  They are signs of imminent salvation. 
A man was sentenced to death, and shortly before his sentence was due to be carried out he asked the king for a reprieve.  He told the king that he could teach animals to do amazing things.  And he promised him that within a year he would teach the king’s horse to fly, on the condition that if he did not succeed, he would then be put to death.  After his majesty agreed to the terms of the reprieve the condemned man explained to a friend "Within a year the king may die, or I may die, or the horse may die.  And, in a year, who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to fly." 

Now how’s that for a radical piece of good news that could turn our perceptions of life upside down.  The problems you struggle through - the physical pains, the mental distress, the emotional traumas, the relationship difficulties, the financial crises, the uncertain political and international situations that bring anxiety and fear - all these things are signs that our redemption is near.  Jesus says when you see these disturbing things take place, stand up and lift up your heads because these things are signs that redemption is near.  It is darkest just before the dawn.  We live in dark days, but the dawn is coming.  Doom and gloom precede redemption and joy.

The World Council of Churches in one of its reports put it this way.  "Multitudes ask themselves, 'What is coming to the world? What is in front of us? What may we look forward to?' The answer to those questions has been given to us in the Gospel. To those who ask, 'What is coming to the world?' we answer 'His Kingdom is coming.' To those who ask, 'What is in front of us?' we answer, 'It is He, the King, who confronts us.' To those who ask, 'What may we look forward to?' we answer that we face not a trackless waste of unfilled time with an end that none can dare to predict; we face our living Lord, our Judge and Savior, He who was dead and is alive forevermore, He who has come and is coming and will reign for ever and ever. It may be that we face tribulation; indeed we must certainly face it if we would be partakers with Him. But we know His word, His kingly word: 'Be comforted, I have overcome the world."'

The Advent hope.  The world is not spinning helplessly out of control.  We are not passengers on a runaway train.  There is someone in charge.  The world is heading towards what God has ordained, eventually.  Even though for a little while yet we must endure decay and death all around us and within ourselves.  The world is not as uncertain as it seems.  God will see to it that his will will be done on earth as surely and as completely as it is done in heaven. 

The days are coming when wars will cease, when perfect justice will be done, when goodness and truth will finally overcome evil and deceit.  When people won’t fear evil regimes because there will be none.  When they won’t worry about money because they will have all they need.  The days are coming when lives will not be cut short by illness or tragedy, when relationships will not turn sour and end.  The days are coming, when what the prophets of old predicted will happen – when the valleys shall ring with the sound of praise and the lion shall lie with the lamb. 

But let me clear about two things.  First, the perfection that Jesus proclaims will not come about by human effort.  A hundred years ago people were very optimistic about the human race.  They thought that we were evolving so well that before long men and women would no longer be fighting wars, that we would have successfully learned to share the earth’s resources equally so that poverty and disease would be eradicated, that humans would at the brink of becoming the masters of the universe with no need for religion.  Well, that optimism was dealt a terrible blow at the Somme, became terminally ill at Auschwitz and in the last 20 years was finally buried in Bosnia, Rwanda, the World Trade Center, and Darfur.  We have discovered that human progress was an illusion.  Certainly, we can live longer and cure more diseases; we understand our universe better, we can do amazing things that the people a hundred years ago could not have even imagined.  But all that technology has also given us more efficient ways of killing each other.  All our knowledge of the world means we have no excuse for our failure to manage creation properly and end hunger.   Because, however much our minds may have evolved in the last century our spirits are as stunted as they ever were.  Our hearts are as small and our vision of what is right is as twisted as were those of our ancestors.  Gandhi was once asked what he thought of human civilization and he answered “it would be a good idea”. 

And second, the Kingdom of God that we long for will not come about through politics.  Governments cannot bring in God’s Kingdom.  Can they make things better?  Absolutely.  Can they help relive suffering and injustice?  Certainly.  And so Christians should be interested in what goes in local, national and world affairs.  But can politicians make things perfect?  No.  The way that God will put an end to this dark age is by one unmistakable world event.  The return of Christ.  How?  Where?  When?  What?  We don’t know.  The Bible gives us little hints and clues, rather than explaining it all.  But our faith in the promise of Jesus that he will return to bring in God’s Kingdom fully and completely is the reason we Christians can have hope in this world.  So our hope is firm because it is based not on human efforts to become better, but on the promise of Christ.  Now, is this scary and unsettling?  Sure it is.  The return of Christ sounds OK in theory, but the way Jesus foretells it I’m not sure I like the reality of it too much.  Woody Allen said, “I’m not afraid to die, I just don’t want to be there when it happens”.  And that’s a bit like how we can feel about the Second Coming.  But, part of God’s promise is it’s going to be OK.  It is the very best that can happen because it opens up the perfect future of eternal life in the presence of God.  So as Jesus says, “when you see these signs stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

If we don’t have this hope, then why bother?  If all there is the same old same old, then why get out of bed in the morning?  But our hope is that God is active in his world, and will be supremely active one day in the future.  But the Advent hope is more than just a belief that Christ will return one day.  It also gives us hope for today.   Can you face one more problem?  Yes.  Can you put up with another day of pain or grief?  Yes.  Can we go through this day in the assurance that God really does have things under control, that he does have a good plan for you that involves a future?  Yes.  We have the promises of Christ.  Our lives are not out of control.  Time is moving on.  Bit by bit we’re getting closer to that Day when he will return.  It might be today.  It probably won’t, but it might.  Jesus says we need to be ready.  We should live as if he were going to return today.  And be found ready.

I like to think of today as early bird Sunday.  You know the scenario.  You’re up well before the sun.  Dawn is still a couple of hours away.  But as you pass a tree the silence of the small hours is broken by the sound of a bird singing its little heart out.  What’s it doing, you think to yourself.  It’s still the middle of the night.  It’s too early.  Like a long-distance runner who sprints too soon, this little bird has lousy timing.  But what this bird knows is that it’s nearly over.  The darkness will soon lift.  The sun will rise.  The day will dawn with all its light and warmth and safety.  Friends, there’s not long to go.  It’s getting late.  2000 years but dawn is on the way.  Light is about to come – the light that scatters the darkness and the darkness will never overcome it.