Beyond Coping

Sermon by Pr. Craig Mueller on the Second Sunday of Advent + Lectionary 34 + Sunday, November 17, 2024

Why does it seem so much harder these days to cope with the problems in our country and world? Throughout history there have always been hard times. What’s different, some say, is the screen in front of our face. All day long. Getting constant updates. One commentator said we should read or watch the news once a day, and then turn it off. Get on with your day. Do you work. Love your family. Say your prayers.

Today’s apocalyptic readings reveal that humanity continues to face daunting times. Empires rise and fall. There are wars and earthquakes. Fear and unrest. It’s part of life, then and now. The question is: how do we cope?

Mark’s community was shattered and shaken. Palestine lived under Rome’s imperial occupation. Their beloved temple was desecrated. One author suggests we need to hear these words by imagining the traumatized soldier, the displaced refugee, the pregnant teenager, the heartbroken family, the discouraged activist. Mark proclaims hope to a community so they can cope. So they can cope with the desolation, the chaos, the bewilderment they are facing. 1

We’ve come through a stressful election season. Some of may have grave concerns about the future, fearing the worst. We need to honor our feelings, but in such times, my therapist friend reminds me not to awfulize—to assume I know the future. In fact, one article I read this week suggests that though humans are the only creatures that can imagine the future, we are not very good at it. Consider one study of several decades of predictions of political and economic events. Most experts were about as accurate predicting the future as a dart-throwing chimpanzee. For example, after World War I, the world was at peace, with no sense that they were on the brink of another world war. 2 We can’t predict the future!

Our readings during November are about the future, specifically the in-breaking of the reign of God. People talk about the true meaning of Christmas. What about the true meaning of Advent? An extended Advent season is a stark reminder that Advent is about so much more than getting ready for Christmas. It is about waiting and watching and preparing for the reign of God—the kingdom of God—to dawn upon our world today. Advent teaches us how to be mindful, to read the signs. To be vigilant. To be centered in what really matters. To learn how to cope and even to thrive amid tumultuous circumstances.

And that’s hard in war times. Our gospel talks about nation rising against nation. War is one of the most heartbreaking realities in the human story. We continue to grieve the destruction and loss of life in Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza. We lament the rise in antisemitism, and anti-Jewish, anti-Arab hate crimes around the world. Some are describing a renewed, worldwide Jew hunt. Graffiti on a wall in Oslo had these words: “Hitler started it. We finish it.”

At the same time, many of us feel helpless as we continue to learn of the horrific killings of over 43,000 in Gaza. Over 16,000 of them children. Can we even take these numbers in.

I hope you can attend today’s forum on the question of lasting peace in the Holy Land. We usually hear only one narrative. I heard the other when I was in Palestine and Israel a year ago. Yes, we condemn the massacre by Hamas on October 7. But we need to remember what is called the Nakba, the events of 1948 and the displacement of Palestinians, along with their land and property, since then.

In the midst of the Nakba, a Jewish soldier wrote of a disturbing mirror image. He recognized horrific scenes, like what had been done to Jews during the Holocaust and pogroms. And here we are doing these horrible things to others, he wrote.

And now our taxes support Israel’s slaughter and starvation of Palestinians—what they experience as a genocide. I know what I said is controversial. Yet, we lament how the German church was largely complicit in speaking out against the atrocities against the Jews in the 1940s. May it not be so for us!

There is much to despair, much to lament. Yet we gather in worship to move beyond coping.

When all seems lost, Jesus says, do not be alarmed. Yes, there will be wars and earthquakes and famines. This is the beginning of the birth pangs. Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning, we hear in the psalms. Keep the Lord always before you, so you are not shaken, we heard in today’s psalm.

We move beyond coping by being present in worship. Let us hold fast to the confession of hope without wavering, we heard in Hebrews. God is faithful. Provoke one another to love and good deeds. And I paraphrase a bit. Don’t neglect to come to church, as is the habit of many in our time. But encourage one another by showing up. As you wait with hope for a better future. As you see the Day of the Lord approaching.

Some may see faith as mere wishful thinking. Yet cynicism is making us sick, psychologist Jamil Zaki writes in his book, Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness. We check the news each morning, bracing ourselves for an electric shock. Living constantly in this cycle of negativity can become a self-fulfilling prophesy, he writes. Zaki isn’t denying the severe harm, destruction and sorrow in the world. Optimism is the belief that things will be better—but that can seem like rose-colored glasses. Hope, on the other hand, imagines a better world.3

Hope gathers up this positive energy, and all the prayer and momentum we can muster to trust in God. And to challenge structures of oppression and hate.

This community is a sign of hope. Your bold response to the gospel is a sign of hope. Your generosity and your service in your daily lives are signs of hope. The presence of Christ among us and at this table is a sign of hope.

God is doing a new thing. God is faithful. This is the beginning of the birth pangs. Hold fast to the glorious vision of a world at peace. There is a new day dawning. This is our hope. Come, Lord Jesus.

1 Salt lectionary commentary for lectionary 33b.

2 Adam Grant, If You’re Sure You Know How the Next Four Years Will Play Out, I Promise: You’re Wrong. New York Times, November 12, 2024.

3 Hidden Brain podcast, Fighting Despair.