“But in those days, after that
suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its
light,  and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in
the heavens will be shaken.”  Is it fair to say, CHECK?  I mean,
these things haven’t literally happened, but it feels like it is
close enough.  The world has we know it has been through at least as
much upheaval as the moon losing it’s reflective qualities.

It also sounds like grief to me, the
darkness and heaviness of grief, when even if the sun shines, it
doesn’t matter, because the heavy cloud of loss serves as a thick fog
that doesn’t let the sunlight in.

And most people are grieving right now,
to greater or lesser extents.

This year (probably for the first
time), I’m glad that Advent Scriptures are apocalyptic.  Usually I’m
annoyed by that.  But this year, they… fit.

“The sun will be darkened, the moon
will not give light, the stars will stop shining.”  

Yes, fine, that happened.  Now what?

Well, the writer of Mark says that when
that happens, Jesus will show up.  It probably helps to remember that
the early Christians expected end times during their lifetimes, and
that the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem by Rome in 70 CE
seemed like the beginning of the end.  The Gospel of Mark was written
pretty soon after that.

So it seems like the Gospel writer is
suggesting, “these terrible times are just a sign of the good
things God is about to be up to.”

Can I admit something?  

That sounds terribly naive!

(I feel like I just lost pastor points
in some tally somewhere.)

Except….

My life has been about paying attention
to the Divine, both in the stories of the Bible and in the stories of
people’s lives, and as much as I hate to admit it, the Gospel writer
isn’t wrong.  When things are looking particularly bleak, and when
everything is shaken up, God is still there – and God is
EXCEPTIONALLY good at breaking into moments like that with grace and
wonder.  (Perhaps the reason a Hail Mary pass is called that…)

Or perhaps, it is just that when
everything else is chaos, there are less barriers to God doing God’s
thing, because it is people’s control that keeps God away.

Now, I believe that people have failed
to contain this pandemic, and people have made choices not to protect
the vulnerable from the devastating economic impacts in individual
and family lives.  Much of this has been done by government, and
institutions.  It has NOT been God’s will that so many got ill, so
many have died, nor that so many have been harmed by the side effects
of the pandemic (which, as with medicine, can be deadly serious.)

Yet, I believe that God is at work to
bring as much good out of all of this as possible.  Because that’s
just how God is.

And I think our work is to try to help
God along the way, mostly by not letting people put up barriers to
God’s work.  

Of course, it can be hard to tell
exactly what God is up to, and it can be REALLY hard to find the
difference between our agenda’s and God’s agenda, but as a general
rule, God’s agenda has to do with bringing full and abundant life to
all people, or any step in that direction that doesn’t do more harm
than good.

The pessimistic part of me is afraid
that the pandemic is going to be used to make profit for the already
wealthy, to consolidate power among those who have it, and to reverse
any progress made for vulnerable populations.  As supporting evidence
I offer:  the stock market, and women dropping out of the labor
force.  I’m stopping there before I get angry all over again at the
injustices.

And, indeed, human beings are an easily
terrified lot, with existential anxiety, and a tendency towards
tribal thinking that results in short term and feel good actions
rather than long term and global problem solving.  We can be our own
worst enemies, and no matter how much someone has (in wealth or
power), basic human fear often tell them it isn’t enough, and they
keep trying to get more.

So, God’s agenda isn’t going to get
implemented automatically.  There are real impediments to it, even
though God’s agenda is the best one out there.

Now more than ever, it can be easy to
feel small and helpless in the face of the problems of the world.
However, we each have our own power, and we have a connection to the
God-of-All who takes our power and effort and might and combines it
with others to make the best use of what we offer.

So, in these early days of Advent, I
invite you to do what you can to advance God’s agenda, and my
suggestion in this case is:  do what you can to let go of your own
fear.  

(NOTE:  this doesn’t mean stop being
SAFE, they’re different)  

Letting go of fear probably means
acknowledging it, naming it, listening to it, possibly even playing
out a lot of worse case scenarios.  You may want to share about this
with someone you trust, it will help even more.  It may be worth
examining fears, as they often contain fears themselves, stacked like
nesting dolls.  The really great part about this is that by the time
you examine all the way down, the fear at the core is quite small and
can be managable!

At the end of this process, reminding
yourself that even in those worst case scenarios you are loved by God
and by other people, you are worthy, you are cared about, and you are
not alone.  None of us can be alone, because God is with us, and God
carries the love of others to us.  

It may feel small, but letting go of
our fears is a way to let God live more fully in us.  And it makes
the world a little bit less fearful and a little bit more …
vibrant.

And that is a lot like lighting a
candle in the darkness.  It makes a big difference.

So, dear ones, face a fear this week,
and let it’s power diminish.  In doing so, you participate in
building the kindom.  Amen

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she/her/hers
http://fumcschenectady.org/
https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady