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Pulpit Voices:
What Nazarenes Are Preaching

by Jeffrey T. Johnson

Series Title: “He Came . . . He’s Coming”

The generation before me would be familiar with the words of General Douglas McArthur, commander of the U.S. and Allied Forces on the Pacific front during World War II, as he said, “I came through and I shall return.” My generation and the one following would be more familiar with a certain muscle-bound actor with a thick, eastern European accent, who now happens to be governor of California, when he said, “I’ll be back!”

In the season we call Advent, we celebrate the days leading up to Christmas, the first coming of Christ to earth. But Advent, which literally means “coming,” is also about anticipating the return of Christ to earth, to which we commonly refer as the Second Coming. The question I wanted to put before our people in Houston was, “Are we ready to celebrate either?”

For this series, I chose to approach the subject of Advent, both first and second, from the perspective of the three Gospel writers (Matthew, Luke, and John) who give us a different view of each coming.

Ready Reminders (Matthew 2:1-12; 25:31-46)

I began with the familiar story of the magi’s visit to worship the newborn king. The story reminds us that in response to the first coming they were: diligent seekers, joyful worshippers, and obedient givers and followers. I then took us to a later passage in Matthew, where Jesus used a parable to remind us about being ready for the return of the Son of Man. Of course, this is where He talked about the “least of them.” We then challenged our people to involvement in an inner-city ministry to the young and addicted, prostitutes, and homosexuals, and called for them to sign up that day for a Christmas visit to that mission. We also gave a second opportunity to bring gifts for the children of one of Houston’s largest children’s shelters.

Ready and Waiting (Luke 2:15-40; 17:20-37)

Many were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, including Simeon and Anna, whom we find in Luke’s account of the Christ child. However, most did not recognize Him when He appeared the first time in Jerusalem. The proclamations Simeon made about the eight-day-old Jesus are worthy of attention. Leaping forward in Luke to chapter 17, we find a group of Pharisees interested in the coming of the kingdom of God. Jesus announced to them that it was already here, but, in the next passage, He talked with the disciples about the last days and His return. A helpful and humorous illustration, which is always nice when addressing such heavy material, was a list of possible headlines from well-known media sources (ESPN, CNN, Wall Street Journal, etc.) when they discover the end has come. Søren Kierkegaard said, “You can’t sew unless you have a knot in your thread.” The knot in our Christian thread is that someday Christ will return. I concluded by asking, “How will that day find you?”

All Things New (John 1, 3, 13, 14; Revelation 3, 4, 19)

John does not give us a narrative account of the first coming of Christ, but he does give an incredible theological perspective on the meaning and significance of the Incarnation in John 1:14. I had this passage read dramatically before the beginning of my sermon. In my introduction, I told how my beautiful teenager daughters had only listed “new” items on their Christmas list. John tells us of the new things Christ brought to us. All of them are still needed. New life and birth (John 3: 5-8); new light (3: 18-21); new commandment (13:34-35); new peace (14:27). All of these new things came at a great cost! I then used the clip from The Passion of the Christ where Mary runs to her son who has fallen beneath the weight of the cross. His response to her is, “I make all things new.” Because of His sacrifice, we can be made new and receive the new clothes described in John’s version (Revelation 3:4-5; 19:11-14). I concluded by asking the people, “What needs to be made new in your life today?” After a prayerful response, we celebrated in singing, following the reading of Revelation 21:1-8; 22:17, 20.