4 Advent - How many Ends do you need?

Sermon Notes:

The 4 Parts of the series:

1 Advent - The Resurrection of the Body and Redemption of Creation.

2 Advent - The Judgments – Particular & General

3 Advent - The Kingdom of Heaven & the Son of Man

4 Advent - How many Ends do you need?

Review part 1:

The Creation is good and loved. The Resurrection is the redemption of the whole person - body & spirit. Now we have the Kingdom in part, as a battlefield is held in part by an army. The Kingdom is here in the Sacraments and in the Mission. When the Kingdom comes in full, Earth is redeemed and joined to heaven, as the body is redeemed in resurrection and glorified. 

Review part 2:

We need not fear the Day(s) of Judgment. The victim of oppression and injustice doesn’t fear judgment. Judgment is the means by which the corrupt is replaced by the incorrupt. The Particular Judgment is at the moment of death – “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” The General Judgment is at the resurrection when Heaven comes to Earth an all is made new. Jesus, together with the Saints (that’s us) will Judge all of creation.

Review part 3:

Kingdom of Heaven = Kingdom of God. Both mean the Rule of God on this earth now in our own day. We have that victory in progress but not yet complete. We are the army of God taking the world for His rule, one heart at a time. Victory looks like the Eucharist. Victory looks like the Outreach Lunch. All men and women are sons of men, Jesus is The Son of Man because he is the perfect exemplar and archetype of what each of us is called to be and what each of us is capable of being.

Sermon Notes part 4:

THE END- which end? How many ends do you need?

Strong's Number H7093 matches the Hebrew קץ (qets), which occurs 67 times in 62 verses in the Hebrew concordance of the KJV

Strong's Number G5056 matches the Greek τέλος (telos), which occurs 42 times in 41 verses in the Greek concordance of the KJV

The End as one of the Names of God Rev. 22:13

Every end is, or seems to be, The End - if it is the one you are experiencing right now.

But we are eternal creatures. Mt 22:32 explaining Ex 3:6, Jn 5:29

So if we ourselves do not end, than any end we may face is just “The End of This” not My End, not The End of Everything.

The End of This = The End of the World-as-we-know-it.

How many times has that happened?

Adam & Eve Gen. 3:7

Cain & Able Gen 4:8

The Flood Gen 6:7

The end of the common language Gen 11:6

The Covenant Gen 17:24

The End of Lot’s world Gen 19:26

Slavery Ex 1:8

Freedom & the Law Ex 20:1

 And the list goes on...

At each of these “Ends” nothing is as it was before, nothing except God.

Look at your own life as well.

You are not the child you were at 10 nor do you live that life, that life ended but you did not.

The Child is not the Adult.

The Maiden is not the Mother.

The Father is not the Grandfather.

The Bride is not the Widow.

We each experience scores of endings and beginnings in our brief mortal passage and who knows what awaits beyond? More beginnings and more endings.

The-World-as-we-know-it is coming to an end, as it has a thousand times before, as it will a thousand times again.

We do not end, but grow and change every time our world comes to an end.

God does not come to an end, does not change or waver in his love for us; but we see God from a new angle in each new world we inhabit. Our knowledge of his love grows as we journey towards him.

The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon."

     Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen. Rev 21:20