Preacher Fred Craddock shaped a sermon for Christmas Eve titled “The Eye of the Storm.” To a community that had been ravaged by a hurricane earlier that fall, Cradock depicted the violence and the chaos of the storm. Massive flooding, winds felling ancient trees, even houses floating along in the swollen rivers. But then, Cradock continues, the survivors encounter the eye of the storm. Suddenly, the wind drops down to calm. The rainfall dissipates and the clouds clear away. Looking up, you can now see the stars on that dark night. Various sea birds calmly soar within this haven of the storm’s eye. Then Fred Craddock located the congregation within all the violence and chaos of the world. “Tonight,” he said, on Christmas Eve, “we are in the eye of the storm.”
So here we are, beginning the journey toward that “storm’s eye” of peace at Christmas, but very much located out here in the world’s old patterns of hate and violence. Wars grind on in Ukraine and in Israel and Palestine. Some political figures even speak of us coming close to World War III. Today, we attend to the matters of God’s promise to make all things right. Here, too, such a fulfillment involves personal and societal upheavals, even a cosmic rending of the world. “Signs in the sun, and moon, and the stars” while on earth “nations will be in dismay.”
The two realms—our own world’s chaotic state in this time and place and the promise of God to bring to fulfillment his coming kingdom—lie in juxtaposition. The two seem to merge into one crisis. So, the signs of the times we experience are naturally confused with the signs of the final advent of God’s glorious reign. Some in every age, therefore, will see signs and interpret them as the coming into the world of the End foretold by the prophets and by the Lord. Again and again there have been those who take natural and human-made disasters as the opening act of God’s cosmic drama. They say “it is coming,” “it is here.” But they have mistaken the signs of our world’s chronic chaos for the Advent of our God’s final reign.
There is a familiar character in the cartoon sketches of the New Yorker magazine. An old, bearded man holds a sign on a New York street. It announces, “The End is Near.” But in a recent version of this set piece, he stands in his usual place with his usual message and a young woman of color approaches the corner holding a sign as well. Hers reads “Actually, this is just the beginning!” (1) That cartoon
speaks more of biblical truth than the chronic messages about the doom and gloom of the imminent End. (St. Mark’s dealing with these things actually depicts Jesus speaking of the “birth pangs” of God’s New Creation.) The two versions of the signs of the time do lie in juxtaposition; both seem to be about disasters and chaotic outcomes. But Jesus makes a clear distinction between the two here in Luke. Worldly upheavals may inflict all the earth—including the environment—with severe and horrible outcomes. But in the fullness of time, our Lord proclaims, “our redemption will be at hand.”
Now, in Advent, we come to the start of the new Year of Grace. During these times of turmoil we are called once more to pay attention to the promises of God that will be fulfilled in glory. We look ahead to the eye of the storm: The incarnation of the Son of God, our Emmanuel.
Navigating this intersection between our worldly scenes of violence and chaos and the promise of God’s coming righteous reign is a tricky business. It is hard to face the traumas of our worldly divisions and hatred. So much so that ways of accommodating can lead to a disengagement with any of these troubling realities. We can try to insulate ourselves from anything that troubles, anything that makes us anxious. No wonder that Jesus also told his disciples and the crowd in the Temple, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness.” Also, watch out that you are weighed down by “the anxieties of
life.” Attempting to avoid most any stress or trauma can give us a kind of detachment that avoids dealing with these troubles. All sorts of means of escape are offered by the world, each promising to insulate us from the threat of chaos and serious change.
Especially in this time our culture labels “the Holiday Season,” we are offered the ways and means to buffer ourselves against these threats, these signs of trouble. Have you noticed, or even watched any of the Hallmark “Christmas Special” films (there are 50 of them…)? As commentator Sarina Thomas notes, these movies are so popular “because they guarantee you happiness and hope.”( 2) These “Christmas” stories offer you a storied world without death (only nostalgic memories of departed friends or family). Our real world, though, tends to bump into unresolved and present grieving as we wade into the Season. Hallmark Christmas movies also keep real chaos and evil well outside the ongoing narrative. A character may have had such experiences in the past, but in Hallmark-World, a budding romance is often about the ways that the “magic of Christmas” sets such traumas aside. “Seldom do Hallmark and real life collide,” our c
ommentator observes. “It’s a non-alcoholic nightcap.” Of course, going for the alcoholic nightcap is the more conventional way of dulling the senses and insulating ourselves from trauma. Jesus adds, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness.” Anything that dulls us to the bright coming of the Lord is to be avoided.
As the teaching of the Lord plays out, in the midst of these images of distress and chaos a thread of gold shines through! There is a fine but constant appeal to remain steadfast, to not simply endure these signs, but to stand in their midst. While people are dying of fright, the faithful see the Son of Man coming with “power and glory.” In the midst of these things—and in the midst of our worldly tribulations—we are called to “stand erect and raise your head.” “Your redemption is near,” the Lord proclaims. In fact, the entire teaching of the Lord about the End
Time is an encouragement to the little flock to remain constant, to persist in good works, and to acclaim the Good News no matter what the circumstances. Always “stand erect and raise your heads,” we hear our Savior tell us. Have you noticed that it is very difficult to remain head high and that the same time be anxious and troubled? The bodily stance reverberates through us with joy and courage.
The mosaics of the early church depict this bodily stance again and again, all in
tune with the mystery of the Incarnation. At the Annunciation, the Blessed Virgin sits as Gabriel kneels before her. But her posture is regal, erect. She is open to the Word of God for her and for all humanity. At the Feast of the Incarnation, the scenes of the mosaics focus on the Newborn Babe in the Manger and the Mother. But in the heights above the stable, the whole assembly of the angelic hosts is erect, heads high in praise. At the Jordan, as Jesus stands in the water to receive John’s baptism, on the bank, three angels stand at attention, witnessing this wondrous scene. And on the Day of Resurrection, the Risen Christ strides from the tomb, head held high; we witness the resurrection of the Lord. Here, this day of the Lord, we will hear the words, “Lift up your hearts” and we recall that our Lord calls us to come to the Feast of Life with hearts and heads high. We join in the Feast of God’s people, not with anxiety or despair, but with confidence as the baptized people of Christ. This gold thread shines through all our afflictions and ordeals.
The Lord comes, in Bethlehem, in the Resurrection, and in glory, and the earth and God’ people are glad!
So now we begin our journey towards the Birth of the Messiah. We begin this Day in the midst of the world’s turmoil and hate. We also begin with our attention to the signs of God’s coming reign in Christ. We begin in these storms. But we also know that the eye of the storm is coming, in Bethlehem, and in that quiet and peace, we will greet the Savior of the world. Thanks be to God.
Amen.
1 Elizabeth McNair, “Daily Cartoon: June 9 th ,” The New Yorker, June 9, 2020,
2 Sarina Thomas, “Why are Hallmark Movies So Popular?” Medium, Feb 27, 2024,
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