First Sunday of Advent- “Keep Awake”  (2020)

November 29, 2020  

Isaiah 64:1-9 

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 

1st Corinthians 1:3-9 

Mark 13:24-37 

Exegetical Insights  

Isaiah 64:1-9  

In Isaiah 64:1-9, the writer is lamenting humanity’s failure to do what is right, while at  the same time wondering why God continues to allow injustice and oppression. The  prophet passionately calls on God to act and dramatically make God’s presence  known so that the nations may know God as “the sole Sovereign of the universe.”  However, God 1) only acts on behalf of those who trust God and 2) “gladly do right”,  that is, those who live godly lives. Being in relationship with God requires living in a  way that aligns with God’s character and commandments. The problem is that the  people of God have not lived godly lives and have failed to fulfill their part of the  covenant. Ultimately, the prophet prays for God to take unilateral action and end the  vicious cycle of oppression and punishment and re-establish God’s relationship with  God’s people.  

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19  

Psalm 80 is a communal lament. The shepherding imagery found in the three  proceeding psalms, reaches its climax in Psalm 80 as the psalmist declares that, in  spite of how disgraceful their past condition or how dire their present circumstances,  God is still Israel’s Shepherd. God is their king and “…hope for light and life.” Though  “a sorrowful prayer”, Psalm 80 is also a prayer of faith and hope. It declares that God  yet reigns and rules, even in the face of circumstances that seem to say otherwise. The  language used in Psalm 80 seems to imply that the people believe that God is  unengaged and disinterested and maybe even absent. Though they believe that God is  responsible for their current situation, they continue to pray for God’s help. The belief  that both calamity and good fortune come from the hand of God is a foundational  tenant of ancient Jewish prayer and is the “ultimate paradox of the laments.” During  the season of Advent, the season of preparation and repentance, Psalm 80 is a  reminder to us that “…our lives ultimately depend on God’s gracious willingness to  repent.”  

1st Corinthians 1:3-9  

In 1st Corinthians 1:3-9, the Apostle Paul expresses his gratitude for the fact that the  Corinthian church has been richly endowed with spiritual gifts. He says this in spite of  the fact that it is plagued by division and the rampant misuse of those gifts. Paul’s  positive prognosis about the Corinthian Christian community is grounded in God’s  character. The Holy Spirit is active in the Corinthian Church and Paul is certain, though 

it may not look like it, that God will be faithful to God’s promises and bring them to  perfection in time, in spite of their immaturity. When Christ returns all of the promises of  God will be fulfilled and all believers will be found blameless in Jesus Christ, including  the Corinthians.  

Mark 13:24-27  

In Mark 13:24-27, Jesus is intentionally ambiguous about the time of his second  coming. He wants his disciples to focus on the mission of the church, spreading the  “good news”, and not on trying to pinpoint a date for his return. Until he comes back,  they are to remain focused and vigilant, expecting his return at anytime. It is the hope  of his return that will allow them to endure persecution and affliction. His Second  Advent will bring salvation for those who have heard and responded by faith and with  faithfulness to the “good news”. 

Keep Awake  

Each text points the reader back to a God who, though the sovereign ruler of the  Universe, chooses to partner with humanity to bring about the coming of the Kingdom  of God. Taken together, they are a reminder to “keep awake” and continue to pursue  God’s mission in the world. 

Isaiah reminds us to “keep awake” and remain aware of humanity’s penchant for moral  failure and participation in the perpetuation of injustice and oppression. If we do not,  we may find ourselves culpable and complicit with death-dealing systems that are  antithetical to who and what we have been called to be as the people of God.  

The psalmist reminds us to “keep awake” and remember that lament and hope are two  sides of the same coin. We lament because we know that there is a better way and that  things do not have to be the way they are.  

The Apostle Paul reminds us to “keep awake” and await with hope-filled expectation  the (second) coming of Christ and to be patient with one another as we mature in our  faith and the exercise of our gifts. We should not allow the present state of the Church  to make us forget 1) that the Holy Spirit is at work among us and 2) that God has  promised to bring us all to perfection in, and through, Jesus Christ.  

The Gospel writer reminds us to “keep awake” and stay focused on God’s mission in  the world: the spreading of the “good news”. Staying awake in the time between the  inauguration and the consummation of the Kingdom of God will require diligence,  endurance, and vigilance. If we “keep awake”, when Christ returns again, our faith and  faithfulness will be rewarded. 

Preaching Palestine  

Palestinian theologian Mitri Rehab reminds us that “Believing that there is something  more powerful than the empire is an important and necessary step toward questioning  it.” Each of the lectionary texts for the first week of Advent remind us that there is  something, or better someone, who is more powerful than the empire, God. In each 

passage God plays a pivotal role in bringing about change and transformation.  Whether it is as the One on whom we call in lament to bring justice and end oppression  or as the One who gives us gifts and partners with us, even while maturing us, to bring  about the Kingdom of God in the world, God is an active and ready partner.  

The Christ came into the world as a brown-skinned, Palestinian-Jew who preached a  message of hope that was bigger and grander than even his hearers could imagine: the  coming of the kingdom of God. The coming of the kingdom and the reign of God would  bring about more than just the “saving of souls.” God, in and through Jesus Christ,  would radically transform the social order and God would do it in partnership with  humanity, despite our faults and failures. “Preaching Palestine” using these texts could  be done by lifting up the ways in which we have faithfully lived into our partnership with  God, the ways we have failed to live into our partnership with God, and/or the ways we  could be more faithful to the mission and the message of the Christ, particularly when it  comes to the oppression and the marginalization of the people of Palestine today. 

Biographical Summary  

Rev. Xavier L. Johnson, D.Min. is the pastor of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in  Dayton, OH and was the lead writer and editor of “On Peace and Justice in Palestine  and Israel”, a position paper written for the Lott Carey Foreign Missions Society.  

Blomberg, Craig L. The NIV Application Commentary: 1 Corinthians. Grand Rapids:  Zondervan, 1994. 

Garland, David E. The NIV Application Commentary: Mark. Grand Rapids:  Zondervan, 1996. 

McCann, Jr, J. Clinton. “The Book of Psalms”. The New Interpreter’s Bible: A       Commentary in Twelve Volumes, Volume IV. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996.  Myers, Ched with Marie Dennis, Joseph Nangle, OFM, Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, and     Stuart Taylor. “Say to this Mountain”: Mark’s Story of Discipleship.  

Maryknoll: Orbis, 1996. 

Oswalt, John N. The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah. Grand Rapids: Zondervan,  2003. 

Raheb, Mitri. Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible Through Palestinian Eyes. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2014.

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A Muslim Reading of Mark 13:24-37

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A Japanese American Perspective on “Keep Awake”