Occupy!

+ In the Love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I think we all know the pattern by now.

A group of people who feel disenfranchised by the system, and burdened by taxes and debt, march into the heart of a city, and occupy it. And because these occupiers get a fair amount of support from the general population, the local authorities keep their distance at first. But eventually the occupiers overstay their welcome, the police are called in, and some of the occupiers get hurt, some get arrested, and some take off.

And the rest of us, who may be sympathetic if not completely on their side, wonder when it will all end, and how it will all be sorted out, because we know it’s got to end sometime, and we know things have to change somehow.

So let’s look at a specific example.

On Sunday, Jesus enters Jerusalem with a core group of 12 occupiers and a number of other people who have been inspired by his message, and over the next several days they do a number of provocative things.

On Monday, the Occupy Jerusalem movement goes right to the Temple, the nexus of power, and Jesus brings the banking system to a screeching halt by overturning the tables of the money changers.

On Tuesday, Jesus publicly denounces the Judean and Roman authorities― the 1%― for their neglect of the 99%. And then, as the day is coming to an end, one of the occupiers, overwhelmed by the magnificence of the Temple, exclaims “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” And Jesus makes an incredibly provocative prediction: “Not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down” (Mark 13:1-2).

Later, the Occupy Jerusalem movement crosses the Kidron Valley and sets up camp for the night on the Mount of Olives, which overlooks the Temple across the Valley. Jesus’ top four lieutenants in the Occupy Jerusalem movement, Peter and Andrew, and James and John, ask Jesus, “When will this be?”

Jesus tells them that the only thing he knows for sure is that there will be a time of great suffering, especially among his followers in the Occupy movement. In short, it’s going to be rough time for a long time. But then Jesus assures them that the time will come when everything will be put right, and that’s where this morning’s Gospel comes in:

“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. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.”

This great event is at the heart of this morning’s Collect for the First Sunday of Advent, when we ask God to “give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light now in the time of this mortal life”― this time when life ends in death― “in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal”― the time when life never ends.

The word “Advent” means “coming,” and in Advent we prepare both for the First Coming of Jesus “in great humility” when he was born in a manger and died on a cross; and for the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of time― “in the last day”― when he will come again “in his glorious majesty.”

Which is to say that in Advent we celebrate the very first Occupy Movement when God occupied a manger in Bethlehem, and the very last Occupy Movement when God will occupy a new heaven and a new earth:

“Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.”

Isn’t that a delightful image for the Second Coming and the end of time? Especially as our days are getting shorter, and the leaves have fallen from the trees, and winter is about to set in.

And this delightful imagery would have been particularly vivid for the disciples because the Occupy Jerusalem movement took place during Passover, at just the time when the fig trees covering the Mount of Olives were breaking into leaf.

But in the meantime, Jesus gives his Occupy movement its marching orders:

“Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake— for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

Until the end comes, Jesus has put us in charge, each with our own work for the kingdom of God. For we who have been “sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever” are called to be Occupiers.

Are you living in Lincolnshire? Then you are a part of Jesus’ Occupy Lincolnshire movement, so “Keep Awake,” for you may encounter Jesus in the most unexpected people and places.

Are you working in Wheeling? Then you are a part of Jesus’ Occupy Wheeling movement, so “Keep Awake,” for you may encounter Jesus in the most unlikely people and places.

Are you vacationing in Venice? Then you are a part of Jesus’ Occupy Venice movement, so “Keep Awake,” for you may encounter Jesus in the most surprising people and places.

Are you doing business in Beijing? Then you are a part of Jesus’ Occupy Beijing movement, so “Keep Awake,” for you may encounter Jesus in the most unexpected people and places.

For the last several weeks I’ve featured a logo on our Parish Newsletters that shows the Episcopal Church shield and the legend “Occupy the pews of your Episcopal Church!”

Now I realize that that’s not the Gospel message at all.

The Gospel message is this: Occupy the World!

For as St. John reminds us in his Gospel, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).

Thanks be to God!

THE WORLD!