In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Luke 3:1-3
We are once again in the season of Advent. I spent a greater part of my life thinking that this liturgical season was a mere prelude to Christmas. Despite growing up in a staunch Roman Catholic household, I had very little understanding of the traditional themes of Advent; death, judgment, heaven and hell. To be honest, I can understand why these traditional themes have gone by the wayside. No one wants this festive season to be tempered by somber themes.
There is a shift in the spirituality of the church over the years. I am not here to talk about the good ole days; just about the change. When I was young, my parents used to drag me to funerals. I’m sure some people might feel horrified about what I am going to say. My first funeral experience occurred when I was about five. My parents often reminded me that I asked why everyone was so distressed while my uncle was sleeping peacefully in a box. My parents had to take me aside to tell that he wasn’t going to wake up anymore. Many friends of my age and older had similar experiences. We learned about the reality of death at a very young age. Amazingly, none of us were traumatized by it. However, today we find a church which has detached itself from the discussion of death. Even the traditional themes of Advent have been replaced with more amicable ones like hope, peace, joy and love. Frankly speaking, I wasn’t aware of these new themes until recently. I guess I am a little bit of a traditionalist. I prefer the traditional ones.
Death, judgment, heaven and hell are still relevant today. People still think about them. People still fret about these themes. Just because we stop speaking about them, they do not dissipate from reality. How we face death and its aftermath determines how we live our lives today. Almost every religion and notable ancient philosophies approach the subject of death first before developing their ethics. About the time of Jesus, among the Gentile world, the title, “savior”, was given to a philosopher, Epicurus. His philosophy has often been unjustly defined as one of hedonism. Nothing could be further away from the truth. Epicurus was concerned about death, more specifically, the fear of death. We, rational beings, cannot avoid this subject. We are fully self conscious and part of this includes our awareness of our personal mortality. Thomas Aquinas wrote part of the argument of the soul’s immortality is the resistance against its demise. We believe that it is unnatural that we should just evaporate upon death. We fear and dread this possibility. In our hearts, most of us fear death, not death itself but what comes after. We are afraid of being judged. We like the idea of heaven but we cannot discard the notion that we could end up in the alternative place. Hell has its own history. During Jesus’ time, hell was less sinister. It was a place of a shadowy existence with no real influence nor impact in the real world. Epicurus came up with an convincing argument that served to placate troubled souls for a season. However, it didn’t stick.
Avoiding these subjects doesn’t make them go away. These themes are part of our reality and they cannot be suppressed. They usually come in different creative forms. Today we are confronted with an array of movies and literature which speaks about the end times. Their depictions of our end is usually worse and more depressing than any medieval art and literature of a morbid nature. Even in religious circles, there is a tendency to be fascinated with death and destruction without much hope. Recently, one of our youth who is now trying to break free from homelessness shared that she has been watching so-called Christian movies about the end times. She described a movie to us which was nothing more than a sensational horror movie peppered with a brief moment when Christ rescues His chosen ones. It doesn’t seem to have much of the gospel. Jesus seemed to be absent in all the death and destruction. The gospel always places Jesus right in the midst of darkness so that His Light would shine brightly.
The primary purpose of the season of Advent is to remind us that we are a people awaiting for the return of our Heavenly King. In the early church, the first disciples really believed that Jesus was going to return in their lifetime. Jesus said something to that extent. It wasn’t just their own impression entirely. They sold their belongings and lived in communities. They did not see the advantage of holding onto to things that would rust and rot. They had their eyes on things eternal. The early church did not build buildings. It wasn’t necessary. They thought Jesus was going to establish the eternal temple. Then it became apparent that God works on his own time table and nothing done with human hands could hasten His return. The early church also understood that no one could truly predict His return even though some so-called prophets claim that it is going to happen very soon. No one knows the time, not even Jesus. He said it Himself (Mark 13:32). The signs are there. They have been there for two thousands years or more. We can’t just go on signs alone. Despite the delay, one thing is for certain. We profess it in the creed,
“And He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end.”
We, as His people, will be judged according on how we prepare for His Return to this world. We will be judged! Either when He returns in Person or at our death.
The word, “judgment” is the terrifying part of death. Most likely most people fear death because of the possibility of judgement. There are churches which preach that we will bypass judgment as believers in our Lord. They say that Jesus has paid for all our sins and now we have a “Get out of judgement card.” Even though they might say this with utter conviction, it is not according to what Jesus taught. He said that there will be judgment. He will separate the sheep from the goats. To the sheep, He will say, ”You gave Me water when I was thirsty, food when I was hungry, clothes when I was naked, visited Me when I was imprisoned. To the goats, He will say, “I do not know you.” In the same gospel, Jesus said that many will insist that they did all kinds of religious acts in His Name but their spirituality did not exceed that of the Pharisees. The sheep followed the footsteps of the Shepherd. This is how they prepared for His return. They followed in His footsteps.
In the above gospel text, all those who were in authority and power at the time of Jesus are listed. These were the people who ruled the world and perhaps in their minds they thought that they held the future of the world. John the Baptist was an unsophisticated simpleton compared to these dignitaries. However, he knew how to prepare the way for the Messiah. He set the path for our Lord in such a way that many even confused him for the coming Savior. In the gospels, we will read many instances where John the Baptist had to clear up this misgiving. In the early church, people saw Jesus in the disciples who prepared for His return.
How blessed will it be if people saw Christ in those today who are awaiting for His return? Perhaps this will be the question that will be asked of us when we are judged; Did people see Christ in us?
Death, judgement, heaven and hell are not meant to scare us into action. Hell is not about torture. It is about a meaningless existence. We as a people, aware of His return, are given the highest vocation that is available to humanity. We are called to prepare the world to receive our most excellent and benevolent King. Death reminds us of the short time. We need to use our time wisely. Judgement is on how we live our lives and whether we prepare the people around us to receive the King who is to return. Heaven is knowing that we have lived our lives worthy to be called His sheep. Advent beckons us to reflect on these things.
