Proclaimed on November 28, 2004

A certain tourist was traveling the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy. Eventually he arrived at the gates of the castle called Villa Asconatli. Curious as to what was within this tourist rang a little bell. An elderly gardener opened the gate and invited him in. He then proceeded to show the many beautiful gardens that were planted around the palatial estate. All of them were in immaculate shape.

At one point the tourist inquired as to when the owner was last present. Responded the gardener, “Twelve years.” Surprised by the gardener’s answer the tourist asked, “Well, does he ever write?” “No,” stated the gardener very matter of factly. “Then where do you get your instructions?” asked the flabbergasted tourist. “His agent in Milan sends them on to me.” answered the gardener. “Well, does he ever come here?” the tourist queried. The gardener answered, “Never.” To which the tourist commented, “Who checks on you?” The gardener very matter-of-factly stated, “Well, I’m mostly here alone. Occasionally I received a visit from a tourist like yourself.” Shocked, the tourist replied, “It’s amazing that you are here alone! Yet, you keep the grounds as though your master were coming tomorrow!” Immediately the gardener shared, “Not tomorrow, Sir. Today!”

As unusual as this story is its shares a common theme with the words in our Gospel reading today. Here Jesus is speaking about some mysterious time in the future when he will be returning with a different agenda. These words of Jesus, however, are not isolated comments. The future coming of the Messiah is mentioned approximately 1,845 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. In that portion of the Bible we call the New Testament the coming of the Messiah occupies one out of every thirty verses. For every prophesy of the first coming of the Messiah there are eight for the Lord’s second coming. In essence, these words of Jesus should come as no surprise to anyone who reads them considering the number of instances the topic is covered in the Scriptures. It is perhaps safe to say that these are words that we as Christians should not take lightly, much less to ignore them. Yet the Episcopal lectionary reserves only a few Sundays each year to deal with this topic. Why?

One reason could be explained in a fable passed on to us by William Barclay. He tells of three apprentice demons that were sent to earth to complete their training. Standing before Satan they are asked to present their strategies on how they will thwart the purposes of humankind. The first little demon responds that he will just tell people that there is no God. To this Satan responded negatively, stating, “While most humans live as though there is no God, more than 90% of them to express the belief that God does exists. This strategy will have little to no success.”

The second demon spoke up sharing that he would spread the word that there was no hell. Once again Satan nixed the idea sharing, “Though that idea is a bit more promising it still will not work. Even now as we speak there is a series of books in print called Left Behind. They are very popular among certain Christians who teach a definite understanding of Jesus’ return to earth. Indeed, over 60 million of them have been sold worldwide. In the last book of the series the author has Jesus returning and throwing all of the non-Christians into hell. It is kind of like a Christian jihad. So your strategy will only have limited success and that among the more mainline churches where the people see themselves as being much too sophisticated for that type of teaching.

Then the third demon stepped forward. I believe that I would tell the person that though Christ may be returning, there is no hurry. To this Satan’s face lit up. “Now there is a plan. Go! You will ruin them by the millions!”

While the Episcopal Church is clearly among the more skeptical mainline churches regarding the Lord’s Second Coming, this cynicism may not necessarily reflect the whole truth. Indeed, the Second Coming of Christ is a very prevalent theme in our liturgy. The Scriptures selected for the four weeks of Advent each year clearly focus on the coming of the Messiah, both in the past and in the future. However, Episcopalians particularly focus on the presence of Christ in the here and now.

There is good precedence for this focus. While the first three Gospels deal a great deal with the Second Coming of Christ, these were written within a decade or two of Christ’s death and proclaimed resurrection. The fourth Gospel, however, was written long after the first generation of Christians began to die out. Indeed, it was perhaps written ten years after the passing of the first century. This is the Gospel that most Episcopalians favor. In it are no references to the Second Coming. Rather the focus is plainly on the ongoing presence of Christ. Indeed, it almost takes the position that the Second Coming of Christ is made present through the Church in its witness to the Spirit. This position perhaps became the one most adopted by the Church after the early predictions of a quick return of Christ did not occur. With persecution rampant, these early Christians gave up on an early escape and lived victoriously in the powerful presence of the Spirit.

This position is strongly perpetuated and affirmed in the Prayer Book of the Episcopal Church, especially in the sacraments. However, even so, we continue to acknowledge another coming when we say, “We remember his death, we proclaim his resurrection, we await his coming in glory” during each Eucharistic Feast when Christ is especially present. As such, in the Holy Eucharist the Second Coming of our Lord becomes time-full, wherein we live out its past predictions, we look forward to its future culmination, and celebrate its very power among us in the present.

Therefore, when we approach the altar this morning to receive the Bread and Blood of our Precious Lord in this type of Second Coming, how then shall we respond? Will we like that gardener in Italy be prepared?