Archaeology of the Apocalyptic

Advent C      November 29, 2015

Jer. 33: 14-16     Psalm 50:1-6
1 Thes. 3:9-13   Luke 21:25-31

Lectionary Link
  Let us use for the evocation of meaning the practice of archaeology to delve into the interpretation of biblical meanings in their origins, development and continued use within the various practices of Christian tradition particularly the various expressions of the apocalyptic which have come to language.
  Let us say that one has done archaeological excavation upon an early American site and discovered arrowheads.  Obviously those arrowheads had functional use in their original setting when they were made and used.  Arrowheads have had continuous use sharing a similar functions in different settings.  They have been made out of different materials; the ones found function now under the classification as ancient cultural artifact or antique.  If one is put on a chain and worn around the neck it could function as jewelry or it could even function as art.
  During the season of Advent,  we use the season to reflect upon "Coming."  It is a season of dealing with "Arrivals."  The language of an end of day figure is a language which is often called "apocalyptic." The ancient Hebrew Scriptures include language of aspiration for oppressed people wanting an idealized future figure to come.  Oppressed people have the right to be very selfish about their own oppression.  They have the right to dream for the conditions of freedom and health and safety.  But it often proves to be the case that oppressed people do not have immediate rescue in sight and they are left to their last option: they are forced to merely cope.  Anger, denial, depression, bargaining, are coping responses, but certainly not accepting their oppression would be part of their process of corporate grief and loss.  The situations which govern oppression have deliberate human causality; it is different than the acceptance of something like an earthquake or cancer.  The coping process of the oppressed was the grist mill for the production of apocalyptic literature. 
  Apocalyptic  literature is a literature written by people who profess that the conditions of oppression in one situation has universal implications.  If people are oppressed and suffering here in this place, the entire universe needs to take notice.  The God of the universe needs to be invoked as a intervening judge not only to stop the oppressor but also to turn the tables upon the oppressors and give them an eye for an eye of their own misdeeds.  A visualized retaliatory higher Judge is written into apocalyptic literature.
  So the readings on the Apocalyptic during Advent provide for us the occasion to do a literary critical archaeology upon the artifact of the apocalyptic.
  Apocalyptic writings have historical origins in real settings of oppression and they have been collected and  they have been variously used throughout the history of religious communities.  What we can say about apocalyptic writing is that it has come to be used differently by people who have different circumstances.  How do the apocalyptic writings get used when the Empire gets converted to Christianity and when the Empire has the power to oppress and persecute?  The apocalyptic writing then can be suddenly switched to be a legitimization of the triumph of the "Christian Empire."  Members of the Christian Empire avoid the conditions of oppression and at the same time use the final judge of history as one who will validate the final rights of this "Christian Empire."  So ironically, the apocalyptic writings are used for exactly the opposite purpose for which they originally derived.  Somehow when a Christian Empire oppresses the members of the colonies, they do not permit the use of the Christian apocalyptic as a literature of comfort for the oppressed colonies.  Certainly one could cite this as an inconsistent or even hypocritical use of the apocalyptic writings.  In the history of Christianity, we often have over-identified Christ with earthly kings and their kingdoms and then in turn we made Jesus to be like a heavenly monarch based upon the models of conquering earthly kings.  And then we've made this heavenly monarch to be the one who will come again in power and glory; and yes apparently he comes on behalf of whichever community makes a claim about the returning purpose of such a heavenly monarch.
  Today, we must confess our confusion in the various understandings and practices of the apocalyptic.
  Today in our post-modern world with completely different cosmologies than the ancient world, the apocalyptic is bound to evoke different meanings.  It is impossible for us to believe in a heaven on top of the domed sky where there is a physical abode of a king who will re-enter the physical realm with angels and armies.
  In our time the apocalyptic has been expressed most often in morality plays of futurism in genres of superheroes and science fiction.  These are presentations of future judgment and justice and they function for us to witness to an enduring belief in justice, judgments and accountability.
  Our post-modern era includes the results of lots of scholarship which lets us know that Christians are not the only people who have apocalyptic traditions or visionary traditions about the future, the end of life as we know it and apocalyptic heroes.
  We also can characterize as a variety of the "apocalyptic" the death cults of our time.  There are people who have come to be labeled as terrorists because they resort to the practice of violence against innocent populace as a way to make symbolic attacks of terror against the greater forces who are trying to end their death cult ways.  The practice of death cults is a megalomania; it involves the glorification of their immediate cause to universal proportions.  Their symbolic strikes are both an indication of their weakness in the grand scheme of things but also their desire to say that if they cannot be in control, then they want to take down as many people as they can with them.  If they can't be in control, then no one else should have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  This death cult apocalypticism is one of the darkest expression in humanity.   It is a mystery of evil in how people get into this state of being in the socio-pathology of death cults.
  As we engage in our current archaeology of the apocalyptic today, we look for its current function and relevance in our lives.  Apocalyptic phrases have been a part of our Creeds and our liturgy even though they are general enough so that we can't presume to be so precise in knowing how they might apply to our lives today.  There are many Christian groups who see the apocalyptic writings as precisely predictive of events today in our world.  One of the abuses of the apocalyptic writings is when people who think they know exactly what they mean use them to justify their own particular views.  They use the second coming of Christ as a personal threat against everyone who disagree with their beliefs.
  We should allow the apocalyptic writings today to function again as coping visualization for all oppressed people.  We should understand that judgment and accountability follow from a belief in the normalcy of justice.   Everyone deserves the experience of justice.  Everyone deserves intervention when justice does not occur.  Everyone deserves the functions of law in the provision of justice.  Therefore the apocalyptic writings of the Bible have to be regarded as a literature of universal justice whose most relevant application function for those who are in the conditions of oppression.
  The Son of Man functioned within the Gospel community as the figure of a future judge.  The identity of the Risen Christ as the Son of Man and as the judge of our lives, means that we should spend our time in this life making friends with Christ as our judge who is always asking us to be better in our practice of justice.  If we are knowing the Risen Christ as our judge and friend now, then in the days of our judgment we will welcome more advice for even more improvement.
  May God give us the wisdom to let the apocalyptic writings be in the service of universal justice today.  And may you and I look to the Risen Christ as our judge and friend in our lives now and let us not delay our practice of justice.  Amen.