Luke 21:25-36

My father fought in the South Pacific during World War II. He was a part of the “island hopping” of American forces as they moved closer to the Japanese homeland. The last island he went ashore on was Okinawa, just off the southern tip of Japan. Okinawa turned out to be one of the bloodiest battles of the war. In fact, more people were killed there than all those who would lose their lives in the atomic bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Okinawa was a very scary place to be.

One night, my father pulled guard duty. The Japanese had been pushed to the southern end of the island, and quite frequently tried to penetrate the American lines. It was about 3 in the morning when my dad heard a sound in the underbrush. Nothing could be seen in the pitch darkness. He challenged the sound with a shaky, “Who goes there?”

Nothing. There was silence. Then, moments later, another sound, this time, closer.

“Who goes there?”

The movement stopped. Then started again. A third time, my dad challenged the invisible intruder, and when there was no response, he pointed his weapon in the general direction of the sound and unloaded his entire eight-shot clip.

There was a thump of something hitting the ground. And then complete silence.

He and his now wide-awake buddies took up positions and waited for whatever was to come next. Nothing came, but the dawn of a new day. And in the faint light of early morning, my father saw the body of – the goat!

My dad never really talked about the war, but he did tell us about the goat he shot on Okinawa. And as a boy, the funny ending to that story was good, but what really gripped my heart was imagining how scary it must have been to be on that island, keeping watch – and hearing things go “bump” in the dark of the night.

So you’re laying in bed sound asleep when the phone rings. It’s three in the morning. Startled, you say, “Who could that be?”

Or the doorbell rings, and you go to the door asking, “Who’s there?”

Now the reason I bring these things up today, on the first Sunday in Advent, is because a very important question we Christians are to ask is some version of, “Who goes there?”

In our reading from Luke, Jesus is telling the disciples about some of the things that will happen to announce the end of the present age and the start of the kingdom of God. He says there will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On earth nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring of the sea. People will faint with fear about what is coming upon the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

And then, Jesus says, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and great glory.

Now I don’t know if you noticed it in this passage, but the disciples have focused their attention on WHAT will happen in the future. And along with asking “What?” they also want to know “When?”Listen to verse 7: “Teacher, they asked, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

But Jesus leads his followers to a question that is far more important to ask when facing a fearful future. The real question is not “What?” or “When?” The big question is the question my father asked that dark night on Okinawa.

“WHO?”

Who goes there?

These are dark times in our world. The global economic disaster has left many people hurting. More than 10% of our fellow citizens are out of work, and that includes our daughter Bethany who got her layoff notice just before Thanksgiving. People are afraid about losing their jobs, losing their homes, losing their retirement nest eggs.

And there are wars and rumors of war. Will we pull out of Iraq and what will happen if we do, or don’t? What will the President decide about Afghanistan? And how will the world deal with the problem of pirates off the coast of Somalia? Can you imagine that? This is the 21^st century and we are still struggling with pirates!

There are a lot of noises out there in the dark of these days.

Some of them are very personal – the loss of a loved one, the diagnosis of a serious illness, the pain of a divorce, the never-ending emptiness of feeling lonely.

And we, like the disciples, might well lift up the questions, “What will happen next?”, “When will this be over?”

But there is a more basic question to ask.

“WHO?”

Who goes there?

Do you remember the wonderful Bible story about Jesus walking on the water? The disciples have gone on ahead of him in a boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. They’re about halfway across when a storm blows up. And it’s the middle of the night!

Suddenly, they see something – or someone – walking across the waves toward the boat! They are terrified! And then they ask the critical question: “Who goes there?”

And a voice comes out of the night. “Don’t be afraid! It is I!”

The reason it is important to engage all the dark and dangerous and difficult moments of life with the question, “Who goes there?” is because the answer to that question is that “Christ is there.”

Facing difficult economic times, Christ is there. Facing family challenges, Christ is there. Facing illness, or loneliness, or loss – Christ is there.

And knowing Christ is there means that although life takes all kinds of unexpected and unwanted turns, God is still on the throne!

Today, the Chrismon Tree is before us. Upon its branches are beautiful “Christ-monograms” – Chrismons – that symbolize our Lord and our faith. Each Chrismon tells us something important about this One who is with us:

The Triangle with three Circles. The Triangle is one of the most ancient symbols of the Trinity, representing God’s power and majesty. The Circles represent eternity, reminding us that God’s love and promises are forever. God will not let us down!

The open Book. It represents the Bible, the faithful and true Word of God. And the Bible points to another Word. The Living Word of God – Jesus.

There is also the Rose. It reminds us that life is often difficult and full of thorns. But God has sent us a Savior who the Old Testament describes as the Rose of Sharon. And Isaiah the prophet spoke about how God’s love will cause flowers to blossom forth even in the desert places of our lives.

We all know that the Shepherd’s Crook assures us that we are God’s flock, the sheep of his pasture, and that the Lord is our shepherd who leads us safely to green pastures – even through the valley of the shadow of death.

And there are many Chrismons depicting coded words and thoughts. The Christian fish which was a secret code used by the persecuted Christians who worshiped in the catacombs of Rome – the letters PX, or more appropriately, Chi Rho, the first letters of the word Christ in Greek – and HIS, the first three letters of the word Jesus.

These Chrismons are very special to us because they represent the faith of those who over many centuries and through challenging times found strength and hope in knowing WHO was with them.

And as we face life in this time, “Who goes there?” And what difference does it make?

I was at an airport sometime this past year when I saw something wonderful that helps me understand the power of that Advent question. Nearby was a great big bunch of people carrying signs that said, “Welcome home, our hero!” The women were wearing yellow ribbons, and the men had on their veterans caps. There were some older folks there who looked like grandparents, and some who had that look of parents waiting for their child to come home from war. There were little kids wearing little army uniforms, and a beautiful young woman with a baby in her arms. And along with the ribbons and balloons, flags and signs, each of them had one of those masks that is a cut out of another’s face, with eye holes, and glued to a stick so the mask can be held over their face. The face on the mask, of course, was that of their young returning hero. And there was an excited buzz as they waited for their loved one to arrive.

Finally, they saw him coming – tall, handsome, wearing desert fatigues. Before he spotted them, someone said, “There he is! Put up your masks!” And they all did, from the grandparents down to the young mother who held the image of her husband over her baby’s face.

When he came through the glass doorway and saw the scene – the ribbons, signs, flags, balloons and especially the masks, his face lit up like a Christmas tree! A smile spread across his face as they ran to him. The little boys saluted, the older women hugged him, the men shook his hand, and the beautiful young girl with the baby threw herself around him and they kissed long and hard.

One of the other passengers said to one of the men in the group, “Does he belong to you?” The old man just grinned and said, “Yeah, we’re his crazy family.”

And then fighting each other for the honor of carrying the young soldier’s luggage, the whole gang of them walked away in a loud, happy group. The young man took his wife by the hand and together with their baby, stepped onto the escalator and went off into the future together.

It was Advent in all its glory! The message of the signs and flags and balloons and ribbons said the same three important things the signs of Advent say to us:

You matter to us and we are with you!

You belong to us and we will never let you go.

Take our hand, and let’s walk through this moment and into the future together.

As you see the signs of Advent all around this year – from the lighted trees in downtown Knoxville, to the Advent wreath in our church, to the Christmas cards you receive – may you know WHO goes there! And knowing that Christ is here, hear that message of Good News: You matter to God. You belong to God and to us, and we will never let you go. Take God’s hand, and let us take your hand too, and let us walk into the future together!