December 2, 2007
“What Shall We Call Him?  Son Of Man”
Matthew 24:36-44

First, one story of two that will serve as bookends for my sermon today.  When does “Stay Awake!” mean “Go To Sleep!”?

My brother Pat and me were always anxious about this time of year, as children are wont to be.  On December 24, after all the preparations were ready, we would go to bed, just as mom expected.  Then, when we were sure she was asleep in bed, we would sneak out of our room and go see if the presents were yet delivered around the mostly bare floor under the Christmas Tree. 

We would hide behind the big armchair, then quickly get bored.  Finally we would end up underneath the Christmas Tree itself, looking up into the decorated branches, and talking about what presents we might get and so forth.  Eventually, we would be startled by our mother's firm voice: “Boys!  Go to sleep!  You know Santa will never come if you are awake!

We would trudge off to bed sheepishly, but resistantly.  It wouldn't be twenty minutes later when we heard the regular breathing of our mom, that we would sneak out again to the living room and do the entire routine over again.  This might happen another time or two, each time with our mother's stern voice telling us to go to sleep.

Of course, the next day, when it really mattered and the presents were all around the tree, Pat and I were so tired, we could barely stay awake for the opening of the presents, not to mention talking with relatives, watching the television specials, and eating the big Christmas feast.  We would be in bed by 6 p.m. having had a not-so-delightful day. 

If we had only listened to our mother!

When does “Stay Awake!” mean “Go To Sleep!”?

Well, I picked a real hum-dinger of a scripture text for today!  The greatest flood known to humankind… a man, a woman, whisked away to heaven leaving others behind… Jesus as a thief coming in the night…  And on top of all that ominous-sounding text Jesus refers to himself in the incredibly cryptic manner as “Son Of Man.”  Welcome to Advent!  Wheee!!!!

In fact, today's scripture lesson is more in tune with the two thousand year history of Advent than most of us would suspect.  Advent has been a time, much like the Lenten season prior to Easter, as a time of serious introspection, reflection, confession, and repentance.  And it seems there is no better way to get someone to do that hard self-evaluation than to scare them into “staying awake” and be ready at some unexpected hour for “the Son of Man.”  No starry, starry night.  No kindly Joseph understanding Mary's awkward plight here!  No gentle crying babe in a manger for us today!

Let me reassure you, however, we'll get to that good Christmas stuff a little later in the season.  “Be not afraid,” as the angels say to the shepherds.  We'll have a wondrous Christmas - soon.  But not today.

First, as if mom is approaching with the terrible-tasting cough syrup, we've got to get through the hard stuff before we start to feel better!

Many of you are reading the Advent Devotional book our Worship Team has chosen titled “What Shall We Call Him?” looking at the different names for Jesus.  I thought I'd do the same thing with my sermon series this month.  I've taken the existing Lectionary texts for each Sunday and without any trouble found a name or title for Jesus in it.  Today, in Matthew 24, Jesus refers to himself as the “Son Of Man.”

In all four gospels, Jesus uses this puzzling term for himself.  It is found 11 times in John, 14 in Mark, 26 in Luke, and the most times, 30, in Matthew.  Interestingly, the term is almost exclusive used by Jesus himself, and rarely by others referring to Jesus. 

Now, lest we get confused, the phrase “Son Of Man” is quite different from the phrase “Son of God” for several reasons.  The much easier to understand, “Son Of God” is used far less in the Bible, only once in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, and most of the times in the Christian Scriptures, the New Testament, it is used by others to describe Jesus.  You may recall on several occasions demons being cast of humans by Jesus would recognize him as “the Son Of God.”  Most famously in film, you have the centurion at the cross of Jesus proclaiming, “Truly this was the Son of God” (in as much of a John Wayneian accent as I can muster!) 

But few, if any, biblical scholars spend much time nor ink debating exactly what this term means.  “Son Of God” seems clear, even if incredible and astounding and salvific.  But “Son Of Man” is hotly contested.  Did Jesus ever really say it about himself, or was it added by the early church?  If Jesus said it, what did he mean by it?  Was it intended to make him seem common, just “one of us,” or was it meant to help us see him as one who was supremely unique, the Messiah, the Savior?

The term “Son Of Man” was not in common usage at the time of Jesus, at his birth, during his ministry, nor at his crucifixion.  Text from other sources of the time do not use the expression much at all, certainly not in any kind of messianic nor savior sense.   Many of the other terms used for Jesus were fairly common at that time.  So, unlike most of the names we use for Jesus, we cannot get good clues as to the meaning of this one by understanding what people thought about it at the time, comparing and contrasting with current usage.  Your average 1st century Jew nor Palestinian would know what the heck “Son Of Man” meant.  It's just not there.

But Jesus, being a student of the scriptures, had heard the term, in his lessons.  It is found primarily in Ezekiel, where it is used 93 times.  And here it was a phrase, used by the prophet to designate himself, clearly meant to make Ezekiel seem just like the common man.  For example, Ezekiel said, “And he said unto me, 'Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them,'” or “Moreover he said unto me, 'Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.'”  It would be as if he called himself “Everyman,” or “John Doe,” or “Average Guy.”  Really, there is nothing notable about Ezekiel's use of the phrase “Son Of Man.”  And perhaps this is exactly what Jesus wanted us to think of him as.  Nothing extraordinary… “Just Jesus!”

But why would Jesus go back to such a common, plain, title to describe himself?  Well, there are a couple of other places he might have looked that give us yet more understandings of why he may have called himself “Son Of Man.”  Briefly, in two prophetic texts, the phrase is used.  Don't blink or you may miss them!  On top of it all, one has to go to an older translation to keep the language clear.

In the King James Version, in Daniel 7:13 it reads, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one] like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.”   Here we have an image, obscure but compelling, where the “Son Of Man” is one who will come and usher in a new age.  It is a text that is as ominous and as frightening as… well, as our Matthew 24 text is today!

The phrase is used in Daniel's vision of the end times, when the Ancient One is sitting on a throne (very much in line with the grandest most common view of God handed down through history, complete with long flowing white beard).  The Son Of Man is presented to the Ancient One and to him is given dominion and power over all the earth, and all humankind.  So our second clue to interpreting this odd and compelling title is that it is about God's ultimate power and Christ's judgment of humanity.

But there is another, equally powerful connection.  In Isaiah 52, the prophet proclaims, “I, [even] I, [am] he that comforteth you: who [art] thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man [that] shall die, and of the son of man [which] shall be made [as] grass.”  Isaiah's image of the Messiah, the one who will come to deliver the peoples, is one of a Suffering Servant.  This Son Of Man is less “regal” and more “humble,” one who shall die, who shall be “made of grass.”  In this instance, the one who suffers is the only one who is able to save.

Now this is where it gets exciting for me, and has implications for how we prepare for Christmas.  What if Jesus had in his mind and heart all three of these background images, which he paradoxically brought together in his use of the “Son Of Man:”
¢     Jesus as “everyman,” the common person, one of us,
¢     Jesus as ruler over all and judge of humankind, and
¢     Jesus as Suffering Servant, given up for the sake of something larger, bigger than himself, or all of us. (1)

In this incorporation of all three Hebrew Scripture references we get a unique and compelling picture of who Jesus may of thought of himself as.  Just like us, yet unique.  This would foreshadow the “fully human/fully God” debates that would come centuries after his ministry.  Likewise, he is one who calls us to confession, repentance and transformation, as both judge, but also as one who suffers alongside of us.

Thus, Jesus' menacing warnings in Matthew 24 become less angry and more encouraging.  Rather than frightening us into getting and staying ready for the coming of our Savior, Jesus passionately cheers us along us as one who has traveled the way already.  Jesus rules us less out of anger, force, and violence and more out of love, empathy, and compassion.  So the seemingly unfriendly “stay awake” which fills us with fear and dread that something bad will happen to us if we fall asleep, is transformed into a loving “stay awake” which encourages us to not miss out on the wonderful things in store for those who are ready.

In [his book] “Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear,” Scott Bader-Saye argues that our lives are easily ruled by “apocalyptic fear” rather than divine goodness; that following Jesus involves us in risky practices that fuel temptations to live out of self-preservation instead of self-giving love. Bader-Saye suggests we need a kind of courage to “go on” that is fueled by hope in God. We need to receive our life and destiny as gifts poured out by a gracious God who is capable of sustaining us as witnesses to God's peace in the midst of a chaotic, violent world. (2)

This is what Advent is all about: God encouraging us - and each of us encouraging one another - to “stay awake” lest we miss the glorious things that are about to happen.  To stay awake means to:
o     Not be distracted by the glitz and glamour of the culture;
o     Avoid the temptations of consumerism and hedonism;
o     Prepare our hearts and minds through prayer, Bible study, meditation, and worship;
o     Open our hearts to the pain and suffering of others;
o     Give of ourselves in ways that show the love of God to our neighbors in need.
These are just a few of the ways that we can live out the call of the Son Of Man to be better prepared for the season.

And now for the second story.  This one a year later than the first… or was it that same year, or…?

On December 24, again after all the preparations were ready, my brother, Pat, and I would go to bed, just as always.  Then, when we were sure our mother was sound asleep in bed, we would sneak out of our room and go see if the presents were yet delivered. 

We would hide behind the bookshelf, then get bored.  Eventually we would end up underneath the Christmas Tree, this year one of those white plastic ones, one of the earliest artificial trees, looking up into the branches at the bright lights and glass balls, and talking about what presents we might get and so forth.  Eventually, we would be startled by our mother's voice: “Boys!  Go to sleep!  You know Santa will never come if you are awake!

We would trudge off to bed sheepishly, but resistantly.  It wouldn't be twenty minutes later when we heard the regular breathing of our mom, that we would talk about doing it again, but something in our mother's voice made us think twice.  Was it that she sounded serious, or simply wise?  Might her stern voice have convinced us of her love as much as of her authority?

In any case, we opted to go to sleep.  Bounding out to the living room at an ungodly hour in the morning, we would find the tree surrounded by presents and have the entire day - and the energy - to enjoy them, the company, and the food.

Thank God we had listened to our mother's advice the night before!

When does “Stay Awake!” mean “Go To Sleep!”?  Christmas Eve, of course!  And whenever it means that we will be ready for Christ when he comes to us.

Amen


(1)     I owe a lot of my thoughts to: F.F. Bruce, “The Background to the Son of Man Sayings,” Christ The Lord. Studies in Christology presented to Donald Guthrie. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1982. Hbk. ISBN: 0851117449. pp.50-70.

(2) Quoted in Blogging Toward Sunday by Michael Pasquarello III, Theolog: The Blog of The Christian Century, 2007 at http://www.theolog.org/blog/2007/11/blogging-towa-2.html






Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church
www.FranklinCircleChurch.org


 

Copyright 2007 -- The Rev. Allen V. Harris

Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113-3096