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It recounts an evangelist’s prophecy for December 7 and redirects attention to spiritual alertness, psychological insight, and redemption drawing near, urging vigilance, prayer, and becoming whole.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/","Story & Novel",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-advent-1c-2024-luther/157285/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-advent-1c-2024-luther/157285.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Maya Linwood","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-08-29",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"How does the sermon use the fig tree to explain identifying truth?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It argues that fruit reveals what something really is, mirroring Jesus’ warning that disciples can judge prophets by their “fruit.” The point is that deception can be harder to detect than truth-like outcomes.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What role does T.S. Eliot’s poetry play in the sermon?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It introduces the idea that the end is where the beginning starts, tying Advent to renewal. The sermon then connects this theme to a long preaching practice beginning each First Sunday of Advent.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why is the December 7 prophecy described as significant despite passing without incident?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The sermon treats it as an opportunity to recognize broader endings that happen continuously—fear, loss, illness, and change—while emphasizing that believers cannot predict the “day or hour” but must remain awake.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},157285,1787977932,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,87,91,95,100,105,110,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":22,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":111,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":80,"read_time":143},962084928432,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","The End of the World as We Know It, Advent 1C 2024 /Luther 1  \nThen he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the  \ntrees.”  \nI look at the fig tree all the time. My neighbor across the street has a magnificent one in her front yard. During the spring and summer it shields most of the house with an extravagant wall of green, but late in the autumn the whole façade flutters to the ground, revealing bare branches studded with beautiful, green skinned fruit. Other trees are also like this: the persimmon and the Chinese pistache come to mind, the one sporting orange globes and the other clusters of red berries.  \n“By their fruit shall you know them,” says Jesus, warning his disciples about false prophets who will arrive pretending they are he.  \nThat’s the trouble with words. They can speak truth. They can also lie.  \nAnd it can be hard to tell the difference. Fruit, on the other hand, is always fruit.  \nWelcome to the First Sunday of Advent. Welcome to the roaring of the sea and its waves. Welcome to the season of joy and anxiety.  \nWelcome to the End of the World. For that is where Advent always begins. Every new Advent awakens my favorite lines from T.S. Eliot:  \nThe End of the World as We Know It, Advent 1C 2024 /Luther 2  \nWhat we call the beginning is often the end  \nAnd to make and end is to make a beginning.  \nThe end is where we start from.  \nIt may also be the reason I’ve preached every First Sunday of Advent since I was ordained in 1999. I’m that fool who rushes in where angels fear to tread. Over the years, I’ve made friends with endings and beginnings. It’s not a comfortable friendship, but as the wise ones  \nremind us,“Life does not exist for your comfort and convenience. Life is all about becoming human and whole.”  \nMost of the time, the End of the World is a metaphor of radical renewal, but every once in a while, it really happens.  \nIn October 2003, while I was serving as the fill-in Rector at St.  \nPaul’s Oakland, a man dressed in a pale blue suit and holding a gingham covered basket over one arm burst through the doors of the church and came prancing down the aisle. He announced in the rhythmic cadence of a TV preacher that he was a Catholic Evangelist arrived to warn us that the world was going to end on December 7. His countenance, slick with the sheen of snake oil, bristled with disapproval at the sight of me, a woman presiding at the altar of a Church of Christ. Meanwhile, graced  \nThe End of the World as We Know It, Advent 1C 2024 /Luther 3  \nby a deep calm I don’t typically possess, I answered him by quoting aversion of the reading for the First Sunday of Advent.“The world will end,” I said,“But we can’t know when. Jesus said,“Be awake for you do not know the day or the hour.” Meanwhile, my deacon, who was also a police officer, escorted him back to the street. Not until the service was over, did he tell me about the 12” knife concealed beneath the gingham covering the basket.  \nHeld in the radiant clarity of Church, I knew this meant something.  \nThat man was telling me to be aware. He didn’t know, any more than I knew, when the physical world would come to an end, but he could alert me to the presence of dangerous truths as hidden as the knife in his basket. In the world of psychological archetype, the knife or the sword is that which slices through the veil of ignorance.  \nIt laid bare the divided world I then inhabited, which has only grown worse during the decades since; a progressive society which denounces God in favor of technology and achievement, a conservative society which confuses God with politics and patriotism, each one demonizing the other. Back then, I was a newly minted priest, trying to  \nThe End of the World as We Know It, Advent 1C 2024 /Luther 4  \narticulate Good News I only partially understood to people who weren’t sure they wanted to hear it.  \nThe evangelist told me to keep slicing through the layer cake of misunderstanding. Believe no one but the God you will never ","cbCaivW4wR3UYDn6","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivW4wR3UYDn6","pdf",127441,"English","# The Fig Tree and False Prophets\n## Fruit as the Test of Truth\n# The Beginning within Advent\n## T.S. Eliot and Renewal\n# The December 7 Evangelist Episode\n## Hidden danger and spiritual awareness\n# Psychological Archetype and Division\n## Knife through the veil of ignorance\n# Signs, Warnings, and Redemption\n## Stand up, raise your heads, pray","[{\"question\":\"How does the sermon use the fig tree to explain identifying truth?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that fruit reveals what something really is, mirroring Jesus’ warning that disciples can judge prophets by their “fruit.” The point is that deception can be harder to detect than truth-like outcomes.\"},{\"question\":\"What role does T.S. Eliot’s poetry play in the sermon?\",\"answer\":\"It introduces the idea that the end is where the beginning starts, tying Advent to renewal. The sermon then connects this theme to a long preaching practice beginning each First Sunday of Advent.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is the December 7 prophecy described as significant despite passing without incident?\",\"answer\":\"The sermon treats it as an opportunity to recognize broader endings that happen continuously—fear, loss, illness, and change—while emphasizing that believers cannot predict the “day or hour” but must remain awake.\"}]","The End of the World as We Know It - Advent 1C 2024 - Luther | PDF",12]