OF ONE THING WE CAN BE CERTAIN: OUR FRAGILE MORTAL LIVES WILL COME TO AN END. WE KNOW NEITHER THE DAY NOR THE HOUR. YET WITH OUR HEARTS ENLIGHTENED BY FAITH, WE KNOW THAT CHRIST- OUR LIFE AND OUR RESURRECTON-IS ALREADY WITH US IN HIS WORD, HIS BAPTISMAL PROMISE, HIS BODY AND BLOOD, HIS COMMUNITY OF FAITH. WE HAVE BEEN GRASPED AND HELD FOR ALL TIME WITH CHRIST STEADFAST LOVE. IN THESE. GIFTS OF GRACE, THE PEOPLE OF GOD REJOICE. INDEED IF THERE IS ANY URGENCY, IT CONCERNS OUR MISSION IN THE FRAGILE, BROKEN WORLD THAT YEARNS FOR LIGHT, LIFE AND SALVATION.
USING CRUISE CONTROL ALLOWS A DRIVER TO STOP WORRING ABOUT MAINTAINING A CONSTANT SPEED, AND TO CONCENTRATE ON OTHER THINGS. BUT WITH THAT AUTOMATION COMES A DANGER, THE DRIVER CAN EASILY GET TINTO TROUBLE, FORGETTING HOW FAST THE CAR IS GOING. AT SUCH SPEEDS, IT CAN BE DANGEROUS NOT TO BE PAYING ATTENTION. WHEN JESUS SPEAKS ON THIS SUNDAY GOSPEL TEXT ABOUT WHAT THE SECOND COMING WILL BE LIKE, HE COMPARES IT TO HOW PEOPLE LIVED IN THE DAYS OF NOAH. THEY WERE GOING ALONG WITH THEIR LIVES, DOING THEIR DAILY THINGS, LIVING ON CRUISE CONTOL, UNTIL THE FLOOD CAME. AND SWEPT THEM AWAY. IN THE SAME WAY, WHEN THE DAY OF THE LORD COMES, THERE WON'T BE PRIOR INDICATIOONS THAT SOMETHING IS ABOUT TO HAPPPEN. MOST PEOPLE WILL CONTINUE WHAT THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DOING-GOING ALONG WITH THEIR LIVES ON CRUISE CONTROL, NOT PAYING MUCH ATTENTION. ONE SIGN OF FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS IS THAT THEY DO PAY ATTENTION. THEY ARE WATCHFUL AND READY WHEN THE SON-OF MAN COMES. THOSE WHO HAVE PUT SPIRITUAL MATTERS ON CRUISE CONTROL WILL BE LEFT, THOSE WHO REMAIN ENGAGED WITH GOD WILL BE TAKEN. BEING READY IS NOT A MATTER OF LIVING THAT MUCH DIFFERENTLY THAN OTHER PEOPLE, BUT SIMPLY BEING WATCHFUL AND AWAKE TO THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE WORLD. WHEN THE CHRIST APPEARS, THE FAITHFUL WILL RECOGNIZE HIM, AND BE TAKEN WITH HIM TO ETERNAL LIFE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. THE FAITHFUL DO NOT LIVE ON CRUISE CONTROL, BUT SEEK OUT GOD IN WORD, PRAYERS, AND WORSHIP OF THE COMMUNITY; IN CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION; IN THE WATERS OF BAPTISM; AND IN THE LORD'S SUPPER. BY DOING THIS THEY WILL BE AWARE AND READY WHEN THE SON-OF MAN COMES EVEN THOUGH THEY DO NOT KNOW THE DAY AND THE HOUR, THIS TEXT IS USED FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT AND SPEAKS ABOUT THE ULTIMATE ADVENT, OR COMING OF JESUS CHRIST (AMEN).
AS CHRISTIANS WE BELIEVE THAT HISTORY IS GOING SOMEWHERE. IT'S NOT LIKE A CHILD'S HAMSTER SPINNING ON ITS CIRCULAR TREADMILL, GOING NOWHERE. NOR IS HISTORY LIKE THE WINDING DOWN OF A GREAT COSMIC TIMEPIECE. HISTORY IS MOVING ITS GOD-DESIGNED, GOD-TIMED COMPLETION WHEN CHRIST SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER. THE CHRISTIAN MUST ACCEPT THE NECESSITY OF LIVING IN THE TENSION BETWEEN KNOWING THE CERTAINTY OF CHRIST COMING AND NOT KNOWING WHEN. WHAT DO WE DO WITH TENSION? WE LET IT STRETCH OUR AWARENESS THAT WE MUST WATCH AND BE READY. MAYBE THIS IS WHY THE SEASON OF ADVENT, THE FOUR WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS, EMERGED IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PERHAPS THEY KNEW CENTURIES AGO THAT IT MIGHT TAKE FOUR WEEKS TO PREPARE FOR TRUE WORSHIP OF THE BETHLEHEM BABE. WE HAVE A YEARLY REHEARSAL TO PRACTICE OUR WATCHFULNESS AND READINESS. THESE PRACTICES CAN NOT ONLY CONVINCE BUT ALSO CONDITION US TO BE READY WHEN THE FINAL DAY ON GOD'S CALENDER ARRIVES. THE GENERAL, TIMELESS TEACHING OF OUR TEXT, WATCHING AND BEING READY, HELPS US CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. THERE ARE THREE CUES WHICH WILL BECOME A SENTENCE SUMMARY ON HOW WE MIGHT BE READY.
AS JESUS SPOKE OF THE ORDNINARY: " THAT DAY AND HOUR NO ONE KNOWS," HE REACHED BACK IN HOLY HISTORY TO REMIND US OF THE DAYS OF NOAH. THE NEIGHBORS OF NOAH WERE BUSY WITH THE ROUTINES OF LIFE.-EATING, DRINKING, MARRYING, AND GIVING IN MARRIAGE.
THEY WERE NOT PREPARED AND THEY WERE SWEPT AWAY WHEN THE WATERS ROSE.
THAT'S HOW IT WILL BE, JESUS CONTINUED, WHEN HE RETURNS. HE SAID, " TWO MEN WILL BE IN THE FIELD, ONE IS TAKEN AND ONE IS LEFT. TWO WOMEN WILL BE GRINDING AT THE MILL; ONE IS TAKEN ONE IS LEFT."
NOTHING COULD HAVE BEEN MORE COMMON PLACE THAN MEN WORKING IN THE FIELD, ONE IS TAKEN AND ONE, ONE IS LEFT, TWO WOMEN WILL BE GRINDING AT THE MILL, ONE IS TAKEN, ONE IS LEFT."
THEN AND NOW THE CHOICE AND THE CHALLENGE IS TO FIND IN SUCH ORDINARINESS THE PATH TO MEANINGFUL LIFE WITH CHRIST. JUST AS JESUS FIRST CAME TO US DURING THE COMMON PLACE OF A BUSY, WORKADAY WORLD.
SOME NOTICE HIM; OTHERS DO NOT. ONE WILL REEIVE HIM; ANOTHER WILL NOT EVEN BE AWARE OF HIS PRESENCE. ONE PERSON MAY KNOW FULFILLMENT, JOY, ETERNAL LIFE, AND ANOTHER WILL BE UNBLESSED AND UNHONERED.
ONE WILL BE TAKEN INTO CHRIST'S GLORY, ANOTHER WILL BE LEFT IN HIS FINAL PREOCCUPATION WITH"WHAT SHALL WE DO.
THIS STORY OF BROTHER NICHOLAS HERMAN-BROTHER LAWRENCE, AS HE WAS CALLED BY THOSE WHOM HE SERVED IN A MONASTERY IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PARIS.
BROTHER LAWRENCE WAS A LAYMAN WHO SPENT FORTY- YEARS WORKING IN THE KITCHEN OF THIS MONASTERY. HE WAS QUIET, GENTLE CHRISTIAN WHO AT AGE OF EIGHTEEN WAS FOUND READY TO RECIEVE CHRIST. HIS EXPERIENCE WAS NOTHING MORE THAN SEEING A TREE STRIPPED OF ITS LEAVES IN WINTERTIME. YET BECAUSE HE WAS WATCHFUL, HE WAS READY TO HEAR GOD SPEAKING TO HIM THROUGH THIS ORDINARY, COMMONPLACE TREE. THROUGH THAT EXPERIENCE, BROTHER LAWRENCE RECEIVED A HIGH VIEW OF THE POWER AND PROVIDENCE OF GOD.
THROUGH THAT EXPERIENCE HE COMMITTED HIMSELF TO SERVE CHRIST IN THE WAY HE BELIEVED BEST.
THERE WAS A STORY OF A RURAL MAIL CARRIER ON HIS WEEKLY TRIP THROUGH HARDIN COUNTY, KENTUCKY. THE TIME WAS FEBUARY 18O9. A LOCAL MAN MET THE MAIL CARRIER AND ASKED WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD. THE MAIL CARRIER TOLD ABOUT TROUBLE AGAIN BETWEEN UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN AND HE MENTION TALKS ABOUT A NATIONAL BANK. THE MAIL CARRIER RETURNED THE QUESTION: WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THESE PARTS?" THE LOCAL MAN ANSWERED, " SHUCKS, MISTER NOTHING EVER HAPPENS
BACK HERE. IN THE ORDINARINESS OF LIFE, THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH OF ABE LINCOLN' WAS MISSED. EARLIER I MENTION BROTHER-LAWRENCE. AMID POTS AND PANS, VEGETABLES, AND DOUGH. BROTHER LAWRENCE, WHO FOUND GOD IN THE ORDINARY. HE DIDN'T QUIT LOOKING, DURING THOSE FORTY-YEARS IN THE MONASTERY KITCHEN. HE CALLED WHAT HE WAS DOING " PRACTICING THE PRESENCE OF GOD." LET NOT THE HUMDRUMNESS OF LIFE OR THE NEGATIVISM OF ANOTHER CHEAT US OUT OF THE WONDER OF OUR LORD'S BIRTH AND CELEBRATION. WATCH BE READY!
THERE IS A SMALL CHURCH IN ZICA, SERBIA, THAT HAS SEVEN DOORS, MANY MORE THAN ARE NEEDED FOR SUCH A SMALL BUILDING. OVER A PERIOD OF TWO HUNDRED YEARS, SEVEN SERBIAN KINGS WERE CROWNED IN THIS LITTLE CHURCH.
EACH TIME, THEY BUILT A NEW DOOR SO THAT THE NEWLY CROWNED KING COULD EMERGE FROM A DOORWAY THAT NO ONE HAD EVER USED BEFORE. CHRIST CAME TO EARTH THROUGH THE SAME DOORWAY WE ALL USED, THE WOMB OF A WOMEN. THOUGH HE WAS KING OF KINGS, HE CAME TO EARTH AS ALL HUMANS DO.
IT WAS MEANT TO SHOW US THAT HE INTENDED TO FULLY SHARE ARE HUMANITY.
SALVATION IS CLOSER TODAY THAN YESTERDAY. (AMEN!)
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