Sermon for First Sunday of Advent
First Sunday of Advent
Romans 3:8-14
Matthew 24:36-44
O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
Some years ago while Marie and I hosted the Pastor and spouse Christmas get together for our little cluster of clergy in Southeast Indiana, it started to snow. By the time the party concluded a couple of inches had fallen on the ground. Not much more was expected.
One of the pastors told a story when he looked at the snow as he was putting on his coat. A few years back, he and his wife had been at a party where it started to snow. Everyone knew that snow was expected but there were no ominous warnings from the weather people that encouraged people to stay off the roads. Everyone had such a grand time with the games, conversation, drink, and food that no one was really paying any attention to the weather outside. Until people decided it was time to go. The snow was much deeper than expected and the wind picked up. The host turned on the TV. Warning messages scrolled across the bottom of the screen that people should avoid travel due to blowing snow and terrible road conditions. More snow and high winds were coming. The host and his wife declared that no one should leave for safety’s sake. Everyone agreed to wait until the morning.
I thought of that story as I watched the snow coming down yesterday and reflected on Jesus’ words of his future return. Everyone was having such a good time at the party, no one was paying attention to what was happening outside, all around them. This incident must have happened before the ubiquitous presence of the smart phone and its mobile weather apps. Surely the phones would have been a buzzing, chiming, etc. alerting all that there were changes and danger afoot.
Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus explains that He and the Father are one; that He says and teaches nothing that is not the Father’s desire to be said or taught. Jesus assures His followers that everything that Jesus does and says is in line with His mission and the Father’s will. In today’s Gospel, we learn that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit do not share the same mind. In their oneness, their unity, there is a distinction between the three persons. Not only are they responsible for different things, but the Son does not know the mind of the Father concerning his return. Only the Father knows. It is a mystery.
We are told this as a warning. Jesus’ return may happen tomorrow. Or, it may happen decades or centuries from now. We do not know. Jesus does not know. Regardless, Jesus calls us to be ready.
To stand ready all the time, especially for a lifetime is no easy thing. After 9/11, I recall seeing Vice President Dick Cheney on a talk show. There was talk about America’s need to be vigilant so that we do not allow that kind of harrowing attack to ever happen again. Vice President Cheney remarked that it is indeed difficult for a nation, even a military, to be vigilant over a long period of time. It is normal for us to relax, to let our attention wander, to be distracted by the joys and busyness of life. When Jesus warns us to be ready for His return, he references how those near Noah’s Ark carried on with life as usual. Noah’s Ark was not built overnight. We are not told how many years it took to build it, but it would have been always within the people’s sight. It may have taken 50-100 years to build. After a while people just stopped noticing the spectacle rising before them. People got on with life. Jesus says, “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
We ought to take Jesus’ warning seriously because Jesus is the promised Christ. Jesus is the promised Messiah. Already in Genesis 3:15, he is promised. Several of the prophets foretold of the coming Messiah. The Messiah was expected. We are told in the New Testament that people were looking for the Messiah to come.Well, here He is, standing before them. The Holy Spirit creates faith through His Word and plenty of people are responding to Him with faith. Jesus goes forward to the cross to die for the salvation of the world.
Holy Scripture bears witness that God keeps His promises. The Incarnate Son of God did not come right away. He came in the fullness of God’s time. It has been nearly 2000 years since resurrection and ascension. Our motivation to remain watchful for His second coming is that God keeps His promises. We want to be ready.
Knowing our human nature and our propensity to be distracted, to be carried away with the joys and concerns and busyness of life, we respond to Jesus exhortation by growing in the faith that is given to us by the Holy Spirit. We respond to God’s gift of grace we receive through Holy Baptism by nurturing the faith that the Holy Spirit creates in us. We regularly read, learn, and inwardly digest His holy Word, we pray, we participate regularly in the Divine Service so that we may receive Christ forgiveness and His presence in the Sacrament of the Altar. We walk with God’s people. We live by God’s direction and will. When we respond to God’s grace in this way, we remain ready for our Lord’s arrival.
If we are at a party having a grand old time with family and friends, old and new, we are surprised to hear the trumpet sound and there Jesus is, we are ready. If we are hard at work, focused on our many tasks, and there is Jesus, we are ready.
Jesus’ exhortation to be ready for His return propels us to respond with faith and nurture that faith with the Gifts of God: God’s people, God’s sacraments, God’s Word, God’s desire to hear from us through prayer.
When we live in faith, we are not frightened by His words, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Instead, we look forward to His arrival and the fulfillment of all His promises.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment