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Sermon Archive - November 29, 1998
Pastor Danielson
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Matthew 24:36-44 / Romans 13:11-14
By the time the First Sunday of Advent finally arrives on the church calendar,
our culture is already far along in "getting ready" for Christmas. Christmas
decorations have been on display in shopping malls for several weeks. Now that
Thanksgiving is over, the clock has started ticking on the countdown to
Christmas Day. Can we possibly hope to get everything done in time to "be
ready" for Christmas?
Advent is a time for preparation---but for what? It seems we use these four
weeks of Advent for finishing our shopping, addressing our cards, and
finishing our baking---myself included. It's as if even our secular Christmas
preparations now have the church's stamp of approval.
In just a little less than a month, we will all be celebrating Christmas Day.
From our family's perspective . . . all of the flaps on the Advent calendar,
given to us by Hannah Jacobson, will have been opened; all of the careful
planning for the 23 family member smorgasbord, which the Danielsons host this
year, will have paid off; sermons will have been written, liturgies prepared,
and we'll enjoy Christmas right on schedule.
How interesting to have this text from Matthew appear on the First Sunday of
Advent. Matthew focuses our attention, not on the "first coming" of Christ,
but on Christ's "second coming" or, "second advent" ---the main question
being, when this event will take place.
Some people expend a lot of energy mapping out "divine timetables." Jesus'
own disciples were understandably interested in the timing of God's plan for
His Second Coming and asked Jesus about it. In response, Jesus seems to lay
out signs for the disciples to check off in anticipation of the end of the
age. But then Jesus makes a startling admission?no one, not even the Son is
privy to the timing of that day and hour. No one, that is, except God himself!
"About that day and hour, Jesus said, no one knows,
neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
Have you ever seen the bumper sticker that says, "In case of the rapture this
car will be unoccupied"?
There are those among us who may be as uncertain as we are about the "when" of
the "Last Day," but not the "who." From their vantage point, "being taken up"
is a "slam dunk!" And, in at least one sense they are to be admired for, while
not knowing the exact time of Jesus Christ's return is acceptable, not
expecting and, therefore, not preparing for his "coming" is unacceptable! The
verses of our Gospel lesson sound a warning and a call to active preparation.
We are called to live into a future which has already broken into the present
of Jesus' "First Advent."
Once again we see that Matthew's message is timely as we find ourselves in the
thick of our Christmas preparations. Jesus says that it is possible to miss
the decisive moment; that our "getting ready" for Christmas might actually get
in the way of our "being ready."
The message this First Sunday in Advent is then not designed to help us figure
out when Jesus will return. Matthew isn't trying to keep us from being
surprised at the Lord's return. On the contrary, we are to expect the
unexpected. We will be surprised! That's precisely the reason for
watchfulness, for living in anticipation of the coming of the Son of Man and
the coming judgment. Whether it's in the busyness of the holiday season or in
the normalcy of everyday life, we must become "ready people"---ready for the
coming we know is coming!
William Willimon, dean of the chapel at Duke Divinity School, tells of a time
when he was serving a little church in Georgia. One of his members had a
relative who died and, as a show of support, Willimon and his wife went to the
funeral. It was held in a little country church and was like nothing they had
ever seen before. No sooner was the coffin wheeled in and the preacher began
to preach:
"It's too late for Joe," he shouted, waving his arms. "He might have wanted to
straighten out his life, but he can't now. It's over. But it ain't too late
for you! the preacher fumed. People drop dead every day. So why wait? Now is
the day for decision. Give your life to Jesus!"
Willimon said it was the worst funeral preaching he had ever heard.
"Can you imagine a preacher doing that kind of thing to a grieving family?"
he asked his wife on the way home. "I've never heard anything so cheap, so
manipulative, and irresponsible."
His wife agreed. It was tacky, manipulative, calloused. "Of course," she
added, "the worst part of all is that what he said was true!"
Today's text from Paul's letter to the Romans exhorts this Christian community
to "awaken now!" The fragility of human life, the unknown length of each life
span, makes the call, "awake, awake, now" a personal experience.
It wasn't too many years ago that a parishioner asked me to help her select
the clothing to be worn by her husband in his casket. She opened the bottom
drawer of the dresser and lifted out a light blue shirt still wrapped in
tissue paper.
"This," she said, "is not just any shirt. This is the most expensive shirt
my husband ever bought. He didn't like to spend money on clothes. I talked
him into buying this shirt when it was on sale at Marshall Fields."
She discarded the tissue and handed me the shirt. It was beautifully tailored
with the price tag and its surprising dollar amount still attached.
"As you can see," she said, "he never wore it. He was saving it for a
special occasion. Well, I guess this is the occasion."
She took the shirt from me and put it on the bed with the other clothes we
were taking to the funeral home. Her hands lingered on the soft material for a
moment, then she abruptly closed the drawer shut, turned to me and said:
"Don't ever save anything for a special occasion."
I thought about what she said as I prepared for her husband's funeral. I
thought about all the things that he hadn't seen or heard or done. I thought
about the things he had done without realizing that they were special. I'm not
exaggerating when I say that her word's, together with those of others I have
heard in similar circumstances, have had a tremendous impact on my ministry
and upon me personally!
I too am inclined to view clothing as simply something to be worn either out
of necessity or on special occasions. However, in the coming year I intend to
buy a new suit, at least one new sport coat, as well as several new shirts and
ties. Just last month, on my way home from Iron Mountain I stopped-off at the
Allen Edmonds outlet in Port Washington, Wisconsin and bought a pair of shoes
that, on sale, cost more than any other two I own combined, (maybe any
three!). I plan to wear them ---my new suit, sport coats, shirts and ties,
and my Allen Edmonds! ---Whenever I feel like it!
In case you hadn't noticed, I'm relaxing more and working a little less. I
spend more time sitting on our deck and the screened porch, admiring the view.
I fuss less about cleaning out desk and file drawers. I try to be home more in
the evening and, while newly assumed community responsibilities keep me on the
run, congregational leadership is asking less of me by way of routine,
everyday, administrative tasks. I'm thankful for that!
I'm embarrassed to say that, attending plays and concerts, especially down in
the city has always been a tough sell. I've decided that if others whom I
respect say something's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and
hear and do it now. Whenever possible, I will try to view life's experiences
as moments to savor, not simply endure.
I'm not sure what anyone, including friends I have buried far too young, would
have done with more time ---the time we all take for granted. But, I think
they would have left fewer things undone! Perhaps telephoned a brother, sister
or friend they hadn't seen or spoken to in a while. I like to think they would
have gone out more often, for a good dinner, at a favorite restaurant. I'm
guessing. I'll never know.
It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew that
my hours were limited. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was
going to get in touch with ---some day. Angry because I hadn't written
certain letters that I intended to write ---one of these days. Angry and
sorry that I didn't tell my wife and son how much I truly love them ---often
enough.
How many of us are "dream-walking" through life? ---going, unconsciously with
the flow? Such lives, you see, are as if they had never been. We would do well
to turn to Dr. Seuss, who, in his "Oh, the Places You'll Go," urges us onward
with these reassuring words:
"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go."
Matthew's picture of two men working in the field and two women grinding grain
suggests that we too must be a "ready people." In The Apostle Paul's
experience, the earliest hours of the newly dawned day were the best to "make
ready." With the exhausting heat of mid-day still far off, the cool of the
morning was the best time to work hard, work fast, and work well.
Christians, today, are similarly called by Matthew's Gospel and Paul's Epistle
to put their early morning energy to work. As the dawn of "the Last Day" or
any day approaches, Christians, clothed in the "armor of light," are to "put
on" the mind of Christ, thus preparing themselves for and protecting
themselves from whatever may assail them in the next 24 hours, or in the next
millennium.
AMEN.
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