Wake Up to the Wonder of God
William
Willimon, the Chaplain at Duke University, tells the story of a funeral he
attended when he was serving a small congregation in rural Georgia. One of
his members' relatives died, so Willimon and his wife attended the funeral
held in an off-brand, country church. He writes: "I had never seen anything
like it. The preacher began to preach. He shouted; he flailed his arms.
'It's too late for Joe. He's dead. But it ain't too late for you. People
drop dead every day. Why wait? Now is the day for decision. Give your life
to Jesus.' "
Willimon goes on to suggest that this was the worst thing he had ever seen.
He fumed and fussed at his wife Patsy, complaining that the preacher had
done the worst thing possible for a grieving family - manipulating them with
guilt and shame. Patsy agreed. But then she said: "Of course the worst part
of it all is that what he said is true."
We don’t like to think about time running out, do we? Just a couple of days ago I was having lunch with a friend of mine, Ray Rivera. We were discussing an idea he had for ministry to homeless women. As our conversation drew near the end, Ray began to talk to me about how these are the end times--wars and rumors of wars, the fact that we have the capacity to annihilate ourselves with a nuclear holocaust other signs—to Ray it means the end must be near.
I disagreed with him. I told him that I didn’t think the end was near. In fact I think that humans have much to accomplish before the end of the world. I imagine us going off planet and explore space before the end of time. Like some Star Trek the Next Generation.
When I got to the scriptures for today, this conversation was still fresh on my mind. As I pondered the texts, I asked what do these texts mean to me?
Isaiah
tells us the day is coming when God’s peace will reign. Paul tells us Christ
is coming like the dawn. Jesus tells us that he will bring salvation and
judgment suddenly and unexpectedly. But I don’t feel this urgency about
the end times. Not only do I not feel any urgency, I may have completely
lost my enthusiasm for this message.
Thank goodness for Advent. We have a new beginning after a long ordinary
season of Pentecost where we are lulled to sleep by what some see as a
monotonously long green season-nothing changes for months on end. Suddenly
everything goes blue! We have the hanging of the greens, the Church is
transformed and we begin a new gospel.
The Gospel of Matthew is a manual for Christian teaching and theological discernment. It is written to a wealthy urban community, probably in Antioch Syria. It tells stories of high finance and lavish dinner parties.
The gospel is arranged in general biographical order and divided into 5 accounts or discourses, the Sermon on the Mount, Instructions for missionary disciples, Parables of the Kingdom of Heaven, Sincere Discipleship and the End of the Present Age. In this gospel Jesus is described as the fulfiller and the fulfillment of God’s will--the royal Messiah. Matthew is concerned to show that Jesus is the legitimate heir to the royal house of David.
Instead of beginning at Chapter 1 with genealogy of Jesus, we leap to chapter 24 where we find today’s text and startling admonition to Wake Up! To the Wonder of God.!!!
What does it mean to wake up to the wonder of God? Wonder means to speculate, to marvel and to be surprised. God’s wonder will cause us to cogitate, question and reflect, to be in awe and to experience
Astonishment and amazement.
Matthew wants us to wake up and be amazed by God’s redeeming love already at work in the world. God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son to live and die on the cross so that all who believe will not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus promises that the Son of Man will come again at an hour that we least expect. We may not know when he will come, but it is vitally important to our lives now to know that he is coming.
How would my life be different if I expected Jesus to come today? When my Grandmother would come to visit, we would clean the house, go to the airport and watch the crowd until we recognized her and then we would run to her and embrace her.
Even though people in Noah’s time did not know it was coming, the judgment still came. People were not grossly immoral; they just put too much attention on normal cares and necessities. They were too concerned with eating and drinking. Just as we are from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Did you know the average person gains 7 lbs with all the festivities? Jesus tells his disciples that when the Son of Man returns, some people will be too busy at their employment, in the fields and in the mills, to pay attention to the coming one.
How can I be open to the coming of Christ now? Martin Luther wrote that if he knew Jesus would be here tomorrow, he would plant a tree today. Luther would make the world better by planting a tree. But also, because he had to tend the tree, water it, prune it and care for it, it would be a constant reminder that he was expecting Jesus now. What can I do to help make the world a better place and remember that Jesus is coming?
In contrast to the great and terrible signs at the end that no one could miss, our text says the times will be quite peaceful and normal. In contrast to the long commercial build up and advertising of Christmas, only 23 shopping days left, the text indicates we do not know the day or hour the coming one will come.
If the angels don’t know and Jesus doesn’t know, how can we know? All the signs of the end, wars, rumors of wars, false messiahs, persecution of believers, darkened moon and sun and falling stars have always been with us. Jesus asks us to wake up and trust God without knowing.
Not only are we to wake up to God’s redeeming love we are also asked to wake up to God’s great generosity. Knowing that Christ will return is to be a motivator for our service. Our vision of the future motivates our actions today. In Paul’s letter to the Romans we are told not to be indebted in anyway, (no credit card debt here) except to love one another. Love is a debt we owe each other. Love is to be directed at our brothers and sisters in Christ. Love is a debt we can never fully pay. Love shows itself in practical ways. Paul says to put away evil behavior and to strive for righteousness and to live a Christ-like life.
Advent is not so much about the coming of judgment as it is about the kingdom coming in its fullness. We do not know the time, the month, the day, or the hour, what we do know is that we are to be awake to the wonder of God experiencing his redeeming love and doing deeds of mercy, forgiveness, and peace. This Advent, instead of thinking that the end is far off, let us shake off the lethargy of sleep and take up the job of being church with a new sense of urgency. Awake sleepers Awake.
St. Timothy's Lutheran Church
211 Jefferson NE Albuquerque NM 87108 ~ (505) 255-8001