Come, Let us Go

12-1-13  “Come, Let Us Go”
8:30 CELEBRATION service, Brunswick UMC
Advent 1 Dec. 1 Watchfulness

Matthew 24: 36-44, Isaiah 2: 1-5, Romans 13: 11-14

"But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.

 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.

Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

“Merry Christmas”
Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be saying?
(Or Happy Holidays, if we’re careful not to offend?)

Merry Christmas…Noah?
What on earth does Noah have to do with Jesus?
Or with Christmas?

What a strange start to a season we think we know everything about.

The seasonal tug of war has begun.
Do we look this way, or that?
What are we supposed to see?
What are we watching for?

Today, we stepped into the worlds of Isaiah the prophet and Matthew the evangelist, our companions for the Journey toward Christmas.
Isaiah looks forward.  Matthew looks backward. 

What IS God doing in between?

Two weeks ago I asked some of our youth group for their insights reading the first two chapters of Matthew. Their first reaction was to notice what’s missing:  the manger, shepherds, animals, angels. It is a biblically literate group.  No one asked where Santa Claus was.

Their second reaction was, "This isn't our Christmas story!"

The scripture we heard a few minutes ago seems even less Christmasy.
Is God confused?  
Are lectionary planners just trying to fill space left vacant by the pieces missing from Matthew's version of the nativity?

For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.

What a crazy time.
What should we be looking at?
What are we watching for?

It’s a season that’s easy on the eye around here. 
Look at all the beautiful decorations.

It’s a season that plays havoc on the checkbook.
Now you see it, now you don’t!

It’s a season that’s disorienting on the moral compass.
At the end of the day do we reserve a little bit for those without,
                        Or
At the beginning of the season, can we remember who Christ came for?

One will be taken and one will be left.
You wouldn’t leave me behind, would you, Jesus?
Only, (turn back)
could you hold off on the whole coming and going thing until I’ve got my cookies baked and my shopping list done and my cards mailed? 

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.  Maybe that’s what’s happening with the “Sunday Assembly.” [1] In London, about 600 people began gathering monthly, and now twice a month, to sing, share liturgy, seek life’s meaning, and to be inspired in community.  What they have in common is that none of them believe in God. They are atheists craving worship.  Has absence made the heart grow fonder? 

Philosophical pragmatists believe we know something is true if it works. PUt another way, if something works then it is true.  If worship works, might not the reality of God be true?  Some observers believe that denying what motivates worshipful behavior will be its demise.  How long can you keep putting energy into something that is not true?

 But I can’t help wondering if the practice of worship might not lead some to seek the object of worship, God.  Watch and wait.

if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

In the middle of our regularly scheduled show,
Before the oven timer tells us the roast is done.
While we’re fighting over the rules of the UMC
or who will get access to health care this year
or how much we’ll defund, (not defend) the Supplemental Nutrition Program this week….
In our tug of war where the winner takes….what?

God will pop up.
And not all of us will be ready.

Airman Brandon Bryant wanted to be “part of a force for good” when he became a drone operator.  For six years he worked in Nevada, using a computer console with vivid and violent scenes of Afghan and Pakistani villages 7,000 miles away. Interviewed this October by GQ, Brandon said that his “views about the morality of the operation changed when he saw a child vaporized on the screen and saw hundred of people blown to bits.  He walked away from a $109,000 bonus with a severe case of PTSD and a final kill count of 1,626.  ‘The number made me sick to my stomach,” he said.’”[2]

What are we watching?
Do we have a choice?
Jesus’ words today remind us that being ready is not something we can take for granted, its not a permanent state of being that we achieve.
It’s a watchfulness to be tended each day.

Who will be left behind?
We leave people behind everyday.  We take people out every day.
But if God has God’s way, the answer is “no-one.”
All who are willing will be gathered into this Advent ark of salvation.

So God reaches out to gather us in,
-invites us to meet each morning- In prayer, in scripture, 
so that our eyes and ears are open as we enter the day.

In the mid day, to notice what might be getting in our way: 
to meet with others trying to learn to keep their eyes open.

To think of the end of the day less as a time for locking up what’s left that sharing what’s been given, leaving more room for God’s wide embrace in the restorative night hours.

Paul, the church builder, wrote, Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; …..[Come], put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:11-14)

Odd words between black Friday and cyber Monday. 
It almost sounds like God lacks interest in our holiday preparations, our physical gratifications.

On Christmas morning many of us will face a pile of presents meant to represent love.  But God will be present as the face of love.

Come, let us go and watch for the coming of Christ. .

We’ll find Christ coming where God’s love is needed most.  I invite you to practice watching by thinking of a person who you find it hard to love, or to forgive, or to help.  Hold the image of that person’s face in your mind as we pray.

            For you, ________, Christ was born.

            For you, ___________Christ died.

            For you, _________Christ lives again.

Prayer:   by Thom Shuman

In the compassion which can overturn injustice, in the forgiveness which can heal a broken heart, in the wonder which can illuminate shadowed longings: surely your days are coming, God of holy seasons.

In the peace which can calm anxious souls, in the joy which can shatter our despair, in the songs which can lift sagging spirits: surely the signs of your Advent are all around us, Servant of justice.

In the giggles of children who use too much tape and wrapping paper, in the warm cookie smells coming out of grandpa's kitchen, in the kindness of the stranger who lets us go ahead in the line: surely you are in our midst, Spirit of joy.

[1] “Sunday Assembly,” Century Marks, Christian Century,  11-27-13 p. 8


[2] “Remote Control,” Century Marks, Christian Century 11-27-13, p. 9

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