Wake Up

December 3, 2017 Mark 3:27-34 First Sunday of Advent Children’s time will be to light the advent candle and to pass out the advent calendars. Mark 13:24-37Common English Bible (CEB) 24 “In those days, after the suffering of that time, the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. 25 The stars will fall from the sky, and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Human One[a] coming in the clouds with great power and splendor. 27 Then he will send the angels and gather together his chosen people from the four corners of the earth, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven. A lesson from the fig tree 28 “Learn this parable from the fig tree. After its branch becomes tender and it sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that he’s near, at the door. 30 I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away. 32 “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the angels in heaven and not the Son. Only the Father knows. 33 Watch out! Stay alert! You don’t know when the time is coming. 34 It is as if someone took a trip, left the household behind, and put the servants in charge, giving each one a job to do, and told the doorkeeper to stay alert. 35 Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know when the head of the household will come, whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows in the early morning or at daybreak. 36 Don’t let him show up when you weren’t expecting and find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to all: Stay alert!” Footnotes: a. Mark 13:26 Or Son of Man Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible So, here we are again – the Christmas season upon us. I really love the decorations, they are absolutely magnificent! For us in the mainline churches, it is the season of advent. Advent comes from the latin word – adventus which means to come. This morning we sung O come Emmanuel - Come lord Jesus. I love that song, it reminds us to invite Jesus to come into our world afresh. And for those of you who are wondering who stole baby Jesus out of the nativity, he is not there yet. – advent is about us waiting for Jesus to come- so he will be there on Christmas eve. Advent always starts out with preparing us for the second coming, not the first coming. Mark chapter 13 is called the little apocalypse, if you want to hear about the big apocalypse you have to read John. Mark says that Jesus will come out of the clouds. The catholic church wants to make sure that when Jesus comes out of the sky he knows exactly where to come. At the Vatican there is a huge courtyard, where the people come from all over the world to hear the pope speak. If you look up at the top of the courtyard, you will see twelve imposing figures won the ceiling surrounding the yard. From the ground, these figures look lifesize, six foot tall. In order to get the illusion that the figures are six foot tall, they are actually 36 feet tall in the air. The figures are of the twelve disciples, so that Jesus will recognize them and fly in the church. Jesus said upon my rock I will build my church. And in the basement of the church, right under the altar is Peter’s grave. I would assume once Jesus flies into the church, one of the priest would have to tell him to go into the basement in order to get Peter. And once he gets Peter, then its on, all of the Christians from all over the world will gather in the courtyard. I will have to show you the pictures sometime – but I thought those were pretty easy to find on the internet. But that is the catholic churches vision of the second coming of Jesus according to Mark. But I think that message of Advent is that Jesus comes to us in so many ways, so many times. And that being prepared for Jesus is a lifelong journey. Jesus Is Coming! One of my dearest friends applied for a position that required him to instruct and inspire younger people. His interviewer and evaluator asked him, "Tell me about your walk with Jesus." My friend replied, "You know, everywhere I go, no matter where or when, I find that Jesus has arrived there first. Wherever I go, Jesus is already there." The evaluator made no reply; he had no idea what to say, and my friend was never offered the job. Was his response too theologically subtle? Jesus is not the Lord whom we discover or define or claim. Jesus comes to us. We do not summon Him by any action of our own. Jesus is God's gift. While we were yet sinners, he was born, died, and raised again for us that we might inherit new life. Advent announces that Jesus is coming and not through any action of our own. We do not deserve it. Advent happens. Advent means that Jesus comes again and for all time, at Christmas, this Christmas. Edward S. Gleason, In the Time of This Mortal Life In Mark, Jesus goes on the say that this generation will not pass away until Jesus comes. Many take that to mean that the end of the world must be near. Or Jesus does not know what he is talking about, since 2017 years later, Jesus has not come. Or once again has he? I think that in every generation, there is a defining moment. is that moment in our lifetime that transforms history forever. When Jesus is telling the disciples to get ready, he is preparing them for his death and torture. He want to make sure that they will move forward in his absence. Jesus must have also known that the Jewish temple would be destroyed in 70 AD and a whole body of religion would be transformed. 3 times Jesus tells us to stay alert, to stay awake and to be prepared for a change. Readiness - Watchfulness A U.S. Army officer told of the contrast in his pupils during two different eras of teaching at the artillery training school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma (Home of the Field Artillery). In 1958-60 the attitude was so lax that the instructors had a problem getting the men to stay awake to hear the lectures. During the 1965-67 classes, however, the men, hearing the same basic lectures, were alert and took copious notes. What made the difference in the class of 65? They knew that in less than six weeks they would be facing the enemy in Vietnam. Unknown What will be that transforming moment in our lives? In our times? What is it that Jesus is asking us to prepare for? What is going on in the world today that can only be straightened out by God’s presence? I can think of a lot of reasons that Jesus needs to come into the world today – flying in the clouds, picking up his sidekick Peter and fixing the world. In the Hands of God Raymond Fung, who some years ago served as secretary of evangelism for the World Council of Churches, asserts that “waiting is an attitude, an inclination to act. Our waiting communicates that life is not all it should be. We wait because there is something worth having. We wait because the resources we need to survive and to grow are not in our own hands, but in the hands of God.” Joel D. Kline, Alert with a Wild Hope Working and Waiting When we wait, we admit there are some things that are not under our control. Most of us like to believe that we are in control. We imagine that we are masters of our destinies. If we work hard enough, if we are sufficiently prepared, if we just concentrate, we can make life work. And we can. To a point. There are some things, however, that can't be hurried. Recuperation from surgery, the grief process, a young person learning responsibility. Shakespeare put it like this, "How poor are they that have no patience. What wound did ever heal but by degrees?" John R. Claypool has wisely said, "Let's face it, there are two kinds of reality in this world of ours. There are the things you have to work for, and there are the things you have to wait for." Claypool is right. But we don't want to wait. Collected Sermons, King Duncan But this is not a passive waiting, but an active preparation. Three times in this one passage, Jesus says stay alert. Stay alert, because you don’t know when I am coming or what changes I will bring. But if you are not prepared for change, you may not be ready when it comes. Come Lord Jesus come. Advent is a time of preparation for a great change. Advent is about what we do in the church, but the most important work of advent is in the heart of God’s people. Advent is a time for you to invite Jesus to come, come into your heart and your soul and straighten out all of the messes in your life and your heart. To be a better person, to be the person God intends you to be - to make a difference in the world. He Will See Us Win the Race There is a story told by Mary Hollingsworth about the noted director, Cecil B. DeMille. When they began working on the movie Ben Hur, DeMille talked to Charlton Heston, the star of the movie, about the all important chariot race at the end. He decided Heston should actually learn to drive the chariot himself, rather than just using a stunt double. Heston agreed to take chariot-driving lessons to make the movie as authentic as possible. Learning to drive a chariot with horses four abreast, however, was no small matter. After extensive work and days of practice, Heston returned to the movie set and reported to DeMille. Heston said, "I think I can drive the chariot all right, Cecil, but I'm not at all sure I can actually win the race." Smiling slightly, DeMille said, "Heston, you just stay in the race, and I'll make sure you win." Those are the words of God to everyone us: "You just stay in the race, you Stay Ready, and I'll make sure you win." Billy D. Strayhorn, From the Pulpit, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. The world is waiting on us – the people of God to make a difference. We are waiting on Jesus to usher in a new day. Come Lord Jesus Come – let your spirit come to bring hope, love, joy and peace to our world this year, this time, this present day situation….. Amen. Additional Illustrations…… Living in Hope The Christian lives in the Hope. We look to tomorrow with confidence, even absurd confidence. As the White Queen told Alice, "Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." There is an exuberance in the Christian Life, an exaltation which passes logic. Why? Because we belong to Christ. Listen to Leo Tolstoy: I believe in God, who is for me spirit, love, the principle of all things. I believe that God is in me, as I am in Him. I believe that the true welfare of man consists in fulfilling the will of God. I believe that from the fulfillment of the will of God there can follow nothing but that which is good for me and for all men. I believe that the will of God is that every man should love his fellow men, and should act toward others as he desires that they should act toward him. I believe that the reason of life is for each of us simply to grow in love. I believe that this growth in love will contribute more than any other force to establish the Kingdom of God on earth To replace a social life in which division, falsehood and violence are all-powerful, with a new order in which humanity, truth and brotherhood will reign. Warren T. Smith, Journey in Faith The Full Advent: Whoa! No Way? Wow! - Mark 13:24-37 by Leonard Sweet This Sunday marks a new “season” in the church calendar. After a series of twenty-four Sundays defined simply as “After Pentecost,” the church community around the world is now called to focus on a new turn in our journey. Advent is a season of anticipation and preparation for the “coming” (adventus) of Jesus. But mostly during Advent we do strange and ridiculous things. We put up a tree in our living room. Not too long ago our ancestors even used to light the tree with burning candles, which burned many houses down. We decorate the whole house as though it was one huge present. We blow our electric bill through the roof with outdoor lighting. We start buying stuff and wrapping stuff and baking stuff and preparing stuff. All to what end? So that when Jesus finally arrives our Christmas celebration will be special and memorable. Advent is the church’s annual adventure in being astounded by something new, not in Macy’s but in a manger. And yet the first gospel reading for the Season of Advent is not “something new.” Instead it recalls a prediction from the old as recorded by the prophet Daniel. Daniel 7:13 evokes the vision of a “son of man coming with the clouds of heaven.” It describes this heavenly figure as one who will “gather his elect,” a message that suggests that those not “elected” are in fact “rejected.” It is a grand vision of a heavenly empowered divine “son of man” coming to earth to extend judgment. This “son of man” is a historic figure of heavenly origin, a divine being who becomes human and will change the course of human history. The final word in this week’s gospel text from Mark is to “keep watch,” to “watch out” for the signs that will reveal that the approach of this “son of man” is imminent… Did you hear about the teary kindergartner on the first day of school: “You aren’t homesick already, are you?” the teacher asked. “No, I’m here sick.” Humor: It’s A Good Thing to Pray, but You Must Also Watch One morning in the early 1890s, four workers were busy in a cornfield. One man with a scythe was cutting the corn and leaving it in long swathes. He was followed by a boy who was making bands of twisted cornstalks and laying them on the ground at intervals, side by side. The third worker had a small wooden rake with three six-inch teeth on it, and with this he was gathering bundles of the cut corn, and placing each bundle on one of the bands left by the boys. The fourth worker, following the others, was making each bundle into a sheaf by twisting the band tightly round it and tucking in the end. At half-past ten, they stopped for a lunch break. They sat down and opened their lunch packets which contained sandwiches of home-fed cold bacon. The boy looked at his food as it lay open on a cloth. He had been converted the night before at a chapel meeting, so he clasped his hands and closed his eyes to say grace. When he opened his eyes, his sandwiches had gone. The dog had taken them! The farmer had seen it all. Much amused, he said to the boy, "It is a good thing to pray--but you must also watch!" Mickey Anders, Keeping Watch Someday God Will Come In her book, Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen tells about her cook, a Kenyan named Kamante. She says that one night, after midnight, Kamante suddenly walked into her bedroom with a hurricane-lamp in his hand. He spoke to her very solemnly, “I think that you had better get up. I think that God is coming.” Isak Dinesen says that when she heard this, she did get up, and asked why he thought so. He gravely led her into the dining room which looked west, toward the hills. Through her windows she saw a strange phenomenon. There was a big grass-fire going on out in the hills. The grass was burning all the way from the hill-top to the plain. When seen from the house, she says, it made nearly a vertical line. It did indeed look as if some gigantic figure was moving and coming toward them. She stood for some time and looked at it, with Kamante watching by her side. Then she began to explain to him what was happening. But the explanation didn’t seem to make much impression on him. She says he clearly took his mission to have been fulfilled when he had called her to warn her. “Well yes,” he said, “it may be so. But I thought that you had better get up in case it was God coming.” Well, someday God will come. We don’t know when. But of even more relevance to each of us, there will come a time when God will come for us personally. Maybe you would like to know when that time will be. Most of us, I suspect, would rather not know. It would be too heavy a burden to bear. We would prefer to leave such things to God. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Stay Ready! Have you heard the story about man who lived in the Midwest, right smack in the middle of tornado alley? After several tornados came near his home, tearing up his neighbor's homes and barns, he decided to build a storm cellar. He decided to go first-class and build a well-stocked cellar that would give him refuge in any storm. He spent an enormous amount of money. But, as luck would have it, as soon as he spent the money for the shelter, tornados stopped coming in his direction. Oh, sometimes a warning would be posted on the news and he would go down into his cellar, but invariably it would be a false alarm. He began to wonder if he had spent his money for nothing. Finally, there came a major storm that roared through his property and flattened his barn. When he came out of the storm cellar, he looked at all the damage and then he looked up at the sky and said, "Now that's more like it!" That man was ready. And he stayed ready. He didn't know WHEN the storm was going to come, he just knew it was going to come. So, he was ready. We don't know WHEN Jesus is coming back, He didn't tell his disciples, He didn't even know the time Himself, that was in the Father's hands. He did his part in getting us ready. Now it's up to us to "STAY READY." Billy D. Strayhorn, From the Pulpit, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. Do Not Let Him Find You Sleeping Augustine, a man in the 5th century who became, Bishop of the church and a saint in history, originally lead a life of sin giving himself over to whatever pleasures presented themselves. His mother had earnestly prayed for him his entire life that he would give his life to the service of Christ, but Augustine persisted in his sins until one day he sat with a friend on a bench weeping over the state of his life. It was at this moment that he heard a boy or girl--he says he does not know which it was--singing a song. The sound was coming from a neighboring house. The child was chanting over and over: "Pick it up, read it; pick it up; read it." Here is what happened next in Augustine's own words: Immediately I ceased weeping and began most earnestly to think whether it was usual for children in some kind of game to sing such a song, but I could not remember ever having heard the like. So, damming the torrent of my tears, I got to my feet, for I could not but think that this was a divine command to open the Bible and read the first passage I should light upon. So I quickly returned to the bench where Alypius was sitting, for there I had put down the apostles book. I snatched it up, opened it, and in silence read the paragraph on which my eyes first fell: "Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof." I wanted to read no further, nor did I need to. For instantly, as the sentence ended, there was infused in my heart something like the light of full certainty and all the gloom of doubt vanished away." Had Christ come before that fateful day, Augustine would have been caught unprepared. He would have been found asleep. From that moment on, however, Augustine was prepared. He was on the alert! He had awakened from his sins. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com, Quote is from Augustine's Confessions. A Distinguished Guest There is a passage in the old Jewish book of Zohar, that goes like this: "Whenever the Jews on earth rejoice in their festivals, they give praise to the Lord. They put on fine clothes and pile their tables with good food. So the angel asks, 'Why do the Jews pamper themselves so much?' And God answers, 'They have a distinguished guest today. I am with them.' "Today is a very special day. We are preparing for a very special guest. It is the first Sunday of Advent. Our celebration begins with the word "Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." John A. Stroman, God's Downward Mobility Jehovah's Witnesses Error The Jehovah's Witnesses have changed their minds. After warning for decades that the world would end within this present generation, the leaders of the sect announced in December 1995 that they have softened their position. As a spokesman explained, "Jesus said that 'this generation will not pass away' until a number of signs have taken place (Mark 13:30). When we reflected on the scriptures, we decided that he was talking about his generation rather than ours." Ex-Witness James Fenton, professor emeritus at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, is pleased by the change in doctrine. The Witnesses probably won't be knocking on our doors, he notes. The reason for their urgency no longer exists. Since the Jehovah's Witnesses have officially declared that the world probably will not end tomorrow, they will have a harder time motivating their members to ring more doorbells and gather more followers. William G. Carter, No Box Seats in the Kingdom Ignoring Advent If you are comfortable in this world, then I encourage you to ignore Advent. Christmas is the holiday for you. Waiting and hoping are just not worthwhile, so jump to the fun stuff. Advent only makes sense if you want something else to hold on to. If you need to believe that as wonderful as the sun, the moon, and the stars may be, when they fall away it will be because a new, brighter, more perfect light has come and we no longer need those things. Advent is a special time when we anticipate our favorite stories about Jesus’ birth, but if we do it right, it’s also a time when we look at ourselves and our world and decide that we shouldn’t be comfortable. We shouldn’t be comfortable that people are starving a stone’s throw away and that their starvation will last long past the holiday season when people are feeling generous with canned goods. We shouldn’t be comfortable that we stand on the brink of World War III—that’s right, you heard it here first—and our own neighbors worship the flag of one aggressor and the oil of another. The alternative is to trust in the kind of king who gets born in a feeding trough, who teaches that people who trust in God should not be concerned about their status or well-being in this world, and who gets strung up on a cross for telling the truth to people who were completely comfortable with the world as they knew it. Matthew T. Phillips, A Voice in the Crowd Twas the Beginning of Advent Today I want to read to you a poem that is based on a rather famous poem about Christmas called ‘Twas the Beginning of Advent’. It is by a friend of mine - Todd Jenkins. It will tell you a little bit about this season we celebrate. 'Twas the beginning of Advent and all through the Church Our hope was all dying-- we'd given up on the search. It wasn't so much that Christ wasn't invited, But after 2,000 plus years we were no longer excited. Oh, we knew what was coming-- no doubt about that. And that was the trouble-- it was all "old hat." November brought the first of an unending series of pains With carefully orchestrated advertising campaigns. There were gadgets and dolls and all sorts of toys. Enough to seduce even the most devout girls and boys. Unfortunately, it seemed, no one was completely exempt From this seasonal virus that did all of us tempt. The priests and prophets and certainly the kings Were all so consumed with the desire for "things!" It was rare, if at all, that you'd hear of the reason For the origin of this whole holy-day season. A baby, it seems, once had been born In the mid-east somewhere on that first holy-day morn. But what does that mean for folks like us, Who've lost ourselves in the hoopla and fuss? Can we re-learn the art of wondering and waiting, Of hoping and praying, and anticipating? Can we let go of all the things and the stuff? Can we open our hands and our hearts long enough? Can we open our eyes and open our ears? Can we find him again after all of these years? Will this year be different from all the rest? Will we be able to offer him all of our best? So many questions, unanswered thus far, As wise men seeking the home of the star. Where do we begin-- how do we start To make for the child a place in our heart? Perhaps we begin by letting go Of our limits on hope, and of the stuff that we know. Let go of the shopping, of the chaos and fuss, Let go of the searching, let Christmas find us. We open our hearts, our hands and our eyes, To see the king coming in our own neighbours' cries. We look without seeking what we think we've earned, But rather we're looking for relationships spurned. With him he brings wholeness and newness of life For brother and sister, for husband and wife. The Christ-child comes not by our skill, But rather he comes by his own Father's will. We can't make him come with parties and bright trees, But only by getting down on our knees. He'll come if we wait amidst our affliction, Coming in spite of, not by our restriction. His coming will happen-- of this there's no doubt. The question is whether we'll be in or out. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Do you have the courage to peer through the lock? A basket on your porch, a child in your reach. A baby to love, to feed and to teach. He'll grow in wisdom as God's only Son. How far will we follow this radical one? He'll lead us to challenge the way that things are. He'll lead us to follow a single bright star. But that will come later if we're still around. The question for now: Is the child to be found? Can we block out commercials, the hype and the malls? Can we find solitude in our holy halls? Can we keep alert, keep hope, stay awake? Can we receive the child for ours and God's sake? From on high with the carolling host as he sees us, He yearns to read on our lips the prayer: Come Lord Jesus! As Advent begins all these questions make plea. The only true answer: We will see, we will see. Todd Jenkins, quoted by Richard J. Fairchild, "T'was The Beginning of Advent"