Today is the first Sunday of Advent - the beginning of a new Church Year. The Altar is draped in blue - expressive of hope, expectation and anticipation, which is the dominant mood of Advent. The Advent season is four Sundays long. That is why we have the four Advent candles in the Advent wreath. We light one candle on the first Sunday of Advent, two on the Second and so on. Now the word Advent means a “coming” or “arrival.” And so the season of Advent is one marked by the themes of preparation and readiness for a coming or arrival. And Who is it that we await? – None other than the King of kings and Lord of lords – Jesus. We prepare to receive Jesus in Advent.
Being prepared and ready is important. There’s an old saying that says, “If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.” How true! We see this principle lived out even as we engage in our daily affairs. For example, many families made special preparations just this last week. If your home was like mine, you probably had many people coming and going and enjoying Thanksgiving Day with you. But we had to prepare for this. We tried to find out who was coming and when. The house was especially prepared. Special food was prepared. If people stayed over, extra bedding and towels were laid out.
It took many years for me to learn that preparations needed to be made for company. When we were first married, I can’t tell you the number of times that I shocked Sofi. I would call her at the last minute and tell her that I was bringing company. Let’s see, there was the time that I brought Bill Jones home for lunch unannounced. We lived in Virginia when I did this. There was the time that I invited Tony Marrero and his wife Yvonne and his kids for breakfast - and I forgot to tell Sofi. We lived on a tiny Azorean island so we just couldn’t pop over to Denny’s. Whoooo boy, it sure was an interesting adventure. Well listen – I’ve sort of learned my lesson – sort of. You see, preparation IS important.
And that is what Advent is all about - preparation - being ready. The Gospel Lesson today tells us that the coming of the Jesus will be more like the unexpected surprises I pulled on Sofi. Jesus tells us, “Be careful! Watch! You don’t know the exact time when I’ll return.” Jesus was trying to prepare the disciples for the next few days - his arrest and death on the cross. But they were not listening. They were dreaming - thinking Jesus would establish an earthly kingdom. Their eyes were on this world. Jesus pointed them to the end of the age when this world and it’s vanities would not matter. In the same way, Jesus wants to prepare us for the events that will lead to the end. We don’t want to be ill prepared when Jesus returns – because the stakes will be heaven or hell, life or death.
As we begin Advent, we anticipate the return of Jesus. We are asked to think in terms of his final advent – when Jesus shows Himself in the fullness of his glory. He tells the disciples and us: “Make sure that when I return I don’t find you asleep.”
When I was a very young man, I preferred to drive at night when I made a long trip. When I got transferred from the Bay Area of California to Philadelphia I made the trip by car. I had plenty of time to make the trip – 7 days. But back then I was a single person with a girlfriend in South Texas. So I decided to make a little detour. I drove from the San Francisco Bay area to the Rio Grande Valley. I spent a couple of days there with a señorita named Sofi. Then I had just a couple of days to drive to Philadelphia.
So I took off late one afternoon. It was early the next morning, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, when I fell asleep at the wheel. What woke me up was the sound of huge semi-truck’s horn and the sound of my car’s wheels thumping as the car fell off the pavement onto the median. Talk about a high adrenaline experience – my heart went from 60 to one hundred in a matter of seconds. It was a shock! And that is what Jesus is warning us about. Be awake! Don’t let my return be a shock to you!
It is difficult to be ready. You see, life tests us. It’s so easy to abandon the faith and to fall into the trap of thinking that Jesus and the things that He points to are irrelevant. Hey, who needs to get up early for Sunday School and Worship? Isn’t it better to stay warm in bed? Isn’t it better to stay home and watch the NFL today? No! That’s being asleep at the wheel spiritually. The sound of the last trumpet will surely shock the one slumbers like that.
Preparation also means to resist the temptation to minimize or ridicule Jesus’ promise that He will return. The Apostle Peter writes that unbelievers will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?” (2 Pet 3:3). People live as though the world will never end, and as if they had no God to answer. Luke the evangelist writes: “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:26–27) Wow, what a scary prospect.
So how do we prepare? Jesus tells us in verse 34 that each person is assigned a task to do. So, as we wait, we work. Whatever the Lord has given us to do: at home, church, community, or society - these responsibilities are opportunities from God to let his light shine before others. By being about our work as believers, we help others be prepared for the King’s return. In fact, that is the special calling of pastors and Christian leaders. The officers of the church working with the pastor are like the doorkeepers. We have a particular mandate to help others be watchful.
And as we work, we are to watch - every day of every week of every month of every year. We are to be on guard so that won’t be found sleeping (v 36). This is a spiritual not a physical watchfulness. By spiritual we mean living in the grace of our Baptism; proclaiming our Lord’s Cross and Resurrection; pointing to his return which could be at any moment; celebrating his Holy Supper; clinging to the mercy of God, knowing that we are always in his care, so that we are ready.
Our working and watching are not to be full of fear. Rather, we are called to be anxious – to be full of anticipation - because our Lord is coming back! And you know what? – If we go about living our faith connected to God, we will be prepared! It isn’t rocket science or high-church theology, just simple faith in the things that God has given us to live in saving faith.
Let me illustrate this by sharing with you a story that came out of WWII. (Adapted from Clark Tanner – Sermoncentral.com) These events happened in a small village in Poland the day the Nazis came to town. You see, the people were gathered in their church. They were worshiping when troops of the Third Reich swarmed into the village. They entered the church and escorted everyone outside. Then the troops set fire to the structure. Then the soldiers pointed their weapons on the congregation.
But instead of shrinking in fear, these people began to sing “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” We all know that a German – Dr. Martin Luther wrote this hymn. You see, the people in the congregation as well as the German soldiers grew up singing this hymn. The people sang a verse, and then went on to the next verse, waiting for the bullets. They truly expected that rifle fire would stop their singing. But the bullets didn’t come.
Finally, looking around at the German soldiers surrounding them, they were astonished to see guns lowered and every hardened Nazi face, streaming with tears. The soldiers, one by one, two by two, slowly turned and climbed back into their trucks and jeeps. They pulled away from the little town. The soldiers left behind a congregation of the faithful, standing outside their burning church, singing. No doubt these words still echoed in their ears:
With might of ours can naught be done.
Soon were our loss effected;
But for us fights the Valiant One;
Whom God Himself elected.
Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is.
Of Sabaoth Lord, and there’s none other God;
He holds the field forever.
(The Lutheran Hymnal # 262, v. 2)
What helped these humble believers avoid disaster? Simply being in their faith - living in the grace of Christ. That’s for us too beloved! Jesus promises to come back. We are best prepared for our Lord’s return, like these Polish believers, by living in the faith that God has called us to by grace. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
