Sermon: 1st Sunday in Advent

Readings: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9      Mark 13:24-37


Well, we did it. We made it through Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and so a round of applause to you who made it to church today. After all the food I have enjoyed this past week, I can only hope my faith is as tight as my pants feel right now. One of the preschool kids asked me what I liked about Thanksgiving. I told her  “the nap before and the longer nap after.” To quote my father, “At my age Happy hour is a good nap.”


Medical science has always promoted the health benefits of sleep and restfulness. There is strong evidence that a power nap can boost your memory, cognitive skills, creativity and energy level. But it should go without saying that napping is bad for the soul when exercised between the hours of 11-12 on Sunday mornings.  

I can remember this one man who always fell asleep in church because the preacher was notorious for droning on and on. Getting sick and tired of hearing this guy snore in the middle of his sermons, the preacher gave one of the deacons a stick to prod the guy every time he fell asleep. Once the man dozed off, the deacon tapped him on the head and woke him up. But a few minutes later, he starting dozing again, so the deacon hit him again, only this time a little harder. This woke him up, but only temporarily. When the man fell asleep the third time, the deacon hit him so hard he knocked him out of the pew and onto the floor, almost knocking him out. Rather than responding in anger, the church member gets on his knees and pleads to the deacon, “Hit me again; I can still hear him preaching!”  I am happy to say none of our deacons have sticks, just hatpins. So consider yourself warned.

As I was reading the gospel selection for this morning, I found it a bit weird that we should have an apocalyptic story about the end times to kick off Advent. It’s not very Christmas-like, is it? But as Roxy shared with us when she lit the Hope candle, the first Sunday of Advent is about the promised hope for the coming Messiah. So it makes some sense to start with this part of Mark’s gospel because we are waiting. And like those who waited for the messiah before he was born, we who await his return do not know when he will appear. And Jesus says that’s reason enough for staying awake. 

When I was in my 20’s I could stay up all night. And often did. Then came my 30’s. I still pulled many all nighters, not because I was hitting the late night parties, but because Kathleen and I were having children. As I look back to those years I find it amazing what I could accomplish on my lack of sleep. Many of us are still like that. Who here has begun to tackle the Christmas season a wee bit sleep deprived?  Who here is already overbooked and overscheduled, and yet, still running here and there, chasing the perfect gift for the perfect price? Are you the kind of person who has stretched yourself so thin to get as much done, because you keep telling yourself there's one more thing still left to do?  

 As you pastor I am conflicted. On one hand Jesus is asking us to stay awake, but on the other hand God has called us to remember our Sabbath rest. With so many of us burning the candle at both ends, I don’t know if we should start serving Red Bull or Chamomile tea during hospitality time. The question this morning is this: “Are we really awake?” Are we present and alert, as Christ has called us to be? 

Sure we may not be physically asleep, or at least I hope you’re not. (Deacons get your hat pins ready.) But this passage isn't telling us to be sleep deprived, but is warning us not to be spiritually deprived. Jesus is telling us to be spiritually ready for whenever the master decides to come home. So are we really awake? Or has all our Christmas preparations and traditions lulled us to sleep?  

 It's not even December yet. Christmas commercials have been running since Halloween. I have Advent already planned out, and I pretty much know what I am going to talk about on Christmas Eve. And I’m sure many of you could  safely guess what hymns Greg has chosen for us to sing in the weeks ahead. 

This is not to suggest that there is anything wrong with planning ahead, in fact I think this is what Christ's message is all about...but is it safe to say we’ve done this thing called Christmas so many times that we could probably do it in our sleep?  So are we really awake?

The Advent wreath, the Chrisom and Peace Trees, these are more than just holiday symbols… they are little alarm clocks that keep us spiritually alert. They are visual reminders of what Christmas is all about. Mark's apocalyptic story is also a reminder that we need to stay up for Christ, not Christmas. We must stay up for Christ in the same manner as those who lived before the Holy Babe was born. We have to be vigilant in our waiting; to stay spiritually on guard. 

To stay up for Christ requires us to have an expectant watchfulness; to wait actively not passively. Take a fisherman, for example, who finds it burdensome to wait for the ice to thaw in spring. That is passive waiting. But once he’s fishing it’s not a burden to wait for the trout to rise to his fly. He actively awaits filled with expectations of a fight now…and a feast at the end of the day. There is a great payoff to his patience. Standing in a calm pool of his favorite stream provides a sense of peace and tranquility despite the busyness that fills his head. And there's always an active sense of anticipation within him because he never knows when the trout my take the bait. 

 As our heads are filled with getting stuff done, the focus of our anticipation must remain on the hope of Christ’s return. And so we must stay up for Christ, not Christmas. So how do we do it? If you weren’t asleep last week, you might recall that this kind of active waiting it is closely tied to how we see the face of God in all people; especially the “least of these, our brothers and sisters.”  

 In the most recent issue of the Congregationalist magazine, Rev. Don Mayberry encourages the church to stop counting people in the pews, and instead count “on” the people in the pews “to live, love, and move in such ways that make God present in our life.” Jesus says get up and get out there to lend a compassionate hand, to feed the hungry, cloth the poor, or offer a few kind words of encouragement to someone. Through our words and deeds, we proclaim the Good News to those who might be need of that amazing healing balm of God’s love and grace. 

 Whether Christ returns tonight, tomorrow or in a hundred years, every day is the day of our salvation. Therefore it is imperative that we be on the alert by being faithful to God’s love until the master returns. We do this by carrying Christ’s light and peace into a world suffocating in the darkness. With our brothers and sisters in Ferguson and Syria and Kurdistan, China, and Nicaragua, Christians around the world are praying and waiting for Christ in the midst of chaos, fear and violence.

 The world was not so different for those who first prayed and hoped for a Messiah to come. When Caesar Augustus ordered everyone to return to their hometowns for a census count, the faithful weren’t praying for a sweet little baby, but for a blood-thirsty warrior. They also prayed that their heroic savior would come into Jerusalem riding on a warhorse, not a small colt. Advent is a reminder to stay awake, to be alert, because God comes to us in the most unexpected places and at the most unexpected times; in a lush garden, and in a burning bush, on the road to Damascus, in a stable in Bethlehem, and even in an empty tomb.

 SO WAKE UP!