You'd Better Watch Out

Here's my sermon from 12/2/2012. I preached in the traditional service this week. It was fun.
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Today is the first Sunday in Advent. I grew up in the Methodist church. At St. James across town. I never heard the word Advent until I was an adult. Growing up, December meant one thing. It meant I’d better watch out, and I’d better not cry. I’d better not pout. Cause Santa Claus was coming to town. In recent years I’ve come to appreciate Advent. If you are not familiar with Advent, Advent is the beginning of the Christian liturgical year. So today Is New Year’s Day in a way. Advent consists of the four Sundays before Christmas.

Our word Advent comes from the Latin word ‘adventus’ which means arrival. I read one translation that talked about adventus as a combination of two Latin words ad – to or toward, and ventus – coming. He suggested that we might translate it as “toward the coming.” My Latin training consists of two years’ worth over 20 years ago, so I’m not sure that is the best translation. It is an appropriate description of Advent though. Over the next four weeks, we are moving toward the coming. Most appropriately it’s a season of expectation.

Expectation is a word we’re not surprised to here when we talk about a little baby. After all, we are leading up to Christmas – when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. We’ll see nativity sets and Christmas pageants and maybe even a live nativity all centered around a helpless, harmless baby. Advent is more than a time for baby showers. It’s more than celebrating Jesus as “the reason for the season.”

Our scripture this morning is not what most would consider ‘Christmas-y’. But it speaks to the heart of Advent as a time of expectation.

Luke 21:25-36

²⁵“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. ²⁶People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.²⁷Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. ²⁸Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; ³⁰as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. ³¹So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³²Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. ³³Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. ³⁴“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, ³⁵like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Mike Slaughter is the pastor of Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Ohio; he is also the author of the book Christmas is Not Your Birthday. In that book he says this: “The Jesus of the cradle poses no threat to our lifestyle or cultural ideologies.” Jesus of the cradle is warm and cuddly and fun. I don’t know if we can call the Jesus of scripture fun. Jesus said things that were hard to hear, and even harder to live. Jesus challenges us to look beyond earthly definitions of wealth and power. Jesus challenges us to be alert. To remain awake. To watch and pray.

That’s hard to do when life is slow. To stay alert to God. To watch and pray. But Life is anything but slow during Advent, and ironically enough, during this season of expectation, it’s even more difficult to stay alert; to watch and pray. E.B. White wrote, “To perceive Christmas through its wrappings becomes more difficult with every year.” There are lots of things that wedge themselves between us and God. Let’s look at a few of them.

First is the commercial extravaganza that has become Christmas. Every Thanksgiving, Misty and the kids and I drive by Best Buy and Target and other retail establishments to gawk at the people lined up to fight for cheap TVs. Every year I hear stories of the stampedes of people who will do almost anything for a deal, and every year I’m shocked at the violence. This time of year that should be a time of focusing our hearts and minds on God’s presence becomes focused, instead, on the presents. Aside from the Black Friday mayhem, we become consumed with shopping, buying, wrapping, making sure you get just the right gift for everyone on your list. Making sure you get a better gift for your boss than anyone else does, making sure your friends and family know what you want, so you get the perfect gift. Consumerism and materialism don’t just creep up on us this time of year. They jump on us like a hoard of angry, screaming Black Friday shoppers.

I won’t pretend to be immune. I experienced one of my lowest Christmas moments was a result of my own expectations of getting for Christmas. I can’t tell you what I got or what I wanted that I didn’t get. I don’t remember. I do remember leaving my parents’ house on Christmas morning with my feelings hurt because I thought I didn’t get enough; or not as much as my brother and sister got. I remember that feeling of hurt and anger and I remember the shame I felt a few days later. By the way, this was just about 5 years ago. It’s easy to get lost in the consumerism of Christmas.

Another wedge between us and God this time of year is the general busyness of life. I don’t know about your life, but for me this month between Thanksgiving and Christmas is unforgiving. It seems like there is something going on every night. Christmas parties, band concerts, show choir concerts, then throw in final exams and final papers and projects that are due in the next 2 weeks. Cooking, cleaning, decorating the house, entertaining visiting friends and family members, mailing Christmas cards – it gets to be more than we can handle. Staying alert becomes difficult at best. Watching and praying are absolutely out of the question. It’s so easy to lose sight of Jesus in the busyness of the preparing to celebrate Jesus’ birth.

But those aren’t the only things that keep us from God. Sometimes things out of our control become wedges between us and God. For lots of people this is not necessarily a happy time of year. It’s a season that brings pain. Folks who are newly divorced or widowed and are not used to spending the holidays alone. There are those who are dealing with aging parents. Loved ones who are being ravaged by disease. The time and stress and worry of taking care of sick and dying loved ones pull us in every direction except toward God. Seasonal depression affects many.

There’s one more wedge I want to talk about and this one may make you scratch your head. Church becomes a wedge during the Advent season. With a Children’s Christmas musical, the Hanging of the Greens, the Choir’s Cantata, Christmas Eve communion service, church can become just a series of activities we have to attend. If we let ourselves lose sight of the presence of God they all become just more stuff on our calendar we don’t want to do.

And yet, Jesus calls us to be alert. To be on guard. To watch and pray. In our scripture earlier Jesus gives his disciples a description of “the Son of Man coming on a cloud.” It’s not exactly what we would expect to read in preparing for Christmas. But Advent is not simply a preparation for Christmas. It is a time of expectation and preparation for Emmanuel – God with us.

We sang a little bit of one of my favorite Advent hymns earlier. O Come O Come Emmanuel. It is a song of longing. A song of expectation. Advent is a time when we look for and expect Emmanuel. Advent is characterized by the paradox of “already/not yet.” Jesus has already come, but he has not yet returned. Jesus already established the means for us to enter into a relationship with God, but we do not yet live in full communion with God. Jesus already made the reign of God evident, but it is not yet fully established. We can look at Advent as a reminder and a promise. A reminder of God made flesh in Jesus. There is also the promise of Jesus’ future return. Advent leads us to an expectation of that return as we remember and celebrate the birth of the Christ child.

There is one more aspect to Emmanuel; God with us. God is with us now. The Holy Spirit is the continuing and continuous presence of Christ. Advent is not just about remembering past events and the promise of a future hope. It is also about the presence of God on earth here and now.

And that’s how we can be alert. That’s how we can keep our focus on the coming Christ during this busy distracting time by experiencing the presence of Jesus now. If we stay alert and we watch for God’s presence. But how do we do that? It’s easier than you’d ever believe or expect. Here are a five things we can do this Advent season to “watch” for God.

1)    Pray – That’s an easy one. Pray that life does not distract you. Pray that you experience God’s presence. Of course, that’s what prayer is anyway. You don’t have to pray for anything. Prayer is putting yourself in the presence of God to converse – back and forth.

2)    Read – read the scriptures. Read the Christmas story in Luke’s gospel. Read the Advent Booklet that’s available here. Through these stories and through the scripture, you can experience the presence of Christ.

3)    Expect God – That’s part of Advent – expectation. Look for God to act. God speaks to us through prayer and through the scripture, but God also speaks to us through others, through creation.

4)    Let God use you – you can experience God through serving others. You can experience God through giving. Sharing the love of God with others is one of the best ways to experience the Holy Spirit.

5)    Participate – I said earlier that all of the activities of the church can be a wedge between you and God. But only if you let them be that. The services we have planned over the next few weeks are wonderful chances for you to be refreshed and renewed. If you come ready to experience God, you will.

James Martin, a Jesuit priest, wrote about another priest in his community. He said that every year this elderly man would say “Advent is all about desire!” And isn’t that the truth. It is all about desire. And the question is what do you desire? Do you desire a holly jolly Christmas? Do you desire the latest and greatest toys and gadgets? Do you desire to just make it through without killing your in-laws? Or do you desire to experience the presence of Christ? 
Rev. Martin went on to say that he eventually realized what his colleague was saying. He was saying that “Christians who celebrate Advent desire the coming of Christ into their lives in new ways.” Are you ready to celebrate Advent?

O come, Emmanuel!
©2012 - Scott Coats