Granddaughter Finley, age three, has a new game that she likes playing with her napping grandparents. Whenever she catches one of her grandparents napping . . . well, she likes to leans over to whichever grandparent it happens to be and yell, “Wake up!” Then she just laughs and laughs, while her grandfather or grandmother excuse themselves to go and change their pants.
But, I must say, Finley is fair . . . she also enjoys being woken up by her grandparents yelling in her ears, “Wake up!” She just gets a big smile on her face and says, “Do it again.”
As we enter into the season of Advent, I implore you to “wake up!” Advent is the season in which the followers of Jesus anticipates the coming of Christ from three different perspectives--in the flesh at Bethlehem, in the heart daily, and in the glory of the end of time. It is a season of expectant waiting and preparation . . . and, no matter which of the three perspectives the followers of Jesus are focusing on, it is a season in which everyone had better be awake. The writer of the Gospel of Mark puts it this way, “. . . do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” So . . . wake up!
Jesus did not spend much time in apocalyptic--or end time--teaching. He was more focused on what could be done in the present time . . . in the present moment. His teachings focused on what could be done now . . . that relationship between the individual and God, that relationship between the individual and others. To love God completely, to love others as one would love him or herself. This was something that was important and urgent to him . . . and, the key word in that sentence is “urgent”.
Though he did not mention it a lot, Jesus did teach and talk about the Second Coming . . . about his return. It was something that was going to happen . . . and, he even gave a pretty descriptive picture of what the world would be like when it would occur. It is a description that has fit every generation since he spoke it, creating many predictions as to when the end of time would occur. Every generation has predicted that the end was near--even this generation in its present time . . . and, yet, we are still here.
As much as Jesus proclaimed it, more importantly he proclaimed an urgency to living up to loving God and others. Predicting the end, with the signs fitting every generation, is a nice game that doesn’t get anyone anywhere. Why? Because Jesus himself stated that no one would know when the end would come . . . “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” And, because no one knows, Jesus implores his listeners . . . his followers . . . to “wake up!” He proclaims: “Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come . . . if he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
In other words, wake up and get to work.
As I stated earlier, Advent is a season of anticipation that anticipates the coming of Christ from three different perspectives: in the flesh at Bethlehem, in the heart daily, and in glory at the end of time. Since, we actually missed the original birth of Jesus at Bethlehem, our anticipation of the Christ in the flesh at Bethlehem is primarily symbolic and metaphorical. With Jesus’ words of no one knowing the date or time of the end time . . . that it could happen at any moment . . . this becomes a longing, a desire, something we cannot really grasp as a reality . . . but, as something that puts a little urgency into our lives. Which leaves us with the anticipation of Jesus within our hearts on a daily basis . . . something that we can actually strive towards.
This is where the rubber hits the road . . . this is where the work really is. It is in the present moment as we live our lives on a daily basis. We are to put Jesus into our hearts and live out our love in our lives . . . and, we are to do it in everything that we do. And, we are to do it right now!
I do not think that there is a single one of us seated in this sanctuary that does not know how fragile life is . . . how fragile our time is on this planet. All of us are aware of the fact that any one of us might not wake up in the morning. We just do not know. Because we do not know, we should have a sense of urgency to live life to its fullest . . . to loving God wholly and holy . . . of loving others unconditionally . . . of being that representation of Jesus in our daily lives. After all, as Jesus said, “No one knows about that day or hour . . .”
So . . . wake up!
As we begin the season of Advent, let us do so with a sense of urgency that calls us to explore and nurture our relationship with God and others. If not now, when? Let us focus our anticipation upon the coming of Jesus into our hearts on a daily basis . . . yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come, now is the only time we have. Jesus understood this . . . Jesus called us to this . . .
Wake up! It is our only chance. Amen.
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