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“Keep Awake”
Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
Rev. Sandy Nuernberg
Oakland-Cambridge Presbyterian Church, Cambridge, WI
1st Sunday of Advent
December 2, 2007
Please pray with me,
Lord, awaken us to feel your gentle grace upon us as the snow and rain of
the evening and morning storms subside; pour out your Holy Spirit upon us
and open our eyes and ears to the great miracle that is dawning at this
Advent season. Keep us awake to the preparation and eventual peace in the
coming of our Little Lord Jesus. AMEN.
“But about that day and hour
no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Matt. 24:42
Henri Nouwen, the popular Roman Catholic monk
and priest has written our seasonal devotional booklet for Advent this year,
‘Living in Hope’ and in it he tells us that for him, this first Sunday in Advent
is a beautiful day, full of great expectations; he encourages us to open our
hearts, our minds, and to bring Christ into our lives now. What Nouwen is
doing is echoing our texts of being ready for what is to come in the Light of
the Lord. In our keeping awake,
“…that God may teach us God’s ways and that we
may walk in God’s paths.”
Isa. 2:3
For me, in our ‘real world’, I’ve
thought of Advent as that time to look forward to whatever is coming; be it the
snows and cold of winter (as we are having presently), the coming of the holiday
season with chaos, yet in the creativity of shopping for my loved ones, or being
with my family for festivities on Christmas day. Every year at this time is
different, special, and new in its own way for me; it might be the singing of
traditional carols of “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem,” or “Joy to the World” in a
contemporary style (sing it!) of roasting chestnuts ‘on an open fire’, wrapping
gifts with new big bows, and eating plum (or figgy) pudding, or going to see the
Christmas Putz. For me, and I hope for you, isn’t it all in the preparation of
these traditions that make them the events that they are? These ‘real world’
experiences are something to behold indeed; to enjoy!
But as usual, there is more than
what meets the eye here; these somewhat strange scriptures tell us of the coming
of Christ in the flesh, (theologically, the Incarnation!) Yes, they also tell of
the future, but they jump out at me, I must say; they surprise me with an ‘are
you ready’ kind of thought for what is the unexpected that is to come. In
Matthew, the unexpectedness of Christ’s coming is like a thief in the
night--that’s today’s language! For the prophet Isaiah ‘in the days to come’ in
future Jerusalem we shall stream to the mountains of the Lord’s house, nations
no longer will use swords against each other, and instruction and the Word of
the Lord will flow from Jerusalem. It all sounds hopeful and rather peaceful,
doesn’t it? Maybe harmony too!
“But about that day and hour
no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
In the last ten to twelve years
now, I’ve tried during Advent to find time for peace at heart and to contemplate
at year’s end what my place in this world really is about; have I
“measured up” to my opportunities and gifts given me. Have we ever wondered in
Advent how prepared we are or will be with that unexpected time, ‘that day or
hour no one knows’ of accountability in the coming of Christ, the Son of Man?
For Nouwen, spiritually, he feels
called to open his inner self in this preparation time for the coming of the
Christ Child. And he has some soul-searching for us, I believe, in our longing
for God’s presence among us. After personal contemplation, and at the urging of
others, we as a church are preparing inwardly in having a spiritual prayer time,
together. Every Monday of Advent we are gathering in this sanctuary for sharing
our reactions and
reflections with one another. It’s a short time for prayer
and contemplating our lives to this point; I’m hopeful it is well spent to just
peacefully “be.”
“Come, let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord, to the house of God…that we may walk in God’s paths”
One of my pastors in my church’s
Bible study asked us what “to be” meant a number of years ago; I told her I
didn’t know exactly what it meant because I didn’t think I practiced it! Then,
for me, came the years of participating in classes of meditation, lectio divina
in prayer, visiting the walking labyrinth, and finding a spiritual director. I
found I could learn how to practice peacefully “to be;” I can receive God’s
presence in my every breath.
Today, I believe the message for
all of Advent is in our gospel text today—it is in our being watchful, keeping
awake for what is to come. It is for us to peacefully “be”-- of most importance
it is to receive all that we look for, listen to, and learn from the moments of
God’s promise and presence among us. Really, isn’t it our faith in God to do
this? The beauty of this day and our expectations for it, though, are that even
in our keeping awake, in our preparations, in the newness each year, we still
will not know when our Lord is coming. And that’s O.K! We don’t have to know.
But I do believe we will be prepared for the coming of our Lord, though, in our
bringing Christ in our lives now.
As we gather at the Lord’s table,
you and I, let us not be concerned with the time, the hour, or the circumstances
of God’s Great Miracle. In our encountering God, face to face, we look for and
receive God’s presence, listen to and receive God’s Word, and learn from and
examine our own priorities; we confess our faults and receive God’s forgiveness.
In our peacefulness to just “be”, we can then make changes and new commitments;
we can be ready. The gospel news for us this day is that we are asked to prepare
now in knowing and receiving a loving, peaceful God in Christ’s
coming to us anew. In our readiness, in our reconciliation we can receive and
then bring something now of the Peace which the Prince of Peace has
promised us and will bring to us, soon, and very soon!
Thanks be to
God. AMEN.
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