“O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence—as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil—to make thy name known to thy adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at thy presence!” What a great prayer we hear from the Prophet Isaiah today. How many of us would pray for Jesus to return right now? How many of us are ready for Jesus to return?
As we hear in the Gospel today, “but concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Jesus teaches us that when he comes again to Judge us, we won’t see it coming. Because we won’t see it coming, we always need to be ready. That is what Advent is all about, being prepared for Jesus to return.
I don’t know about you, but I am not always ready to meet Our Lord, in fact, there are times that I am quite glad he is not standing right there in front of me, especially when I am driving around Sarasota. None of us are always ready to be judged by Jesus, and I dare say if you believe yourself eternally ready to be judged by Jesus, then you are the one who is in the most danger come Judgement day! Advent calls for us all to reflect on our lives, and to prepare the way for the Lord.
I have an exercise for us to try out this morning, if Jesus were to appear to you, personally, right now, what would He say to you? What would He tell you, you need to work on to prepare yourself for His coming? If Jesus appeared to the whole world, what would he say? If Jesus was on the national news tonight, what would his message be to the United States of America? How about to Sarasota? What would Jesus’ message be to us here in this city?
I think I know the answer to that one! If Jesus were to appear and deliver a message to Sarasota right now, I think this would be it: The left lane is for passing. Or maybe that’s just what I would like Jesus to tell everyone. That’s the hard part, isn’t it? We all think that we know what Jesus would tell everyone else they have to work on, what they have to do to prepare. But all too often we, don’t take time to stop, and slow down, and reflect on how we can prepare ourselves with joyful expectation for the coming of our Lord, just like Mary, and Joseph did all those years ago.
A few weeks ago, I was teaching our High School Sunday School class. I asked them if Jesus was writing a letter to America, and one to Sarasota, and one to Redeemer, and one to their homes, what would he have to say?
Their answers were, I think, spot on, and so today, I am going to share them with you.
In Jesus’ letter to America, our high school youth said Jesus would ask our country to have courtesy in disagreement, to stop all the violence we have become too accustomed to, for our country to have less greed and more empathy. I like those responses. I think Jesus would address all those items in a letter to our country.
To Sarasota our high school students believed Jesus would say that we need to help and care more for the homeless, that we need to love the snowbirds, and that affordable housing is something to work on in our community.
In Jesus’ letter to Redeemer, our high school youth suggested that He would complement Redeemer for outstanding liturgy (remember these are their words not mine!), that Redeemer has fine priests that Jesus would be proud of, and finally that Jesus would absolutely love Fr. Wilson’s choice of socks each Sunday.
They also said Redeemer could improve on somethings. They said more people should tithe, that we should have better attendance on Sundays, and that we can do even more to focus on external outreach and have a greater impact in our community.
To their homes, Jesus would say “good job” for faithful prayer each day, especially before meals. Jesus would ask them to work on having cleaner rooms and reading scripture more often. They suggested Jesus would tell our youth that they need to honor their mother and father more, and to the parents, “do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”
Our high school youth hit the nail on the head in that Sunday School class three weeks ago.
There is so much we all can work on to be better prepared to meet our Lord. It seems that this time of year, a time the church has set aside for quiet, simple preparation for the coming of God to live amongst us, our society becomes crazed, hectic, and over busy. It’s impossible to avoid. It’s impossible to ignore. It’s impossible not to take part in the craziness that is “the holiday season.”
How can we in the midst of all this keep a holy Advent?
We can do so by knowing what Jesus wants from His church. Jesus wants us to grow closer to him; Advent is an excellent time to do just that. To prepare ourselves to be in His presence, to imagine ourselves in His presence. None of us can avoid the secular holiday season, especially because this time of year brings so much joy to people’s lives.
What we can do is on Sundays. We can be here. We can observe Advent. We can do so with love, with quietness, with gentleness, with prayer, and knowing that we do not have to imagine ourselves in the presence of Jesus because as we enter this church, we are indeed in the presence of Jesus himself.
When you leave church after each Sunday this Advent, be sure to bring Jesus with you. Wish people happy holidays, love your neighbor, smile, sing, and prepare for Jesus to speak to you.
Because in all the chaos of the holiday season, he will.
When he does, he will touch your heart, and he will call you to in some way, reveal his love.
Be ready, because when Jesus does call you this Advent, I promise, you won’t be able to ignore Him. “What I say to you I say to all: Watch.”
Sermon preached by the Rev. Christian M. Wood
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
1st Sunday of Advent
3 December 2017