Poking Holes in the Darkness

Sermon-Year C-Advent 1 November 29, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I almost never do this. But I like to look back at old sermons to see what I was doing years previously, and I read this sermon. And I thought to myself, this is better than anything I would write this year. So with a few changes, I am going to use it again.
Sermon-Advent1B-11-27-05
Today is the first day of the new church year. It is the first Sunday of Advent. There is a legend that Jesus will come back on the first Sunday of Advent one year, and one of the people on DesperatePreachers.Com said that would ruin a perfectly good shopping season.
Today is the first day of the new church year, the first Sunday of Advent. It is not Christmas season. That is always very frustrating for us. Walmart and Hallmark and all the tv stations are telling us that time is running out and we have to hurry. Now. Or we’ll miss out.
And the message is clear-Christmas is almost here and we are running out of time. We’re not ready yet. We’ll never get everything finished if we don’t hurry.
And the church is so dumb, obviously what we need to have is shorter sermons and fewer hymns and quicker services so we can get back out there and get even more ready. It’s coming and we’re not prepared !!! We have get it done. NOW!
Today is the first day of the new church year, the first Sunday of Advent. And the first 2 weeks of Advent almost always focus on preparation and readiness-just like all the stores. They almost have it right. They want us to shop to get ready for Christmas, and the church wants us to work on our soul. But the goal is the same. Get ready, be prepared. What do you hear in today’s gospel- Jesus says, “6Be alert at all times….”
I was thinking about this watching all the people sitting in line outside the electronic stores this week. They were trying to be the first ones in to get the best electronic toys. We tell people to get ready and wait for the Christmas. It’s so close, it’s easy to get confused.
You turn on the radio and you hear Christmas music all the time. It’s sweet at first, but then after a few days you just want it to be over so you can move on. And by the time Christmas gets here we are so ready for it to be over with. Even though we’re never finished with all the cards and all the presents and all the wrapping we’re so tired of Christmas.
Today is the first day of the new church year, the first Sunday of Advent. And we begin with this terrible reading from our gospel for the next year, Luke. It’s a very dark way to begin Advent season. Please, go out and tell your friends-“gee, Church was really nice today, we heard all about the end of the world.”
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.”
It’s a hard lesson-scary. It always makes me think of that Disney movie, Fantasia with A Night On Bald Mountain. One writer I was reading said that the world focuses on endings and Jesus always emphasizes beginnings. Listen, Today is the first day of the new church year, the first Sunday of Advent. We are trying to take Jesus back from all the stores, we are trying to hold on and transform what the world does-we are trying to be alert and make ourselves ready and do almost as much for our souls and hearts as we are doing for the revival of the economy. I don’t begrudge what the stores do, but this is a great opportunity for us to teach and show and witness what Advent is really all about.
So, I want to do something that I’ve been doing the last few years. I want you to get your hearts and souls ready for Christmas. I want to share with you four things that I think we can do to help ourselves be prepared.
I want us to take back this season and make it really about making us ready for the birth of a child in our heart.
First, be a little quieter. When you get up in the morning, before you go to bed at night, sometime during the day-take one minute and just be silent. No tv, no radios, no family or pets or ipods or books. Just sit. And be quiet. Once a day. Don’t be quiet because you don’t have any noise within reach-CHOOSE TO BE QUIET. Start by stilling your life each day. For one minute. Each day. Quiet. 1 minute. CHOOSE TO BE STILL.
Second, find a way each day to wait. Wait. Don’t just wait because you can’t get ahead faster, CHOOSE TO WAIT. Let someone in line ahead of you while shopping. Tell them you’re working on your waiting skills. Don’t weave in and out of lanes while driving. Skip the express lane at the store and get behind the woman with the overflowing basket and a fistful of coupons. Find a way to wait. Years ago I saw Norma Gearns in Meijer’s and she said to me, “We would have been out of here a half hour ago but we were taking your advice. I don’t think she was happy. Learn something about waiting. Choose to wait.
Third, watch. Don’t watch for sales, or discounts, or great deals. Watch for the things you don’t usually see. Watch for signs of Jesus being born. Listen to the words from today’s gospel: “stand up and raise your heads” and 34“Be on guard” 36Be alert “Jesus keeps repeating over and over BE AWAKE, BE ALERT, WATCH FOR ME! Why? Maybe he’s afraid that when He comes nobody will know it-we’ll be too busy. So, notice something every day that you never saw before. Watch. See. Wake up. Notice one thing every day you never noticed previously-no matter how many times you looked at it. Maybe Jesus is being born in the world, and we were too busy to notice. This Advent, CHOOSE TO NOTICE, CHOOSE TO WATCH.
Finally, prepare. I don’t mean prepare your house, prepare your tree, prepare your gifts. Prepare your heart. How can you do that? I would suggest that we slow down. Every thing the world is teaching us is faster faster, louder louder. I think it’s a very good time of the year to do just the opposite-slow down. How can I be ready if I’m running so fast? Running so quickly? Racing around? I can’t focus when I am hurrying so much. Each day try to do one thing you always do-a little slower, less quickly. CHOOSE TO PREPARE YOUR HEART.
Listen, I’ve used this example before but I just love it. When Robert Louis Stevenson, the great adventure writer of the 19th century (The Master Of Ballantrae, Kidnapped, and Treasure Island) was a little boy, he was very ill. And he had to stay in bed or in his room for over a year. One night as he was standing at the window watching the lamplighter light the gas lamps on the street. His nurse called him away from the drafty window afraid he would get ill, but Stevenson said he liked to watch the man poke holes in the darkness.
That is our job, our purpose, our goal in Advent-to poke holes in the darkness of the year. To quiet, to wait, to watch, to slow down. We can do this. We can help ourselves-and then others-ready our hearts. It’s not that hard.
1 minute of stillness a day-Choose to be quiet
letting others go first-Choose to wait
look for something new every day-Choose to watch
slow down-do one thing more slowly-choose to prepare
Let’s take Advent back. Let’s change the world. Let’s do very little things so that we and maybe the whole world is ready. I was talking to someone once who had a stroke-and you know what she said, “I knew there was a problem when I had trouble brushing my teeth. That’s when I decided to go to the doctor.”
It’s the thousand little things that we can do to change our lives that impact the world. It’s the little things we do each day that change us, that we notice.
I was standing in Meijer’s-in a hurry-shopping, this was several years ago. And this guy came up to me and handed me a clipboard. I started saying to him that I was really busy and had to get going. But he didn’t say anything. And his expression didn’t even change. So I talked louder. And faster. But still he didn’t say anything. So in exasperation I looked at the clipboard. It was a petition asking me to sign so that those who were hearing impaired could bring therapy dogs into Meijer’s to hear for them.
Choose quiet
Choose Waiting
Choose Watching
Slow down.
It won’t be the end of the world. But it may feel like it.
Listen, Today is the first day of the new church year, the first Sunday of Advent.
Let’s take back our lives. Let’s take back this season. Let’s take back Christmas.
We can do it. Let’s work almost as hard on our souls, as we do on our gifts. Quieter, slower, waiting, watching. Amen.

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.”