Preached 27 November 2022 at Christ Church, Billericay
Introduction
We were hoping to get our live-streaming up and running for Christmas, but as you heard this morning, the temple already has it, and all nations will stream to it.
OK, attempt at humour over for now.
Advent
Well it’s the first Sunday of advent, so It’s almost mandatory for me to ask “Are you ready for Christmas?” In my case, there are still a lot of preparations to be completed. Christmas will be different this year, we do not have guests flying over, so I will miss two of my grandchildren.
Christmas
Getting ready for Christmas is a lot of work, but at least we know what needs to be prepared and when it needs to be ready for – December 25 every year. That’s easy, though, compared to getting ready for the second coming – which is what our New Testament reading is about.
Day and Hour
First of all we have no idea when it will be, may be today, maybe one hundred years or more. It’s not only that we do not know, it’s that we CANNOT know. Only the Father knows that, and he hasn’t even told His Son. There is so much speculation, and so many have claimed to know the date – they were all wrong, indeed the speculation itself is a sin, because if we were supposed to know, it would be there in black and white.
Just as the days of Noah
In Noah’s time the flood came as a surprise to everyone except Noah. He must have spent months or even years building his boat – it was huge. I remember taking Pathfinders into Chestwood Close to pace out the size. Starting at the boundary between the church and the house, we went all the way down the hill and couldn’t get quite far enough because there were more houses in the way. So the few that knew what Noah was doing must have been doubled up with laughter and his huge construction. Everyone else was just getting on with their lives, doing what they always do.
What will happen
They didn’t know that anything would happen. We at least have some clues as to what will happen. Jesus gives us a small clue:
Mt 24:40,41 Two men will be
in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
Two women will be grinding
with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
But there is no indication
of who will be taken, or how it will happen, because that is not the
point that Jesus is trying to make. Look back at verse 31 for those
details, if you need to know. The point is that there will be a
sudden disruption and lives will be changed.
War
If you want to know what that looks like, think of all the reports of the war in Ukraine. How many times do we hear reports of some who were killed and others who escaped death or even injury, and the two were in the same place. For at least some of what He is saying, Jesus may well have been talking about the coming war with the Romans that led to the destruction of the temple in AD 70.
Thief
Jesus’s next example is less apocalyptic. The thief who comes in the night. Many of us have experienced break-ins. In my case, thankfully while we were out of the house, but even that is bad enough, and it always leaves us asking “What could I have done differently?”
I think I’ve shared with you my idea for vats of boiling oil above each of the doors before. I haven’t done it yet because I’m not sure how I’d test it, or if I could afford to keep the oil boiling all the time.
Seriously though, perhaps uniquely in our time we can have camera’s watching so that we can always keep watch, or at least the machine can keep watch for us.
Be ready, keep watch
Anyway, back to the Bible passage. The message is clear – ‘be ready’, ‘keep watch’ because you don’t know when it will happen.
Scouts
The scout's motto is ‘be prepared’, it’s a similar idea. When Baden-Powell, their founder, was asked what they should be prepared for, he said “anything really”. That applies to us too, because we have no idea what we will meet along the way.
But how?
So what does it mean to be ready? How can we always be watchful?
I can only concentrate on something for about 3 hours, then I need a break for food or drink, at that point I can easily lose track of what I’m doing. 3 hours of watchfulness would be a disaster, so I have to create awareness that will last days, weeks, years.
Habit
It has to become a habit. Maybe you’ve heard it takes 21 days to establish a habit. That’s a myth according to the psychology today website, but the idea can still be helpful. It’s about repetition – which will eventually turn into a habit, and doing just one more for the times when you feel like giving up.
Short Accounts
Tom Wright, in his commentary on this passage, suggests keeping ‘short accounts’ with God, that means regular worship, regular prayer, regular bible reading and regularly asking for forgiveness for all the things we do wrong – like for the times when regular becomes more like occasional.
This is good practice, spending some daily time with God, or at least some time with God most days, will certainly help us to stay close and therefore to stay alert.
Good Doctrine
We must also ensure that our beliefs and behaviours don’t slip. It won’t keep us watchful if we spend 15 minutes in prayer and bible reading, then go out and behave just like everyone else. Tomorrow, we’ll have a lot to say sorry for, and again every day, but our standards will slip, and we won’t be ready.
What we believe
It’s important that we are clear about what we believe. I remember one of Margaret’s sermons from quite a while back now, where she explained the importance of the belief in the virgin birth. So, I’ve asked today, that instead of our usual affirmation of faith, we say something together that is a bit more specific about our core Christian beliefs. So, we’ll be saying the Apostles Creed, later. I’m going to read it through for you now, as I do, we should listen carefully and ask ourselves do we really hold this to be true. Maybe we did once, maybe it was important once, but what about now?
Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father
almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in
Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the
Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under
Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he
descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he
ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the
Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I
believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the
communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the
resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Holy Life
When our beliefs are straight, we will have to live a holy life. Paul writes in Ephesians 5:
3 But among
you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any
kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s
holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish
talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather
thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No
immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an
idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of
God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for
because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are
disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with
them.
There’s lots more, so please read the whole chapter later. If we follow Paul’s advice, it will have an impact on not only how we behave, but also who we are involved with in all of our relationships in the world and in the church.
Be watchful – the world has changed
This is what it means to be watchful, to be ready for whatever is coming, whether that is the Son of Man, or war, or poverty, or our own demise. The pandemic and the lockdowns that went with it have affected our patterns of worship, and how we do things, that may be a good or a bad thing, but now is the time to take a look and carefully examine what has happened and how we are affected.
To help us do that I would like to suggest an exercise, a piece of ‘homework’, although I hate it when preachers say that, it is a good description of what I’m suggesting.
Testimony
Many of us have been asked to give our testimony at various times. We’ve done it over the years in various Autumn Courses that we have run, and at times when we have prepared ourselves to talk to non-Christians. We start with life before conversion, and talk about what Jesus has done in our lives. Today, though, I’d like to suggest that we write a testimony for ourselves that starts immediately before the pandemic, and looks at what Jesus has done for us through it and since the lockdowns have ended.
The aim is to help us see how things have changed, in our beliefs, our behaviours, our worship, our prayer life, and our Bible reading.
Have things changed for the better or for the worse? We must remain watchful, ready, in the world, in the church, and especially of ourselves.
Amen.
Here's the video of the sermon: https://youtu.be/GFVJTas3p9c
References
https://sermonwriter.com/sermons/isaiah-21-5-king-of-the-mountain-mclarty/
https://sermons.faithlife.com/sermons/512981-matthew-24:36-44-are-you-ready
https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2017/05/08/be-prepared-scout-motto-origin/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/taking-it-easy/202001/how-long-does-it-take-form-new-habit
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