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"How to Prepare" by Rev. Charles Hoffman

First Sunday of Advent December 2, 2001
Isaiah 2:1-5 Matthew 24:37-44

I can imagine that many of you spent part of yesterday putting up the Christmas tree. Around our house that has always been a challenge. We have a house with a very high ceiling and so the idea is to get a big tree. But getting a big tree means that you also have to transport that tree from the lot to the house.

One year we had selected our tree and now it was the moment of truth. How was I going to get it home? I had the tree on one of those carts or dollies that they use for moving bags of cement and concrete blocks and other heavy construction materials. I remember looking at the tree and then looking at the cart and realizing that it was only a mile to our house. So in a moment of daring I started out, paying no attention whatsoever to the fact that the journey was mostly uphill.

Fortunately, I was wearing a baseball cap which I pulled down over my face. I didn't want one of you driving past and recognizing me! I remember seeing a green Buick drive past me at different times. It was Sharon checking to see how I was doing. I also remember a moment when I realized that she had the bill of sale. And I thought, "O no, if a policeman comes along and asks me what I'm doing I'll be in big trouble." I could see the newspaper headline: "Local Pastor Arrested for Stealing Christmas Tree."

It was about that time that Sharon took things into hand and made the decision that only she could make, i.e., that we would acquiesce and get ourselves a manufactured Christmas tree. I tell you it has given me a new lease on life. In fact, you might be upset with me when I tell you that the Christmas tree at the Hoffman house is up and decorated, and that virtually all of the gift shopping is done?

We are prepared! I had to tell you because it may never happen again; this could be a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Now I must be quick to say that this is not what this sermon is about. If that's what you thought, then the sermon title promises more than the sermon itself can deliver.

During Advent the big news is that the Lord is coming. That's the lead story. And if that's the headline then the editorial comment is that you had better get ready. You had better be prepared. Matthew's gospel paints the picture. In our text Jesus tells us to be watchful because we don't know when it will happen. If we don't keep an eye on things we'll be caught off guard just like the people who died in the flood back in the days of Noah. He urges us to be ready because he will come when we don't expect him. One day you'll look up and realize that your partner is gone but you've been left behind. Jesus urges us to be prepared: that was the motto for the church long before the Boy Scouts claimed it. And the obvious question is: How do we do it? How do we prepare for that moment of truth?

Now two main approaches have been suggested over the years. One is to wrap yourself in righteous robes and wait for the great denouement, the great final resolution of the plot. In this approach readiness is a static state of affairs, something that can be over and done with. You take care of it and then wait.

The other approach to preparedness accepts the fact that one is never really finished with the task. What is required is a sort of working readiness.

Here's what working readiness looks like. A couple is getting ready to go out for the evening. He's ready before she is and now he's waiting for her. He's downstairs, car keys in hand, and wondering when they will finally be able to leave.

"Aren't you ready yet?" he asks. "What's taking you so long? I've been ready for half an hour."

She ignores him until finally she's ready and she joins him. "Did you check to see that the doors are locked? Have you turned on a few lights and pulled the shades?"

Well, I think you know where I'm going with this. He should have been doing those things as he waited.

There is passive waiting and there is active waiting. Advent is about active waiting. It's about being busy as we wait. But how to do it? How to prepare? That's the question this first Sunday of Advent.

Now I think the lesson from the book of Isaiah has an answer for us. In the last sentence of the passage read today the Lord says, "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord" (Isaiah 2:5).

If your goal is to be prepared for the day of the Lord then the best way to do it is to busy yourself by walking in the light of the Lord. Matthew urges readiness; Isaiah urges busyness. Waiting and walking: they belong together.

Isaiah also looks forward to a special advent of God's presence. He refers to it as the latter days. And he shares his vision of what that will look like. In those days Zion, Jerusalem, the Holy City will be lifted up as a place of peace. In those days the nations will refashion their weapons into farm implements and they shall not learn war any more. That's Isaiah's vision.

What a vision! Not only for that day but for ours as well. How long is it since we thought of Jerusalem as a place of peace and goodwill? Throughout our lifetime we've seen it as a place of conflict and destruction, the very opposite to what the old prophet envisioned.

But Isaiah didn't give up. Neither did Jesus. And nor should we. We cling to a vision of a better world. And in the time between we wait. We watch. We prepare. We walk in the light of the Lord.

What that means is that we follow the high road. The end may not justify the means. The right way may not be the expedient way. And the path of light might be more dangerous than the path of darkness.

Now the metaphor of light is especially meaningful at this time of the year as the days shorten and the darkness lengthens. And this year, sadly, we are very much aware of the clouds of war hovering over our world. We face a crisis of light in a world of dark turmoil. And we can't help wondering how dark it will get before we see the light of peace. We are tempted to despair of the day of the Lord ever coming. But it has never been easy to hold onto our dreams. Reality clouds our view. Weariness blunts our spirit. But we must not give up. We must focus the vision and we must walk in the light.

I know that the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas may not be the best of characters to quote in church. But this morning I can't resist. One of his poems is entitled Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. Dylan writes about death and he says this:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Rage against the dying of the light. Those words define the manner in which we wait for the day of the Lord. As we wait we are keepers of the light. As we hang our Christmas lights we know what they mean. As we light our Advent candles during this special season and as we light the way to the sanctuary with the luminaries on Christmas Eve we make our protest against the dying of the light.

The Anglican/Episcopal Book of Common Prayer has a special collect or prayer, intended to be prayed daily during the season of Advent. The first part of the prayer is especially meaningful for us this morning. It asks for grace that we may put away the works of darkness and be clothed with the armor of light. So it resonates with the words of Isaiah who encourages us to walk in the light of the Lord.

Here is the prayer: Almighty God, give us grace that we may put away the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer Melanie Silva

Most loving God, we always seem to come to this time of year and ask, "How can it be the Christmas season already?"

Let it be that this year we don't wonder at the passage of time, but rather ponder at the wonder of the birth of the Christ child.

Let it be that this year we don't fit church events and worship experiences into our busyness, but rather that we put the holy day activities above the holiday craziness.

Let it be that this year we don't pray to get everything done, but rather take time to pray for peace in our troubled world.

Let it be that this year, O God, we experience Advent differently; let us purposefully and thoughtfully walk in the light of your love as we journey to Bethlehem.

These things we ask in the name of the child for whom we wait and watch in faith, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.