"Is Your Christmas Y2K Compliant?" (Mark 13:24-37)

"Is Your Christmas Y2K Compliant?"

(Mark 13:24-37)

Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

Mark 13:24-37

"But in those days, after that suffering,

and the moon will not give its light,

and the stars will be falling from heaven,

26Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. 27Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

28"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

32"But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. 34It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35Therefore, keep awake--for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

INTRODUCTION:

There was a huge pecan old tree down by the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucket with pecans and sat down by behind the tree. Out of sight they and began dividing up the pecans. "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy.

Now, the bucket was so full that several of the pecans fell out and rolled over toward the fence.

A third boy was riding his bicycle down the road by the cemetery. As he passed, he thought he heard voices coming from the cemetery, so he slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard the boys dividing up the pecans, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me."

The boy's imagination ran away with him and he jumped to a wrong conclusion. His eyes got wider and wider and he took off in fear thinking, "Oh, no, it's St. Peter and Satan dividing up all the souls at the cemetery!"

Well, you can imagine, he kicked that bicycle into high gear and took off like a scalded dog. He was racing down the road when he nearly ran over an old man with a cane, hobbling along. He came to a sliding stop and started hollering, "Hurry, hurry. You won't believe what I heard. St. Peter and Satan are down at the cemetery dividing up all the souls."

The old man was irritated both by the boy's sudden intrusion and by his insistence to follow him and said, "Shoo, get out of here you brat! Can't you see it's hard enough for me to walk as it is!"

Well, after several heartfelt pleas, the old man decided to follow and hobbled to the cemetery. There he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me"

The old man leaned over to boy and whispered, "Boy, you've been tellin' the truth! I've got an idea. Let's slip in and see if we can get a look at the two of them. I always wondered what the devil looked like."

Shivering with fear, they edged toward the fence. They were still unable to see anything, but they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me. And one last one for you. That's all. Let's go get those nuts by the fence, and we'll be done."

They say the old guy with the cane made it back to town ten minutes before the boy on the bicycle! (1)

Here it is the first Sunday in Advent, the season of anticipation and preparation for the coming of Christmas, the celebration of the birth of our Savior. This year is a special Christmas. It's the Christmas of the millennium.

For a lot of people, this "Year's End" thing, this beginning of a new millennium has become a scary and frightening event. It's filled with uncertainty. And there are those who have played upon and added to our fears as we make preparations for the new millennium.

There have been a whole truckload of businesses that have come into being because of this once in a thousand years event. Most of the businesses have been playing on our fears by offering home security in the form of kits that contain anywhere from three days to three years worth of food and supplies. Others have been heading for the hills, arming themselves, buying property and building in secluded areas so no one will get their precious stuff.

The news media hasn't help much either. At the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999, they did story after story on the Y2K bug and the disastrous effects it would have on our lives when all the computers crash during the very first seconds of the year 2000. As we get closer and closer, they've changed their tune. They've started easing up and telling us that they were mistaken, that there is nothing to get in a panic about. Of course, a lot of folks are already spooked and panicked and it's going to take a lot more than a newscaster to stop the run.

And then there is Church. There are all kinds of little splinter groups who are having a hay day with this millennium stuff. They can hardly wait for January 1st. These are the folks whose message is a message of doom. A message of "God's gonna getcha for that."

I don't know how it was at your house growing up, but my Mom didn't like to dole out punishment when we were bad. Oh, she'd send us to our room or take away privileges and ground you but if there was something really big. Something that you had done that called for major punishment, she always said the same thing, "Wait 'til your Father gets home."

That phrase always scared the bejeebers out of me. A lot of the millenarians espousing the coming of judgment day still associate those words "Wait 'til your Father gets home," with Advent and the Second coming. It fills them with fear and trepidation. Their hearts turn to ice and their blood runs cold.

"Wait 'til your Father gets home." It's that sort of mentality that produces bumper stickers like: "Jesus is coming and boy is He mad." That's what these people hear and see when they read passages like this one from Mark and our reading from Isaiah.

But for those who know the whole story; for those who know the "Who" of the story, there needn't be any fear. You see, the doomsayers have got it all wrong. The Father's not coming . . . it's not the Father at all . . . it's the Son.

And this is the season of the Son. That's what Advent and Christmas are all about. The Son, our Savior, steps into our world, into our brokenness and the brokenness of others.

What we're called to do is watch and be ready. That's what this passage is all about, watching, waiting and preparing. And the best way to prepare is to say, "Yes," to the King. That's what Y2K ought to stand for. "Yes," to the King." "Yes," to the King.

And how do you have a Y2K compliant Christmas? Simple. By saying, "Yes," to the King. By preparing our hearts and homes for His birth and for His second coming. I want to look at three ways to do that. Three ways to prepare and say, "Yes," to the King.

I. BE AWARE THAT IT'S THERE:

A. First, Be Aware That It's There.

Now what do I mean by that. Well, we all know Christmas is coming. If you haven't noticed that Christmas is just around the corner then you've either just come out of a cave where you've lived for the last three months or your dead. We start advertising Christmas in October now.

I read a short story about a mother and daughter in the future who out shopping on the Fourth of July. The mother turned to the daughter and said, "It's disgusting the way the put the Christmas stuff out so early. Why, when I was a little girl, they didn't start pushing Christmas until after Labor Day."

We all know Christmas is coming. And we all know that the millennium is coming. And we all know the Scripture tells us that one day Jesus is coming back, too.

B. I like the way the Message interprets part of this passage from Mark: "So, stay at your post, watching. You have no idea when the homeowner is returning, whether evening, midnight, cockcrow, or morning. You don't want him showing up unannounced, with you asleep on the job. I say it to you, and I'm saying it to all: Stay at your post. Keep watch." (Mk 13:35-37) (2)

Advent, and especially a millennial Advent like we are celebrating this year, is a season for "staying at our post and watching."

But are we watching for? We know our children are watching for Santa Claus, but what about us. The biblical answer is that we are watching for the coming of the King, both through His birth and through His Second Coming. And if we've said "Yes," to the King, then it shouldn't make us apprehensive or fearful. It should put us on our best behavior.

Christmas, the Millennium and the Second Coming of Christ are all coming. To quote Mark, "Stay at your post. Keep watch." Be Aware That It's There.

II. DECLARE YOU'RE AN HEIR:

A. Second: Declare You're An Heir. That's the secret to dealing with the fears caused by the millennium. Declare You're An Heir of the one whose birth we celebrate and who will return. Declare You're An Heir. In other words, "Yes," to the King. It's that simple.

The truth is, some of us have said, "Yes," to the King in our hearts but not in our lives. We say "Yes," here but not in our business. We say "Yes," here but not while we're driving. We say "Yes," here but not with our language. We say "Yes," here but not with how we look at and treat those less fortunate than us.

God wants us to say "Yes," to the King in everything that we do and say and think. Like the hymn "I Surrender All" says, we're called to surrender everything to God, through Jesus.

B. And when we Declare We're An Heir, then we can claim the promises of God. And there is so much peace and hope in those promises. Those promises remind us that, no matter what the millenarians think or say, God is still God. God is still in charge. Nothing has changed.

A little boy offered up a Thanksgiving Day prayer for the family and prayed: "Dear God, this is Jimmy. Thank you for Thanksgiving and Christmas and all of the holidays. Thank you for the turkey and dressing and Mom and Dad and even for my little sister, even though some times she can be a pain. Thank you for books and TV and game boy. Thank you for loving us. Oh, yeah. And take care of yourself, God. Because without you, we're sunk. Amen."

No matter what timetable we come up with. No matter what schedule or interpretation of schedules we come up with for the Second Coming, God is still in control. Jesus said, "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

As an heir, claim that promise, too. We're simply called to be aware and keep watch through saying, "Yes," to the King.

III. DARE, IN PRAYER, TO PREPARE:

A. Third: Dare in Prayer to Prepare. Most of us prepare for stuff, don't we? You don't go to make the biggest sales call in your life without preparing, do you? You don't jump into your car or plane without first making sure everything is ready, do you? You don't just throw a turkey in the oven and expect it to come out a thanksgiving feast either, do you? No, we prepare for nearly everything we do.

Even if it's just going to the movies. Part of getting ready is deciding which show to see. And then when you get there, you have to stop at the concession stand and get that washtub of popcorn and that barrel of coke. Plus all that other stuff they sell. We all do that don't we?

We should prepare our hearts and homes for Advent, Christmas, and Christ's return as well.

Do you know one of the ways I get ready for Advent and Christmas? I watch my very favorite movie, starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, "It's A Wonderful Life." Yeah, I admit I'm a sentimentalist. And I can probably recite the whole script with each of the characters, I've seen it so many times. But I really love that movie. There is so much hope and redemption. It has such a wonderful message about friendship and sacrifice.

I watched it Tuesday as part of my preparation for writing Advent and Christmas sermons. But I would have watched it anyway. It's one of the ways I get ready for Christmas.

B. But the best way to get ready is through prayer. Dare in Prayer to Prepare.

One of the best ways I've found is this: As you put together your shopping list, as you make out your Christmas card list, stop and pray for the people on your list. Take just a few extra minutes to offer up a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the love and friendship that you share together. Offer up a prayer of thanksgiving for the joy these people bring you.

Say, "Yes," to the King, and pray for their safety during the holiday season. And pray for their spirits as well, pray that they will be drawn closer to God through the celebration of Christmas.

And then Dare in Prayer to Prepare yourself. Pray for yourself and your family. Pray that you might stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas. Commit all your holiday activities to prayer. It will help you prioritize and keep you from feeling so frazzled.

Go ahead, get ready, I dare you. Say "Yes," to the King, I dare you. Dare in Prayer to Prepare

CONCLUSION:

In Bill Keane's December 18, 1990, "Family Circus," Billy looks at the calendar that shows December 18th. He says: "Only seven more HOPING days 'til Christmas." (3)

And he's right, for come the 25th, our hope will be a reality. On that day hope for the world was born. And that's why we're getting ready. We don't want to miss it.

So take time to get ready. Be Aware That It's There. Declare You're An Heir. Dare in Prayer to Prepare.

Make your Christmas Y2K compliant. Say "Yes," to the King.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

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Bibliography

1. Dynamic Preaching, Oct/Nov/Dec 1999 Vol XIV, No. 4. (Seven Worlds Publishing, Knoxville, TN) Disk version. Adapted.

3. From Family Circus, December 18, 1990

Other References Consulted

William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible, the Gospel of Mark. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975) electronic version.

Lectionary Homiletics, Volume X, Number 12, November 1999, (Lectionary Homiletics, Inc. Midlothian, VA)

SermonMall.com

LectionAid (Software Version), Volume 7, Number 4, 1999 (LectionAid, Inc., Wichita, KS)