"Stay On Your Toes"

By Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

(Luke 21:25-36)

[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. [26] People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [27] Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. [28] Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

[29] Then he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; [30] as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. [31] So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. [32] Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. [33] Heaven 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, [35] like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. [36] Be 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."

(NRSV)

INTRODUCTION:

This is my favorite time of the Christian year. I love Advent and Christmas. This time of the year is filled with so much excitement and anticipation and so much hope. Even in the frenzy of the season, you can almost visibly watch everyone wind down a notch in their speed. You can visibly see the change in people as the season begins to infect them and they begin to take notice of the most important things in life. And as they discover that the most important things in life are not things at all but each other.

In Advent, the season of preparation for Christmas, we watch and we wait. We watch and wait because we know that the one who was born so long ago will come again and be born in our hearts once again. And the true spirit of Christmas will live within us and touch us one more time.

But Advent is not just about watching and waiting for the birth of the Christ child. In Advent we also watch and wait for the one who said he would return. Every time we celebrate the Sacrament, we affirm and remind ourselves by saying: "Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again." That is part of the tension of the anticipation and expectation of the Advent season.

We're called by Christ himself to watch and wait for His return. We're called to stay on our toes. We don't really like to think about Jesus coming again. It smacks of judgment and we don't even like the idea of judgment. We don't like the fact that Jesus said on that day he would separate the sheep and the goats.

Maybe it's because we've seen the bumper sticker that reads: "Jesus is coming back and boy is he mad." Or maybe it's because we've acted more like a bunch of old goats than sheep of His flock.

We don't have any problem with the image of Santa sitting and "making his list and checking it twice" in order to find out "who's naughty and nice." We don't have any trouble with Santa sitting in judgment and scratching names off the list, but we have trouble thinking about God or Jesus sitting in judgment of us.

But the truth is that without judgment, there wouldn't be any need for Salvation. There wouldn't be any need for the birth of Christ and Christmas in the first place. Without judgment, we wouldn't know just how much we need a Savior or what that Savior could and would and did do for us.

For the faithful, for the sheep of His flock, the passages dealing with judgment and the second coming are simply reminders to be ready, to "stay on your toes" because the Son of God could come back at any time or be right around the very next corner.

We need to hear that call to stay on our toes so we don't miss the joy of Christmas and Christ's birth or the joy of Christ's return. We stay on our toes through anticipation, preparation and adoration.

I. ANTICIPATION 1:

A. (Walk over to the window and look out.) Have you ever waited expectantly for someone? Have you ever stood by the window and watched and waited? Your anticipation builds. You're so excited you can hardly wait. You find yourself always looking. Every car that goes by gets inspected. Every sound of a door opening or a horn honking gets your heart racing in anticipation.

Maybe you've waited expectantly for the mail. A special letter from a boy friend, a girl friend or a relative that you haven't heard from in years. Maybe it's a check and that check is the only thing between you and foreclosure. Or maybe you've won a major prize from a contest. It's 10 in the morning and you check the mailbox two or three times an hour even though you know the mail isn't delivered until two or three o'clock. The anticipation drives you and excitement drives you and is almost distracting.

And then there's a fun kind of anticipation. My brothers and I used to love to hide and try to startle each other. You know, jump out and go "boo." When you were hiding it was a sort of the edge of your seat kind of waiting. It was on that on verge of giggling, smile breaking your face, teeth flashing, bust a gut sort of anticipation. You hoped you didn't giggle and give it away before they got there. It was Christmas Eve anticipation and it was absolutely delicious.

B. Then there is that other kind of anticipation and waiting. It's that knowing you're in trouble kind of waiting. It's that 'You've been busted and now you're going to get it', sort of waiting. You don't know what you're going to get but you know it's going to be bad. I remember as a boy, my Dad had a maddening habit when we got in trouble. He would send us to the basement to wait for him. We knew we were going to get a spanking we just didn't know how bad it was going to be. But the wait was eternal.

It may have only been five minutes or ten minutes but it seemed like forever. Every time the floor creaked the dread and guilt would swell up and grab our heart. We thought the waiting was part of the punishment. What we didn't know at the time was that this was Dad's way of cooling down and making sure he was in control. But the anticipation and the wait was horrible.

This is the season of waiting, the season of expectation and anticipation. In order to have that delicious feeling of waiting rather than that horrible sense of dread we have to "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."

We have to anticipate and we have to be prepared.

II. PREPARATION 2:

A. Maybe you've heard the story of the little boy who decided to write a letter to God one Christmas. He started out by writing: "Dear God, I've been a really good boy this year." Unfortunately, he remembered that God was all knowing and all seeing and he decided that he couldn't lie to God. So, he crumpled up that letter and started over. This time he wrote: "Dear God, I know I haven't done everything I should have, but I really tried to be good." He stopped and crumpled up that letter, too. It was obvious that he was struggling with what to write to God.

As he sat there thinking he looked up and saw his mother's favorite piece of sculpture on the mantel. It was a beautiful rendition of the Madonna, the mother of Christ. The boy perked up and ran out of the room. He came back with a towel and a shoe box. He walked over, carefully picked up the Madonna, gently wrapped it in the towel, carefully put it in the shoe box and then hid it in the closet. He immediately went back to the table and wrote: "Dear God, if you ever want to see your mother again . . ."

It's time the Church took back Christmas. And we do. Every year we take it back and bring back the meaning and the purpose. The world tries to hold it for ransom each year, with its multiplicity of gadgets and this year's list of must have toys; the world tries to make demands and hold Christmas for ransom but it never works. The birth of the Christ child is just too powerful, even for Wall Street. The sight and the sounds and the remembrance of this child born so long ago changes all the rules. His very presence makes the glitter of our Christmas presents pale in comparison.

B. But we'll never know that without proper preparation. Every parent knows to read the labels of toys very carefully while doing their Christmas shopping. Why? Because some toys and some gadgets, have a label that says: "Some assembly required."

I'll never forget the Christmas eve I had the flu and had to put together a tricycle, a little red wagon, a gas station and a barn. I thought I was going to die. I started paying attention to those tags that say: "Some assembly required."

If you look at the passage from Luke, you'll notice that in order to be ready for the gift in the manger we're about to receive and the Second Coming, some "assembly" IS required. Advent is the season of anticipation but it's also a season of preparation; a time for getting it all together.

Jesus says we should prepare by "Being on guard so that our hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life." He says that we should "Be alert at all times" and that we should "Pray." That's what the preparation is all about, getting ready. Putting off the rags of our old selves; the torn and worn out rags of our past failures and sin. Through prayer and watchfulness we're called to put on the new pure white garment of our faith and forgiveness so we can make that venture to the holiest night of all where we will stand at the foot of the manger and meet the Christ child. Or we can stand ready when the trumpet sounds and we look up and see Christ coming in the clouds.

III. ADORATION 3:

A. Through anticipation and preparation we are able to sing and shout our adoration.

The hymn proclaims: "O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord." When Christ is Lord of our lives, then we CAN come and bow down at the manger and adore Him. When Christ is Lord of our lives, we CAN look up into the heavens in expectation and adore Him. When Christ is Lord of our lives then we live in a perpetual state of anticipation and preparation. Our lives proclaim him Lord. We are constantly ready and our lives live out both our readiness and our adoration. People see Christ in us and that is the best form of adoration there is.

B. Adoration is an attitude of the soul. It transcends all that we until our very lives are "a visible beatitude of joy and happiness, and a living doxology for gratitude and adoration." (1)

Louis Cassels said: "Adoration is the highest form of prayer." He also said: "No prayer of adoration will ever soar higher than a simple cry: 'I love you, God.'"

And isn't that really what Advent is all about? When we come to the stable and look in the manger at the Christ Child, we hear God's great "I love you." Living our lives of faith, living our lives so others can see and know Christ, living our lives prepared for and expecting His return is our simple cry of: "I love you, God."

CONCLUSION:

Being prepared, staying on our toes is simply saying "I love you, God," with all that we do.

Anticipate both the birth of Christ in your life this Christmas and His return. Prepare your hearts and your homes for both the birth and His return. Stay on your toes. Live with and enjoy the tension of the two. And let God know of your love and adoration with a simple cry of: "I love you, God."

1. Charles Haddon Spurgeon