wake up time

from my sermon on 11/27/11 from Mark 13:24-37

It's Wake up Time! In a couple of moments, we are going to sound our alarms, so I give you permission to get out your smart phones. I will give you some time to go to that alarm sound, or ring tone, while I talk.

Happy New Year! Yes, it is the beginning of a new church year. It's the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means coming. We celebrate the coming of Christ in the flesh some 2,000 years ago in Jesus of Nazareth. We anticipate the coming of Christ at the end of time, when he brings all things to completion. We live in the "in-between" time. This Advent, I am preaching a sermon series on time.

You still have another moment to find that sound while I tell a little story. I have been listening to 102.7 FM, all comedy, all the time, radio. I am not suggesting that you do, because some of the comics are quite raunchy, having a potty mouth. However, they have some of the classics on like Bill Cosby and Joan Rivers. It's great when you are stuck in traffic to hear a stand up comedian do his spiel. So two weeks ago I was listening to this comedian. He said, I travel all the time, working the clubs, making the rounds, staying in a different motel every night. I checked into this one motel and asked them to give me a courtesy call at 10 a.m. to get me up in the morning. At 6 a.m. the phone rang and I said, Hello?! The woman on the phone said, You have wasted the last 15 years of your life.....Now that was a real wake-up call!

Let's hear what gets you up in the morning...sound those alarms and ring tones now.

In this passage, Jesus sounds the alarm. He gives a wake up call. You know that the gospel was not written until some 40 years after Jesus died and was raised again. The temple in Jerusalem is probably being destroyed. People were remembering what Jesus said...that the destruction of the temple did not mean it was the end of time. This whole 13th chapter of Mark is known as the "little apocalypse," where Jesus talks about signs of the end.

It is a hard chapter to understand. I need to do some explaining. That line about this generation will not pass away until all of these things have taken place is difficult. How long is a generation? 20 years, 40 years? The first Christians expected the imminent return of Jesus. It didn't happen. My understanding of generation is this: the life span of the entire human race.

When will the end come? I like what Jesus says about the angels not knowing, not even Son knowing, but only the Father. When it comes to predicting the end, a little humility is in order. This year there have been 2 end times already predicted. Next year 2012, we have already gotten worked up about the Mayan calendar saying it is the end. Too many times in my brief life, I have heard such misguided predictions. At A & M, I got scared reading the Late, Great Planet Earth. It didn't happen according to that author's plan. In the last years, we have had the Left Behind Series. A little humility please when it comes to the end times.

There are signs that can be misleading. My first roommate at A & M was Danny, a good Catholic boy who attended Catholic schools. One of the nuns, his teachers was overly concerned about the end times. That fall was a false spring like this one. Have you noticed that after our drought, we have had a little rain and warm temperatures, and some of the trees are budding out in the fall? That fall, a fig tree started budding out, and the nun took it as a sign that the end was near. Please lower your anxiety about the end times.

We don't know when. Instead of being so concerned about the nearness of the end times, I would have us be more concerned with the nearness of the Christ. Christ comes, quickly, unexpectedly. Holiness comes suddenly into our lives. Jesus words are Be alert, Beware, Keep Awake.

I have an example from A Streetcar Named Desire. There are a lot of great lines from that play...Stella....but the one I quote comes in scene six, an exchange between Blanche and Mitch. They have just come back from a date. They are awkward with each other. Mitch is sweating profusely, but keeps his coat on to hide his perspiration. Blanche is fixing a drink. Slowly, they start peeling back the layers of their lives, sharing more, revealing who they are. Blanche finally tells about how her young husband took his own life. Mitch hugs her. He says, You need somebody. I need somebody too. They kiss. Blanche says, "Sometimes--there's God--so quickly." Christ comes so suddenly.

Your name is Isaiah. It is your turn to work in the temple. You are not expecting anything. It's just your job, your shift to fill, punch in at the time clock and get on with it. But suddenly the temple is filled with smoke and angels singing. Holiness comes near. You hear a voice, Whom shall I send and Who will go for us? You reply, Here I am send me. It is your wake up call.

You come to worship here. There are the announcements, the scripture reading, the sermom, the songs, but wait...all of a sudden a line from a song hits you....Here I am, Lord, is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord, if you lead me...I will hold your people in my heart. It is your wake up call.

Your name is Mary. You a good girl, but you are just a girl. You go to synagogue. You do your chores. But one day an angel comes to you...an angel! The angels says, You are blessed...you are going to have a child... this child will be the Messiah...the Savior of the world! You say, Let it be....I am the handmaiden of the Lord. All of sudden, the Lord comes near you. It is your wake up call.

You are a girl who goes to school at Columbine High School. It is just another class day...except this day, two misguided young men go crazy and start shooting people. One of them holds a gun to your head, and asks if you are a Christian...and you say yes. You witness to the nearness of Christ with your last breath.

I was out walking early this morning when I heard a rooster crow. It took back to one of those closest to Jesus...yes, Peter. He was there in the courtyard that last night of Jesus' life. Others would come up to him...... I know you are one of his followers.....you must be, you speak with a Galilean accent....you are one of his disciples....and 3 times you say, I don't know him. You deny him. And the cock crows. And you realize that was your wake up call.

Your closest friend invites you over. In the living room are family members and other close friends. One by one, they say something like, I love you very much, but I am concerned about your behavior as it relates to alcohol. I remember that time, you came home drunk, slurring your speech. You tried to hit me. I was so scared. I care about you. After everyone has spoken, you realize that this is an intervention, and that you have been living in denial. This is your wake up call.

Several of you have been asking about Pastor Jim. What did you do with him? I have set Jim free to pursue this new ministry here called the Point. Jim is starting a worship gathering on Sunday evenings where people come to then be sent into the world to serve. On most Sunday mornings, Jim has been at the local Starbucks, drinking coffee, doodling on the computer, reading, jouraling. Two weeks ago, Jim was there, and a woman came up to him. She said, I notice your name badge, Jim Austin, Rethink Church. What does that mean? she asked. Jim explained that he was a pastor exploring this new vision for church called the Point. The woman nodded and started to walk away. As she go to the door, she turned back, and approached Jim. You said you are a pastor...would you pray for my 2 children? Christ comes just that suddenly. There are many people outside of these walls who need a blessing, who need our prayers.

Let me be candid. It is hard to stay awake. In the very next chapter of Mark, Jesus takes his inner circle, Peter, James, and John, up to a garden on the Mt. of Olives to pray with him. It is his last night upon earth. He asks them to remain here and keep awake. It is the very same word in our passage. Three times he comes to them to find them asleep. Could you not stay awake 1 hour and pray with me? he asks. They cannot. We cannot. The amazing, incredible good news is that we are the very people that Christ came for. This Advent we need to wake up to the fact that we need a Savior.

It is too easy to fall asleep in our culture. The message of Christ gets buried in the advertising, the crowds, the crazy busyness, the rushing of this season. How will you stay awake? Cathy and I are trying to simplify, to cut back on buying, on scheduling, on overfunctioning. How will you stay awake this Advent. Christ comes so quickly.