The Art of Preparation, Sermon by Rev Steven R Mitchell, First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY

The Art of Preparation
By Rev Steven R Mitchell
First Congregational UCC, Rock Springs, WY 11/28/2010
Based on Isaiah 2:1-5 and Matthew 24:36-44

As I finished reading today’s lection readings, the very first thought that came to my mind was the idea of “preparation.” I’m not sure how much of your life is taken up with preparation, but I would guess that over eighty percent of all my activities would be able to be classified as “preparing.” If a therapist, were to examine what I am saying, I suppose she would tell me that I have a need to live in a very controlled environment, to feel secure as I function. That may or may not be true, but what I do know is, I find, not only do I get more things accomplished, but when it comes time to have a finished product, there is far less anxiety in wondering how it is going to turn out, and I am pretty assured that it will be successful, not by others standards, but more importantly by my own personal standards.
Many years ago, when I was a pastor in Kittitas, Washington, I had a buddy from seminary visit for a week. One evening he was in the kitchen watching me cook, and when it was time to put the food on the table, he looked at me in amazement and said, “How did you do that, Steven?” “How did I do what?” I asked. “How did you get everything cooked, so it is all ready to eat at the same time?” he responded. So I proceeded to explain to Larry that you: first, decided on what you wanted to serve at the meal; secondly, you needed to know how long each dish takes to prepare for cooking; thirdly, you needed to know how long that dish takes to cook; then with that knowledge you can then figure out in what order you have to work in order to get everything to come off of the stove and out of the oven and onto the table at the same time. Every good cook understands there is an “Art to Preparation!”
As we enter into this season of Advent, this taking time to prepare for the birth of Jesus, it might seem odd to be reading scripture that deals with Eschatology, as opposed to reading scriptures over the next four weeks that would deal more directly with Mary and Joseph, the angels, of Elizabeth and Zechariah, and the events that occur around the birth of Jesus. Yet, one of the characteristics of the Christian faith is, its focus is not on the past, but rather, focus is on the future. As Christians, we celebrate past events of our history, such as the birth of Jesus, and of his crucifixion, but more importantly, we look to what the story of the resurrection is telling us and of the implications that come with a living Savior. We as a faith look, then to the future and not to the past.
In the earliest parts of the book of Isaiah, we read how this prophet see’s Gods Kingdom in the future. “In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.” “Many people’s will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
And Isaiah sees these teachings resulting into a land of peace, where our swords shall be beaten into ploughshares and our spears into pruning-hooks, and nation shall not lift up sword against other nations, and neither shall we learn war anymore! In other words, God’s kingdom truly turns into a land of “Kin-dom”, where we are no longer living in war or fear of war, but truly living in peace and being productive of things that will bring harmony and security for all people.
Now let’s jump ahead about eight hundred years, to Matthew’s time, where the city of Jerusalem and the Temple itself have been destroyed by the Roman Empire. Here we read about the second coming of the Messiah, not one where he enters into history quietly one night, but of an entrance that will shake the foundations of our world. It will be a time when people are not expecting his arrival, where we will be busy doing life and then without warning, in that twinkling of an eye, Christ will once again directly encounter humanity. In that day there will be disorder, confusion and disaster awaiting those here on earth.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this reflection, the first thing that came to my mind as I was reading this portion from Matthew, was the idea of “preparation.” The second image that came to my mind was the 1972 movie, titled, “Left Behind”, a movie that is heaped in Eschatology, the second coming of Christ. In Western civilization, we are fascinated with the concept of the end of the world, with the entrance of Christ coming as the avenging agent of God, where there is a final show down between good and evil. Last night, I was watching the movie, Legion. A story line of how God, like in the days of Noah, had become disillusioned with His creation and was sending down the angels of Heaven to destroy modern man. Yet one angel, Michael still had hope for the human race, found in a single woman who was pregnant and her close male friend, who cared both for her and her child, even though they were not married and the child not his. Ultimately, Michael had to go to battle for us against the angle Gabriel, so that the child might be born and provide a new hope for God’s creation. This movie speaks about a second coming of Christ in a new light, differing from what many view within the church.
The early Christians were also pre-occupied with the second coming of Christ. So much so that we read within the letters to certain churches, where Paul, who also early on in his evangelistic journeys saw the return of Christ as imminent, started to change his understanding about Christ’s return, and that Christ might not be coming as quickly as the early church had anticipated, and with that understanding, needed to focus more on how we live and develop our moral conduct by the standards of what Jesus was teaching during his ministry on earth.
Quoting from Peter Gomes, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus, What’s So Good About The Good News? from the chapter, The Gospel and the Future:
“New York City’s Trinity Institute devoted its 2007 National Theological Conference to the subject of “God’s Unfinished Future,” which addressed head-on what it described as an American battle over Christianity’s vision of God’s Future. Popular apocalyptic works such as the ‘Left Behind’ series pit the forces of good and evil in an imminent showdown where God will defeat the forces of evil, the earth will be annihilated, and the ‘saved’ lifted up.” This is a view held by millions of American Christians, and the language of apocalypse and end-of-time conflict is very popular. Televangelists hold forth on the subject, websites proliferate with end-of-time prophecies, and books purporting to explain the signs of the times in this worldview fill the shelves of religious bookstores across the country. The “rapture,” a term not found in the Bible and a concept introduced into popular theology only in the nineteenth century, has engaged the imaginations of an enormous number of people for whom current events seem only to confirm the prophecies in the books of Daniel and Revelation. Eschatology, once the sleepy domain of theologians and fringe preachers, now commands center stage among evangelicals and a host of other Christians.” Pg 138
I have to admit, even though I do not hold to modern day Evangelical views of the second coming of Christ, I get a chill down my spine, when I hear of events like the current attack of North Korea on South Korea. Where there is a person of power that posses nuclear capability, who seems to not have the restraint in using such destructive weapons that could ultimately bring life as we now know it, to an end. Or when thinking about the President of Iran, who has such a hate toward Israel, that given nuclear capabilities, might easily plunge the world into what one might call, the beginning of the end.
So how do we who are living in the twenty-first century make sense to these first Advent readings? The message of preparation to the church is very clear. The Rev Kate Huey quotes Mary Hinkle Shores saying, “… observing how Matthew moves in this chapter from the cosmic and grand to the most mundane images, from the sun and moon going dark and the stars falling from heaven to workers in the field and women grinding meal. How do we connect apocalyptic images to our own mundane, ordinary lives? Shore reminds us that apocalyptic literature has been understood as addressed to people who are suffering from terrible oppression, to give them hope that things are going to change, and change suddenly and dramatically, because help is coming from outside. But this text is different, she says, because here "Jesus seems to address apocalyptic imagery not to the oppressed but to sleepy people," for "whether they are persecuted or privileged, they no longer believe that anything will change. They imagine today and tomorrow looking exactly like yesterday, and after days, months, and years of such scaled-back expectations, they are getting…very….sleepy." Shore reflects on the way God "wakes" people up, suddenly, most unexpectedly, sometimes with good things, and sometimes not, but in any case, the "intervention of God into human affairs cannot be managed or scheduled the way many of the events of our days can be. Whether God's advent is as manageable as a heart attack, or as manageable as falling in love, either way, you know you are not in control" (New Proclamation 2007).
This is the message to us this morning. No matter how hard we try to be in control of our lives; no matter how much planning we do, of how much preparation we put into our future, God has a hand in our lives and it is not for us to know when we shall encounter God. As we wait, and trust, in that extravagant mercy of God, Matthew gives us a very strong hint of how we are to live in preparation for Jesus' return. David Bartlett writes: "One day Jesus may appear in the clouds, suddenly, like a thief in the night. But before that – as Matthew reminds us – Jesus will appear just around the corner, suddenly, like a hungry person, or a neighbor ill-clothed, or someone sick or imprisoned" (Feasting on the Word). How we respond to Jesus in these terms will shape, Matthew says in chapter 25, how Jesus encounters us on that great day of fulfillment. And that fulfillment isn't the end but just the beginning, Richard Swanson's excellent commentary claims: "Jewish and Christian hopes are better characterized as expecting the Beginning of the World, not the end, the freeing and fruition of creation, not its destruction. It is a good exercise to raise your eyes to the horizon of this event" (Provoking the Gospel of Matthew). We are a people not just of the past, but more accurately, a people of the future, where life as God has planned it, will begin, in God’s fullness! So, let us look this Advent season to the birth of Jesus as our future to a world that God has envisioned! Amen