Sunday

uke’s warning would have been more appropriate last year when we were not only preparing for Christmas, but also Y2K. Remember all the fuss that was made last year about preparing for the year 2000. Computers were going to crash, air controls and radar screens were going to be blank, food and fuel deliveries were going to be interrupted.

Many people took it serious. They stockpiled several months of groceries and cases of bottled water, bought an emergency generator with extra cans of fuel, had a month’s salary tucked away in a safe place. They were prepared for the worst.

Personally, I did none of the above. I prepared for the year 2000, in the same way that I prepared for 1999, and every year before that. The predictions or prophecies that everyday life was going to be interrupted or that the world was going to come to an end had no impact on me whatsoever.

Some would say I was being foolish. Others would compare me to an ostrich, that I was simply putting my head into a hole in the ground. I suppose if something did happen, they could have had the last laugh. However, we know that nothing did happen, and that everyone’s preparations for a Y2K catastrophe was in vain.

The same does not hold true for the return of Christ. Unlike the false predictions which accompanied the year 2000, the prophesy that Jesus will return is true. When Christ will return we don’t know. For that matter neither did Jesus, but Jesus did say,

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxiety of life,
and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.....
Be always on the watch,
and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen,
and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

I would be willing to guess, that the average Christian spends little if any time thinking about or preparing for the second coming of Jesus. I would even go as far as saying a good number of Christians don’t believe Jesus will return, not in their life, not in their children’s, not ever.

I say this because it is evident, at least to me, that for too many generations we have failed to heed Jesus’ caution. Our faith has been dulled by careless living and the pursuit of pleasure. Our lives have been dulled by countless activities and anxieties. We are lucky if we have the time to look at the changing signs of the season, much less look at the signs that the Kingdom of God is near.

If you don’t believe me just look at how people today prepare for Christmas. How many of you are preparing for the fulfillment of God’s promise in your life? How many of you know what God’s promises are?

Jeremiah boldly proclaimed, "The days are coming when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line. The gracious promise is that God would establish a Davidic dynasty that would have no end. At the time Jeremiah spoke this prophecy it appeared futile because the southern kingdom of Judah still existed and a descendant of David, Nebuchadnezzar was king. Jeremiah spoke this prophecy of God as words of hope to offset the prophecy of God that Jerusalem along with Judah would be destroyed and the inhabitants of both would be taken into exile for 70 years. This prophecy of doom went unheeded. It wouldn’t be until after the exile into Babylon, that the Israelites put any weight into the promise that

"The days are coming when I will
fulfill the gracious promise I made
to the house of Israel and to the
house of Judah. I will make a righteous Branch sprout from
David’s line."

And what will happen when God fulfills His promise?

"He will do what is just and right in
the land. In those days Judah will
be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety."

In other words, God will reestablish the kingdom of His chosen people. He will destroy the powerful enemies of Israel. He will destroy evil and everything that threatens the well being of His people and establish a kingdom where justice and righteousness will flow like a river.

How is this any different from what Jesus told His disciples?

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxiety of lie,
and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.....Be always
on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

Like the Israelites, the people in Jesus’ time heard the prophecy, but they did not heed it’s message. When God fulfilled His prophecy and sent His Son Jesus, the long anticipated coming of the ‘Lord of Righteousness’, the general public didn’t even recognize Him.

Their inability to recognize Jesus, ‘the Lord of Righteousness’, is a danger I fear we face as well. I base my fears on the fact that we have to come up with catchy slogans like, ‘Jesus is the reason for the season’, to remind us of why we celebrate Christmas. I find it alarming that preparing for and celebrating the birth of Jesus has become a seasonal thing and not a daily happening in the heart of people everyday. I find it disheartening that the traditions we use to celebrate Jesus’ birth no longer are sign posts reminding us that Christ is the heart of Christmas. Our inability to see Christ in our preparations reminds me of the story about a man who said,

"God, speak to me."
and a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.

A second time the man said,
"God, speak to me."
and thunder rolled across the sky.
But the man did not hear.

Then the man said,
"God, let me see you."
and a star shined brightly.
But the man did not notice it.

He then shouted,
"God, show me a miracle!"
and a baby, pushed by its mother
in a carriage, passed by.
But he did not notice it.

In tears the man cried out,
"Touch me, God!
Let me know you are here!"
whereupon God reached down and touched the man. But, the man brushed the butterfly away and
walked on.

Will you and I be any different with regards to our Christmas preparations? When we light candles, wrap gifts, bake cookies, welcome company, will we see and hear and touch the signs of the presence of God as we do when we break bread and share the cup of communion?

Will we heed the caution of Jesus,

"Be always on the watch..."

so that in the coming days God will fulfill His gracious promise to you; so that He will establish your life with justice and righteous.

amen

Thanks Dan for the use of your beautiful

painting seen at the top of the page.
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