November 27 - Advent 1, Year B (RCL)
On Friday
driving back from Lorelei Glogg’s wedding rehearsal and dinner,
I was listening to the radio,
and heard the announcement
of this year’s
“Ig noble” awards.
They are awards given
for research that doesn’t quite qualify for the Nobels -
or, as they put it, improbably research
that first makes you laugh
then make you think.
This year’s chemistry prize
went to seven researchers from Japan
for determining the ideal density of airborne wasabi
to awaken sleeping people in case of a fire or other emergency, and for applying this knowledge to invent the wasabi alarm.
The physics prize
went to four reserachers fram France and one from the Netherlands
for determining why discus throwers become dizzy, and why hammer throwers don't.
And the mathematics prize was awarded to
Dorothy Martin of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1954), Pat Robertson of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1982), Elizabeth Clare Prophet of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1990), Lee Jang Rim of KOREA (who predicted the world would end in 1992), Credonia Mwerinde of UGANDA (who predicted the world would end in 1999), and Harold Camping of the USA (who predicted the world would end on September 6, 1994 and later predicted that the world will end on October 21, 2011), Their award was given for teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations.
But their predictions
are nothing new.
Since the time of Jesus
people have been predicting
the end of the world.
And of course, it began with Jesus himself,
who warned his disciples to watch,
to wait,
to be ready
for the coming of the Son of Man
in glory
to judge and redeem
the world.
Adn if you read through the gospels
you’ll discover
that Jesus used the expression
“Son of Man”
as a way of talking
about himself,
himself as God incarnate,
the Messiah.
The Messiah is coming;
be ready.
Except
it seems
that he expected his on return to happen
in a matter of years,
no more than decades,
or at least, that’s how his disciples
interpreted his words.
But nothing happened.
And the longer we’ve had to wait,
the less urgent it all
seems to have become,
Yes, we say each week in the Creed,
we believe that Christ will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
But that is, for most of us,
something very remote.
We think the people
who predict the end of the world are crazy.
If it hasn’t happened
in the last 2000 years,
it’s not likely
we think
to come in our lifetimes.
It’s not something
that shapes our lives;
we no longer live
in a state
of expectation.
But what if we’re wrong, and Jesus is right?
What if is coming,
today or tomorrow or next month or next year?
If we knew that for sure,
what different would it make to us?
Jesus talks a lot
about watching and waiting and being ready,
but he never really explains
what that would look like in real life.
And so
we have to turn elsewhere,
and today
it looks like the best place
is our epistle reading,
from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
Paul thanks God for them
because they have received the grace of God.
They heard the good news of Jesus Christ,
and instead of dismissing it
as a myth
or writing it off as irrelevant,
they listened
and believed
and were baptized
and began to live
differently.
But in his words, even here, at the very beginning of the letter,
there’s a hint
that not all
is well.
The beginnings of other letters that Paul writes
are more relaxed,
more celebratory;
this one seems to have a point to it,
a hint from the very beginning
that the Christians of Corinth
better get their act together.
And why?
Because they’ve been given speech and knowledge and gifts,
the very things they need
to do the work of God,
the things that they will need
as they wait for the return of Christ,
and it seems, that maybe,
maybe they’re not using those gifts
as well as they might.
Maybe, it seems to suggest - and this fits
with the rest of the letter -
maybe
they’re just sitting back,
assuming that thanks to Christ
their redemption is complete
and there’s nothing else to do.
They’ve got God,
and that’s all they need.
But they’ve missed a crucial point.
Because following Jesus
isn’t just a matter
of saying the right words
and getting your magic pass to heaven.
It’s about being in a relationship with Christ
and growing to be more and more like him,
and using the gifts he gives you
to share in his work.
Waiting for Christ to return
isn’t like waiting for a train
where you’re on the platform, doing nothing,
or even waiting for your birthday as a child,
where the anticipation is enormous,
but in the meantime
you just go along with your daily life.
It’s a little more like
waiting for Christmas.
You know it’s going to come, and in the meantime there are gifts to be bought
and the house to be cleaned,
and cookies to be backed.
Waiting for Christ,
as Christians
is a time when we have work to do,
the work Christ himself gave us
of proclaiming the gospel,
sharing the good news of Christ
in our words and in our actions.
And that sharing
has many forms.
It might be
inviting your neighbor
to church.
It might be
serving in the food pantry.
It might be serving on the vestry,
or teaching our children about our faith,
or visiting someone who is shut in.
It might be giving generously of your money.
It might be committing to prayer for our parish and diocese.
It might be preparing materials for Godly play,
or doing some cleaning or painting.
It might be offering to take responsibility for part of our life together as a church.
All these
are part of doing Christ's work,
the work he commissioned us to,
of preaching the gospel, making disciples,
the work that is ours
until he comes again.
Because Christ is coming. There is no doubt.
Christ is coming, as our Savior
and as our judge,
and we will stand accountable
for how we have used the gifts
that God has given us.
Because Paul is clear on us.
God has given us gifts,
God has given us all the gifts we need
to do the work
that God has given us
to do.
Did you know
that right now
we need a treasurer?
Did you know
that right now
we could do with some help with maintenance?
Did you know that right now
there is filing to be done?
Did you know
that right now
we have vestry positions to be filled?
Did you know
that all those are essential
for the work of God to continue
in this place?
Has God given you
those gifts
to share with his people
in this place?
Today
is the last Sunday
of our stewardship month,
and the first Sunday
in the church’s new year.
At the offertory
we will gather in your pledge cards
for financial offerings
in this new year,
and we will give thanks for what God is doing among us.
And we invite you
along with your pledge
to offer up yourself
in God’s service.
Because God is faithful
and invites us
to be faithful in response,
giving of ourselves in service
as we await the day
of his coming in glory.
© Raewynne J. Whiteley 2010