First Tuesday In Advent

MATTHEW 24:36  But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 

Most of you know that hiking the entire 2200 miles of the Appalachian Trail is on my bucket list.  Since retirement I’ve been able to devote several weeks a year to that endeavor.  I am proud to say that this Fall I completed over half of the trail.  (Well, only one mile over half but still over half!)  I have found that the preparation and anticipation of the hike is as fun and exciting as the hike itself.  A portion of the trail is on the other side of Blue Mountain which I can see from our kitchen window.  Around the end of February as winter drags on I look out that window, I hear the trail calling me and I begin to feel the excitement of what is to come and start planning my food, equipment, clothing, route and various other necessities. 

This past week was a very difficult week for me and for some folks whom I have come to love.  I had one of the three most difficult funerals in my nearly forty years of pastoral ministry.  Saturday evening after the funeral, I looked out the kitchen window and thought, I can hardly wait to load my backpack and strike out.  The though of what was to come lightened my dark day.

Jesus said, “But about that day and hour no one knows.”  That’s okay with me.  Not knowing means I have to wait.  But waiting for something good is can be exciting.  It’s like hiking for me.  The anticipation and preparation for hiking is exciting, lifts my spirits and shines a light in my sometimes dark world.  That's what Advent is about, waiting and preparing four our Lord's coming. 

SO WHAT is it that you wait for that makes your heart beat a little faster, for which preparation is a joy?  Is it a trip to the beach, a cruise, TGIF, the gathering of loved ones over the holidays or a hike in the woods?  Be that excited about our Lord’s Second Advent and let it shine its light in your sometimes dark world. 

Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.  Explode our imaginations  to the wondrous glories of that day when we shall see you face to face.  Come, Lord Jesus. 

First Monday In Advent - November 29,2010

FIRST MONDAY IN ADVENT

November 29, 2010

Matthew 24:37, 40-41-44  For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man… ⁴⁰Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.

“One will be taken and one will be left.”  Some have understood Jesus to be speaking of the rapture – when they say true believers will just disappear or be taken up into the air to meet the descending Christ.  Jesus does say that one will be taken.  But the Greek word for “taken” does not mean “to go up” or to disappear”.  Rather it means “to go along with.”  It is the same word that Jesus uses when he “took with him” Peter, James, and John up the Mount of Transfiguration to pray.  It is much like the fishermen or tax collector answering Jesus’ call, “Follow me.  Come along with me.  Walk with me.” 

The disciples were at work when Jesus called.  Peter, James and John continued to be fishermen but they took time from their work to walk with Jesus.  My guess is that the man working in the field and the woman grinding meal were left because they were too busy to recognize Jesus when he came.

I recall the day Jesus came to church.  It was early Sunday morning.  I was sitting in my office going over my sermon for one last time when someone knocked at my door.  It was too early for church people.  Who could it be and how dare he interrupt me as I was preparing for worship?  I was perturbed as I opened the door to a frumpy, dumpy looking man who no doubt wanted a handout.  But I didn’t have time to hear him out.  “You’ll just have to wait.” I told him rather curtly.  “I don’t have time right now to talk with you.” 

So he waited through the 8:30 worship, through the Sunday School hour, through the 11:00 worship.  Finally after nearly everyone had gone, I had time for him.  I turned to where he had been sitting all morning and he was gone!  At that moment Jesus’ words from Matthew 25 flashed before me.  “In as much as you did not do it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did not do it to me.”  Jesus came to church that day and like the man and woman Jesus speaks of in the reading for today, I was too busy to recognize him, to hear him, to minister to him, to walk with him.  I was indeed too busy.  

So what opportunities have you missed or taken advantage of to minister to and to walk with our Lord? 

Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.  Open our eyes and our ears to your coming to us this day and the days to come.  AMEN

Advent Devotions 2010 - First Sunday In Acvent

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2010

Matthew 24:37-44  For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴²Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day^ your Lord is coming. ⁴³But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

“So, what did you do today?” was the inevitable question my friend would ask when our little group of friends would gather for supper together and an evening of canasta.  I know he was truly interested in what each of us had done that day was trying to make conversation.  I would answer, “I worked on my sermon for Sunday.  I made so many hospital calls.  I prepared for tomorrow’s confirmation classes.”  And others would recount a day full of activity and accomplishments. 

I wonder what he and the others would have thought if I had said, “I sat at my desk, read scripture, meditated and prayed.  Then I took a walk in the woods and marveled at God’s wonderful creation.”  In our busy, activity filled, goal oriented world, unless you have something to show for your time, it is time wasted. 

So it was in days of Noah.  People were so busy eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, doing the things that had to be done, that they failed to take the time to look up and see the storm clouds gathering on the horizon.  Advent is a special time of the year when we are reminded to stop and look up and look outward, to take the time to be quiet and hear God’s call, to take the time to open our eyes and see God at work in our lives.  SO, WHAT have you done today?

Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.  Quiet and calm us so that we might hear your still small voice and see you when you come.  AMEN

Advent Devotions 2010

Advent daily devotions

2010

Welcome to 2010 Advent Daily Devotions.  On the church calendar today is the First Sunday in Advent.  According to a sign I recently saw it is the 27^th shopping day before Christmas.  We will spend much time in the coming 27 days preparing our homes with copious decorations, completing our gift lists, baking our families’ favorite Christmas delicacies, attending special Christmas parties, programs and activities.

HOWEVER, in the church Advent is a special time of preparation for the coming of our Lord as he comes to us everyday and as he will surely come again.  Many of the Advent readings caution us against complacency.  Like the people in the Gospel reading for today, we can become so occupied with our daily routine that we fail to attend to the deeper and more profound dimensions of life.  Our faith becomes perfunctory.  We forget that our Lord will one day return and we fail to see him when he comes to us each day in various ways. 

Preparing and posting these daily devotions during Advent is one way I prepare – not for the coming of Christmas, but the coming of Christ as he will surely come again and as he comes to me each day..  I hope you will use them to prepare for his coming and to open your eyes to his coming to you each day. 

I will use the readings assigned for that Sunday as the basis of the devotions that week.  Read the assigned reading each day – even when the readings are repeated.  The first few readings this week come from the Gospel for the 1st Sunday in Advent.  Each devotion will end with a short prayer and a “So What?” question.  So what does this have to do with me today?  I ask only that you answer that question for yourself and share your thoughts with the rest of us.  If you choose not to share your thoughts, please respond in some way so I know if the devotions are being read.  If you find the devotions helpful in your Advent preparations and want to share them with a friend who may find them helpful, refer them to this site. 

Know that each of you who respond will be in my prayers.  Blessings to you as you enter this time of preparation.    Pastor Evan Houck