The English Poet, Brian Wren, has written: "This is a day of new beginnings, time to remember and move on, time to believe what love is bringing, laying to rest the pain that's gone."
This is a day of new beginnings—God must like new beginnings because he gives us so many of them. I know I sure like them. We have this new day, a new week, a new month, a new season, a new year, a new report card period, a new friend, a new book, a new love, a new church, a new building going up-won't you be glad when all this construction is finished. Well, they tell me by Christmas we will be finished; they have not said yet what year, but surely by Christmas. But the truth is there is always something new going on around the church, in school, and in our lives.
The Bible offers the evidence that it is God who offers an endless number of new beginnings, it is he who is the author of each new story:
In the first beginning of all time says the book of Genesis: God created all things and God said it is Good!
In the great Exodus, that migration from Egypt and slavery to a promised land of freedom, God led the people of Israel by day with a pillow of clouds and by night by a pillow of fire. And at the Jordan River before the people crossed over into a land flowing with milk and honey: Joshua said: "Choose this day whether you will serve the Lord."
During the Exile, that long period of time when Babylonian conquered the nation of Judah and took the leaders of the people into a foreign land, they said to one another around campfires at night: "How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? And yet soon the Prophet Jeremiah promised "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and I will write it in their heart, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more."
Someone said to me if only I had known that one's reputation takes a lifetime to build but can be destroyed by one crazy act, I would have done things differently. Only in God can we rebuild a broken life, because in God we experience new beginnings.
Remember it was Jesus who said: "You must be born again!" A new life is possible!
Jesus’ life, death and resurrection was nothing but new beginnings -"I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. Time and time, there was evidence in Jesus that death itself is but another gift of God's new beginnings.
"I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me though he dies, yet shall he live and whosoever believes in me shall never die."
Lazarus started life over again when Jesus told the disciples in the graveyard: "Unwrap him and set him free!" Don't think Lazarus was not a different man when life started over again for him.
Jesus went into the room of a young woman who was asleep in death and he woke her up. Can you imaging what she told her grandchildren about the day she woke up in the funeral parlor and met Jesus for the first time. I'll bet that was her new birth date celebration day.
Jesus has given all of us a second chance, or for some, a third chance. Really God gives us, during our lifetime, a number of new beginnings.
The infant dies when the child is born.
The child dies when the adolescent is born.
The adolescent dies when the young adult is born.
The adult dies when the older adult is born.
And God is the author of every new phase of our life.
Life goes on, one new beginning after another, and I have come to see Death as but another new beginning. One day we shall shed this body, this old binding physical self, which really has served most of us pretty well, but some of us marginally. But one day it will be no more but we will be, for Christ has said: "Because I live, you shall live also." Remember how he said to the thief on the cross: "Today you will be with me in Paradise."
The Apostle Paul talks about a new "Resurrection Body". And said "When we are in Christ we are a new creation, heirs of God and joint heirs of Jesus Christ." Today can be a new beginning for you and death will be but another great adventure.
Today we remember many friends who have left this body and now dwell in God's nearer presence. Their absence has left empty chairs at our family table.
I have this friend who, this year, is in the Church Triumph. His name was Ed Woods. He was a faithful Christian all of his life, and his wife Murl worshipped with us last Sunday. She told me a fascinating story about the night he died. He had been in a coma for some time and they thought he had slipped away from them, but all of a sudden he was back. Bright eyed and talking with them and singing hymns with them. He spent time with each family member who had been quickly called to the hospital and he was careful to say, "I love you." And pretty soon, he was gone again. It was as though he came back from the next life to say good bye. When a person like Ed Woods, who lives so close to God, it is not a giant leap from life to death to life and back again. Death is not a great wall over which we have to climb, it is but a baby step like from cement to grass and back again. And on the night he died this year, he moved back and forth twice, but once he made his final passage, he was gone from our presence, but without a doubt, alive in God's nearer presence. Though You Die, Yet Shall You Live Again. Death—a new beginning!
This summer while I was away, I studied with two individuals in California at the Clairmont School of Theology, who are called Process Theologians. Their names are John Cobb and Marjorie Suchocki. They are Process theologians, which means they see life as intertwined with the past and the future, the here and the now and that which is history and that which is yet to be in the future. Process Theology first was articulated by the British Mathematician and Philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead. I tell you all of this so that you will be impressed thinking that I can read and understand "process theology." But I also tell you this because of something Alfred North Whitehead once said about eternal life. Said he: "If our future after our death is nothing more than the fact that we are a part of the memory of God, then that will be enough."
Frankly my life in Jesus Christ has been so very blessed and so have so many of you whom I have been privileged to have known. When I think of the Ed Woods, and those listed on our all Saint's list today. I realize how privileged we have been. If Whitehead is correct that "Eternal life is but being a small blip on the radar screen of the memory of God, then that will be enough." God has done so much for us, how can we ask anything more. We who have been privileged to have been born, to have chosen the Christian way as our way, to have known our parents, friends, mates, church members, … how blessed can we be?
If we are to be only a memory in the mind of God, that will be enough. But here's further good news, Jesus says that we will be even more than in the memory of God after our death. That when we die, we shall live again as he did! So also our loved ones.
Death will be for each of us, but yet another new beginning! Thanks be unto God the author of all new days.
Sacrificial Service Is the
Way of the Godly Successful Life
Ruth 1:16; 4:13-17, Mark
12:38-44
Recently in our community there was a unique event called "The Spirit of Women Gala". It was sponsored by Sacred Heart Hospital and honored a number of women in our community. It was a way of giving visibility to the fact that females have achieved significant recognition in and outside of the home and today they are found serving as Presidents and CEO's of major companies and Leaders in our community. Of course I was very proud that one of the many outstanding women in our church was honored. Carol Carlen, the president of the West Florida Area Wachovia Bank, was one of the outstanding persons recognized.
Birmingham Southern College annually sponsors a similar unique celebration they call "The Gala" which is recognition of Outstanding Women all across America. This last year, some of those who were honored were Colleen Barrett, President and CEO of South West Airlines, Patricia Cornwell, author of some 17 novels, Phyllis George a former Miss America and the first female sportscaster, and others - an impressive list of outstanding women.
In the Bible Reading for the day, there are two Outstanding Women on whom the spotlight falls who share the common trait of women who are recognized in these Gala's across the nation. What is that common trait? It is the fact that they are "Sacrificial Servant Leaders" - that's what separates these persons from the pact.
The first is an Old Testament Character, named Ruth and the second is a nameless widow woman whom Jesus watched as she placed a Sabbath Day Offering in the Temple Area of Jerusalem.
You hear a great deal about sacrifice and unless I am mistaken, I have in the last month spoken to you of this. Since we have three-morning worship services some Sundays, when I come to the 11 o'clock service I wonder to myself "Have I said this to you before?" And the answer is usually, yes. If you would get what I am saying more quickly, we will move on to the next lesson. Well, it is true, I have said to you many times "sacrificial service is the way of the godly life". This principal penetrates the essence of who we are as a people.
The thing about sacrifice is that the culture also speaks of the importance of sacrifice. Anytime I find that I am using some of the same words as the prevailing culture, which is more times than not out of touch with God's Will, it begins to make me nervous. Sports drink makers and sneaker manufacturers prominently feature images of personal sacrifice and discipline in their television commercials. The armed forces promote their opportunities with strong boasts about what it takes to be one of them. And competitive college and graduate schools make it clear that "would be" applicant’s better sacrifice themselves and make the grades if they want to get in. Most big companies preach sacrifice to their junior executives as the essential component of success in their culture.
Sacrifice in popular culture is however different from Biblical sacrifice. In the culture it is a calculated investment and the return is all about self. If you watch your eating habits and exercise.... you will be healthier. If you study hard and make good grades you will be at the head of the class. If you work hard you will advance in the company.
It is all about you, but it is not all about you.
Sacrifice in a biblical sense is not about self at all. Quite the contrary, it is about Forgetting self (Matt 16:24) "If any one would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For what will it profit a person, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?"
Popular sacrifice today is doing precisely that which is in our own best interest. Biblical sacrifice challenges us to swim upstream for the sake of someone else.
Without a doubt the clearest Biblical standard for stewardship is the tithe and those who take this step will be blessed. Remember I Kings 17:8 there is a widow who gives her last bite of food to Elijah and she is rewarded by a jug of oil that never goes empty. Ever replenishing - that is the way of the tithe.
But we are not encouraged to tithe because we want to receive, we tithe because that is the way we please God. Strange, although the motivation for sacrifice is different between the culture and the Bible, nevertheless the results are the same. When you sacrifice for a greater good, you do as an individual benefit personally.
Consider with me the two women who are mentioned in the Scriptures this morning, who share the common trait with Outstanding Women Living today, Ruth and the generous widow.
I. The first is Ruth. Despite the fact that the Old Testament book is entitled Ruth, it is a story of Naomi. Naomi and her family lived in Bethlehem about 1000 years before Jesus. The family migrated during a time of famine, across the Dead Sea to a land called Moab where her two sons married Moabite women, one of which was named Ruth. In time Naomi’s husband and both son's died and the three women were left to fend for themselves. Naomi encouraged her daughters- in-laws to stay in Moab and take other husbands, but Ruth said to Naomi: "Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge, your people shall be my people and your God my God; Where you die, I will die." Naomi having lost her husband and both sons returns to Bethlehem "bitter, empty, and hopeless" and Ruth accompanies her. Because of Ruth's faithfulness and sacrificial loyalty, God ultimately redeems Israel through the birth of her son "Obed" whose descendant would be David, the King of Israel, the Savior, and the Redeemer of Israel. The word "redeem" is such an overriding theme that it is used 20 times in the 85 verses of the entire book.
Let there be no doubt that in this wonderful story, what you get is the fact that Ruth is faithful and sacrificially loyal even if she has to sacrifice her heritage and family of origin. She is willing to give whatever it takes. Ruth, therefore, is one of my nominees for Woman of the Year.
As is the case with most Biblical stories, we are in this OT story, but we are usually not like Ruth, but more like Naomi ("bitter, empty, hopeless" and needing redemption) and although redemption comes, it is due usually to someone else's faithfulness, not our own. Be that as it may, my nominee for Woman of the Year is: Ruth.
II. The second is a woman without a name: the poor nameless widow woman whom Jesus saw placing her offering in the temple treasury. Here’s the story: there are some 13 containers for the offering outside in the temple courtyard in Jerusalem. You notice as you read this story that Jesus is watching as people place their offerings in the collection. There are the rich in fine clothing...there are the religious orders.... but then comes this poor widow woman...The widow was motivated to give, not because Jesus was watching, but because she knew that giving was important to God. The Bible teaches the tithe as a "means of divine grace" for God's people. Just as prayers link us with the divine spirit, so also do acts of kindness and financial gifts. As Jesus observed this poor woman's gift, his attention was captured by the fact that she gave proportionally far more than the rich citizens and religious leaders of Jerusalem who only tossed into the containers their "chump change” and gave to impress others who watched. Said Jesus: "She has given all that she has." Here Jesus recognizes not the size of her gift but the level of her sacrifice.
Don't kid yourself that God is not interested in your gifts. The poor widow got the attention of God not because of the size of her gift, but by the level of her sacrifice and so do you. As your prayers and worship are important for acknowledging God as the source of all things, so also are your gifts of time and money as this gets God's attention of how important he really is in your life. Basic in our life is to love God first no matter what it takes.
On our annual Stewardship Sunday, we recognize today that one of the fundamental tenets of the faith is giving, Sacrificial Giving. First giving of ourselves and then giving of our resources. And to the credit of the females of the world and the detriment of us men, I see this quality more in the women than I do in the men. No wonder they are becoming Presidents and CEO's of their companies.
Let us be reminded once again of what we discover in Ruth, the nameless widow, and in Jesus, It Is When We Stoop To Serve That We Stand At The Tallest Position Of Our Lives. It Is When We Sacrificially Give That We Truly Receive in Abundance
Summary: Robert Fulghum, who wrote "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten," says that he placed alongside the mirror in his bathroom a picture of a woman who was not his wife. That's risky business! Every morning as he stood there shaving, he looked at the picture of that woman.
The picture? The picture is of a small humped-over woman wearing sandals and a blue eastern robe and head dress. She is surrounded by important-looking people in tuxedos, evening gowns, and the regalia of royalty. It is the picture of Mother Teresa, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize! Sometimes the world recognizes true greatness.
Fulghum said he keeps that picture there to remind him that, more than a president of any nation, more than any Religious Leader, more than any chief executive officer of a major corporation, that woman has authority because she is a servant.
May we keep before us the pictures which come to us from the world of today and from the Bible, Pictures of Mother Teressa, Ruth, Naomi's daughter in law, the grandparent of David, and the nameless Widow.
The Church teaches a very practical but important vocabulary. During the month of October we are reminded of the words "sacrifice and stewardship" and recall the sacrifice of Jesus and the widow's might, "who gave all she had."
We are soon to be in the season of the Advent, the approaching weeks of Christmas, and in the Advent we hear big words like Hope, Faith, Love, Light, Peace. And we remember that Paul said in I Cor. 13: "So abides faith, hope, love but the greatest of these is love." See you already know the vocabulary. You know the words that are important to us.
In the month of November our nation and the Church reminds us that the big words of this season are the words: gratitude and thanksgiving.
Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England have this severe sense of competition. They compete not on the athletic field as does Florida and Florida State or Auburn and Alabama, or Ole Miss and Mississippi State, but on the intellectual field. Years ago, the word went out that Rudyard Kipling at Oxford was paid by his publishers $1.00 per word that he wrote, so some of the English Doctoral students at Cambridge wrote to Kipling and enclosed a $1.00 bill and wrote: Dear Dr. Kipling, knowing you are paid a dollar per word by your publishers, enclosed is your dollar, please send us "one of your very best words." Kipling wrote back, "Thanks".
Well the word "thanks" is indeed one of our very best words and we are in a season when it is most appropriate, although it is in season at anytime of the year. Is the word "thanks" in your vocabulary?
Today We say thanks."
For our national ancestors:
There were 102 pilgrims on the ship
called The Mayflower when it anchored in Plymouth Bay in 1620 and America
was established. Within one year one half of them would be dead due to disease,
but they began our nation. The names would change over the years from William
Bradford, George Washington, to Lincoln, Roosevelt, to Eisenhower, to Bush; but
we owe them all a debt of gratitude and as we think of them, we can use our very
best word.
For our family ancestors, and especially our parents who
birthed us and care for us all of their life:
It was Mark Twain who said when he
was 14 he thought his father was the dumbest man he had ever known but when he
was 19 he was amazed at how much he had learned in
only five short years. It was also Twain who said that he spent a large sum of
money to trace his family tree and then he spent twice that much trying to keep
what he had found out a secret.
Most of us are very proud of our families. My family gave me a great deal to live up to and I am profoundly grateful. My Dad taught me to "Remember who you are" and it has been an ethical guide all my life. He taught me to decide what was important in your life and to focus on accomplishing what was important and never give up on the pursuit of your dreams. Mark Twain’s father died when he was 7 years old and two years later his mother died and during the great depression, he lived "from pillar to post" with first one relative and then another. He taught his sons the importance of family.
It is appropriate when we think about our parents that we use one of our very best words: thanks.
For our faith ancestors who have taught us to know and love God and to trust in him in all our ways.
Through Abraham's
story we learn to trust that God will provide,
Moses taught us that God would deliver us
from evil.
Mary taught us that when we are an
obedient handmaiden of God, he will bless our lives.
Jesus who taught us that we are his joint
airs of the abundant life here and now and eternal life in the hereafter.
Jesus said "All things are possible for him who believes."
"If you abide in me ask anything you will and it will be done for you."
"Ask and you will receive, Seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened unto you."
"What ever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours."
For our faith ancestors, only our very best word will do, and it is "Thanks".
Today we say thanks for our God! Our Creator, Redeemer, and ever present God, we say thanks.
a. God has created an ever-producing earth and once again harvest time has come once again. I was up in Alabama this week and saw the cotton in the fields, and the pecans being gathered from the trees. Not long ago I picked up some seafood at the fish market—what a sight to see all the various kinds of food that is harvested from the seas, which surround Pensacola.
"For the fruits of this creation, thanks be to God.
For the plowing, sowing, reaping, silent growth while we are sleeping, thanks be to God.
b. And thanks be unto God for what Paul calls "God's indescribable gift". In Jesus, God has redeemed us from our sins and taught us how to live life at its best. "Blessed are you, when you hunger and thirst for righteousness, for you will be filled.
Blessed are the peacemakers, the pure in heart, the merciful, the humble—for you are the light of the world, you are the salt of the earth, you are the redeemed of the earth!
c. We live in a fascinating world where God is present. Yes he created us, and yes he redeemed us in Jesus, and he is yet with us. Every day this past week, I have awakened to this incredible sense that God is present in our lives and that you never know who you are meeting or why.
One of the very fine rabbinical stories is of the Sabbath Day Service when the Rabbi stood before his people holding a glass of wine and said: "Wine is a great gift of God. A still greater gift is the ability to make wine. And a still greater gift is the ability to grow grapes. But the greatest gift of all is thirst." Our God has placed in the heart of all of us a thirst, a hunger, a longing that is never satisfied till it finds itself in God. As Augustine said: "Our hearts are restless till they rest in thee."
When you consider the pioneers of this nation and the political leaders of today and history -
When you consider our faith ancestors of the Bible and our own parents, our family ancestors -
When you consider our great God, only our very best word will do to express our emotions and our best word Thanks.
Today, the week of Thanksgiving begins. I love this season as it pulsates with such a great opportunity for us, and for our nation and entire world.
The season of Halloween is done and it was too scary and crazy anyway. Christmas has become so overshadowed by materialism that it is just about too much. It offers emotionally far more than it can deliver. The Christmas sales have already been posted and, frankly, I just shut down before it ever gets going. I know it's good for the economy, but it is just too much. But Thanksgiving---Thanksgiving is good for everybody. There are so many blessing that come to the life of one who is grateful and approaches life from a thankful position.
Harry Emerson Fosdick, once the pastor of the Riverside Church in New York, in a very fine autobiography says: "What life in the long run does to us depends on what life finds in us. If we go to life with hate on the inside life will respond in kind. Life will give back to us what we give to it." Give life a thankful response and see what benefits come to your life.
If you have a thankful attitude, you just start off on the right foot. Years ago when I was in Junior High School, I took band and played the trombone. I never played very well but it was an interesting experience. We marched at half time at the high school football games and played a couple of pieces for the local crowd. I can still remember the trauma of trying to march in a straight line and the band director screaming out, "Roberts it’s right left, right left, right left." I just found it a real challenge to try to play the trombone, remembering the notes, and remembering to march right left, right left, one two, three, one, two, three, right, left, right, left. Such a challenge. I am always amazed at Rick and Heidi who can play these instruments, and I can talk to them, and they can talk to me at the same time. The band director would often stop us when we were so bad out of step, which was often, and would remind us to start off on the right foot. Right left, right left.
Starting off on the right foot with people and with God is also very important. This is seen everywhere in the Bible, and starting off on the right foot involves a thankful heart. The Scripture this morning is from Deuteronomy, which recalls a time in history when Moses was preparing the Israelites for their entry into the Promised Land." You remember to be thankful," he was saying. Remember that it is God who has given you this land of promise.
The Psalmist encouraged this same thing when he wrote: "Enter into the courts of God with thanksgiving and into his presence with praise."
In the letters of the Apostle Paul, Thanksgiving is always in the opening paragraph:
Romans: "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world."
Corinthians: "I give thanks always for you because of the grace of God which was given to you in Christ Jesus.
Philippians: "I thank my God in all remembrance of you."
Thessalonians: "We give thanks to God always for you, mentioning you in our prayers.
When you start off with the pleasant greeting of thanksgiving, you set the tone of your relationship with the person you approach.
I don't know why some people cannot learn this lesson. Don't ask me for something else, 'till you show a grateful heart for what you received last time. My grandson, whom I will occasionally take fishing, said to me once, "Granddaddy, you know I sure do like it better when you cut up the worms, and I just wanted to thank you." Now, you know when he starts off like that, you know whose is going to cut up the worms and bait the hook all day long?
Well, the Apostle Paul suggests that you start your prayers to God off with thanksgiving. In Philippians he writes: "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)
When you start your prayers off with thanksgiving and confident belief, you begin with the end in mind. You start off on the right foot.
I have a friend, who in her prayers uses affirmations rather than petitions. Rather than asking God for something, she thanks God for what she is asking him for: She envisions God answering positively to her prayers. For example: "Thank you that I have health and well being. That my family and loved ones have health and well being. Thank you that I have serenity, that I have abundance and prosperity. Thank you that I am a better person today than I was yesterday and that I will be even better tomorrow. Thank you that there is peace in the world. Thank you that you bless all that you give and all that we receive.
Isn't that an interesting way of praying. You start off on the right foot as you start off with the end in mind, when you begin with gratitude and an affirmation of the desired result. So you begin prayer with thanksgiving, and your hopes are clearly placed in your mind and clearly before the mind of God.
As I read the New Testament letters of Paul, I find that he always has this attitude of thankfulness for specific things. He is thankful for spiritual gifts, the fruits of the spirit like patience, love, and peace. He is thankful for earthly joys, for God's guidance, for the gift of Jesus, whom he calls "God's indescribable gift," and for the gift of eternal life.
When you start off on the right foot of thankfulness, you start off with the end in mind. Stephen Covey said that beginning life with the end in mind is one of the "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People."
In starting life off on the right foot, you receive the benefit of being able to see beyond sickness to health, beyond defeat to victory, beyond failure to success, beyond death to life. These are but a sampling of the benefits of thanksgiving.
Harry Emerson Fosdick, spoke an everlasting truth to us when he wrote: "What life in the long run does to us depends on what life finds in us. Life will give back to us what we give to it!" What are you giving to life? Do you approach it with a thankful heart?
Over the last few years, we have learned the uneasiness and inconvenience of terror alerts. We even have color codes of heightened degrees of readiness. Red means something, orange means something and although I can never remember exactly what each color means, I know they mean something.
Over the years you get complacent and your sense of readiness dulls, to the point that you ignore warning signals. The same thing happens with fire alarm drills, when you get complacent and ignore the alarm. That is pretty much what happened to us on September 11, 2001 when most Americans were caught completely by surprise. Since that eventful day, the Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. and similar organizations in other countries, have sought to train and equip people to "expect the unexpected". It is not that we should live in fear, but that we should live with a vigilance and preparedness.
This is pretty much what the Prophets tried to do for the Hebrews over the years and what Jesus did at the beginning of the Christian Era. And this is what the season of Advent can do for us, it can put us on "Heightened Alert"! Not in fear, but in joyous anticipation.
We have read from the prophet Jeremiah which was a time 600 years before the birth of Christ, when Israel, the Northern Kingdom had fallen and Judah the Southern Kingdom was threatened. It was a time not unlike the current state of violence and the lack of peace in the Middle East. Between the military powers of Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt, the little nation of Judah over the years didn't have a chance. And yet, never count a people nor a person out if they have God on their side. The Prophet's role was to remind the Hebrews to obey the ordinances and commandments of God and when they did, God would restore justice and righteousness in the Land. The Prophets looked forward in hope toward a coming Messianic age when peace would be established.
Today, we view Christ as the fulfillment of the prophetic promise and in Christ we find justice and righteousness. Wherever Christ is, there is justice and peace. In him we find hope for a broken world. In him we find dealing, fulfillment, victory, salvation!
But even in Jesus' day, there was no peace in his time with Roman soldiers and corrupt religious leaders in the land, and even Jesus predicted a coming time of horror for those who were evil.
Now whether this will take place in a dramatic fashion in the figurative language in the N.T. language read this morning, or whether it takes place in the heart of each individual as they accept Christ as their Savior, makes no difference for you and me. Our task is to stay on high alert for God's call to us to be involved in his Kingdom's work.
I can tell you this, for Cleve Kirkland who was 39 years old and died with a heart attack last week, for three marines whose families are at Hulbert Field today waiting for their lifeless bodies to arrive on the tarmac from Afghanistan, the moment of their death was the end of the world, as they knew it. It was the day that Christ called them before him.
Whether there is a Climatic Second Coming Day which might occur before the sun sets today, or whether it happens when we die when we go off the clock and calendar and enter the sphere of eternal time in death, makes little difference; as our task is to stay alert, prepared, ready for Christ's coming.
Stay alert! Be prepared! Be on High Alert!
THE MASTER SAID: "Be always on the watch and pray that you may be able to stand before the son of man and to escape all that is about to happen."
The motto of the Boy Scouts of America is "Be Prepared". All the training one receives as a Scout, all the camping, self discipline, leadership training, is all bent toward the motto: "be prepared." Jesus commanded us to "be prepared" spiritually for when we are to stand before God.
We have a number of major crossroads in Pensacola where people routinely sprint through red lights. You had better stay awake at Ninth Avenue and Cervantes, and again at Ninth and Bayou Blvd at Cordova Mall especially at Christmas, or just before School takes in at Washington. In this case, you stay in a readiness state of alert as a defensive driver.
I can remember when I was growing up in the l950's and 60's there was the Cold War threat of possible nuclear annihilation. Although we didn't think Marengo County Alabama was a high profile target for the Russians, yet we installed these Civil Defense sirens and Joe Rumore on the Radio was constantly interrupted with these tests of our readiness.
All was based on fear, uncertainty, and life in a crazy world. We haven't made much progress today because we still live in fear. But the admonition of Jesus to "Be on High Alert” was not a negative warning that something bad was going to happen to you, but rather was a positive encouragement to be aware of the call of God to be about the ministry of compassion and the good news of God's love.
For believers, the coming of Christ is our hope, for our redemption comes with the Messiah and thus begins an age of peace and righteousness for each of us. The Messianic Age hasn't yet happened in our world-ask the citizens of Iraq, the children of West Africa, the young people who live in the slums of Brazil, or the families who live on the margin in America. It has not been fulfilled – there is still evil in the land.
And Yet, God offers to us all his Messianic age of peace and eternal security through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Maybe you have just missed God's invitation. Perhaps you have not been alert, aware, and awake. Maybe you have been asleep.
Maybe you have been quite independent which comes when we have money and are not insecure about your lives and you have pretty much begun to live life on your terms.
Dag Hammarskjöld wrote in his journal, "God does not die on the day we cease to believe in a personal deity. But we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance of wonder renewed daily, the source of which is beyond all reason."
Do you not perceive God's Messianic Rule in your life? Is the Kingdom here and now? Are you not aware that Christ seeks to walk with you every day? Do you know that you can live in such a way that you don't have to be afraid?
I invite you to be awake! To be aware! To be Open to what God can do in you! Now is the season of grace, at Christmas; God comes to us in the ancient story of the birth of the babe of Joseph and Mary who would teach a new way. For those of us who are in Christ, to live with him in our heart is to live beyond fear. We live with the New Testament Affirmation: Marantha---Come Lord Jesus, Come.
So I encourage you in this advent season,
1. To accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior.
2. To pray daily staying alert knowing that only through prayer will you be able to navigate the chaos of the Christmas Season.
3. To fill your mind with whatever is pure, wholesome, and Godly.
4. To live a moral life so that you will reflect the reality of the presence of Christ within you and will be able to stand on that coming Day before Christ without shame and without regrets.