First Sunday of Advent (Year C), 1 December 2024
Revd Rob Miners
Jeremiah 33.14-16; Psalm 25.1-10; 1 Thessalonians 3.9-13; Matthew 24.36-44.
This morning’s sermon is very short compared with what I normally take, but I believe it’s what God wants me to say this morning. Maybe it’s a bit like the clergyman who told his wardens that he always composed his sermons for Sunday on the short walk between the rectory and the church, and then wondered why they brought him a rectory 25 kilometres away from the church.
In 1997, Sylvia and I took two and a half months long service leave, combined with two months accumulated annual leave, and took off with our caravan for the big around-Australia circumnavigation. But before we left, the magnificent 1978 Holden was totally serviced and polished within an inch of its life. In addition, I purchased a spare fan belt, a spare alternator belt, a spare air conditioning belt, upper and lower radiator hoses, distributor points, a set of eight spark plugs, additional spare tyre, five litres of oil and an oil filter, a set of wheel bearings, grease gun plus grease, and spare light bulbs. There was even a 20-litre jerry can full of petrol.
The tool chest contained more tools than Repco have at their Tuggeranong and Belconnen stores combined. You will be fascinated to learn that I actually used the oil and oil filter while away, and a little grease. The rest of it is still in the boot, other than what’s been used over the past 35 years. I even poured the contents of the jerry can into the petrol tank when we got home. It really did enjoy the 20,000-kilometre trip. You see, I was prepared so well for any eventuality.
That was until the front universal joint started to give strange clunking noises just out of Geraldton in Western Australia on the way home. But, being a Holden, it did not require a road service call-out. And no, I did not have a spare one of those.
So, this morning, on this first Sunday in the season of Advent, I’m going to speak on preparedness. The Gospel firstly speaks about Noah and his preparedness for the great flood. You see, on the day it started raining those thousands of years ago, to the people of Iraq and the rest of the world, it was no different than any other day. No warnings, portents of doom, unless you call a guy by the name of Noah, building a huge ship hundreds of miles away from a major deep-water port, even though he’d been working on it for 200 years. People were, just as Jesus said, going on with their lives. Laughing, playing, getting married; they suspected nothing. And that’s the way it is with us.
When St Paul was writing to the Romans. He was trying to wake them out of their everyday routines. He wanted to impress upon them the sense of urgency. He wanted them to understand that at any time Christ would return. You see, Paul really thought that Jesus was coming back at any moment, in his lifetime. He wanted to be sure that all the believers in that community were ready.
Now, over the years, there have been many guesstimates of when Jesus would return or will return. As the year 1000 approached, there was great fear that that would herald the year of Christ’s return. When the scholarly 17th century Archbishop of Armagh, James Usher, did his biblical sums, he gave us his prediction as being the 22nd of October 1996. And he was wrong. And I’m delighted he was wrong, because we were able to do the big caravan trip in July, August, September, and October in 1997. Others have given other dates, and they were wrong.
A great crowd of people, in the early 20th century, sat around Little Bay in Sydney all day and half the night, waiting for the Lord’s return. They packed up and went home, rather disappointed, the next morning. From verse 36, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
However, here we are 2,000 years later, and Jesus still hasn’t returned. Life continues. Men and women are still getting married, children are born, children are playing in the park, and people still go to work.
Closer to our own times, the book of Revelation has been used by Christian sects and fringe denominations trying to pinpoint when Christ will return. And these groups point to various world crises, especially in the Middle East, as signs heralding the end times. And yes, there are some things which we might draw from Revelation which line up with what’s happening in our world now. Wars and rumours of wars, every night on the telly, the persecution of Christians, and famines, earthquakes, and the list goes on.
There is another element of preparedness, which most people don’t think about until it comes upon us, usually as a result of a doctor’s diagnosis, and that is death. Although Sylvia must think about my death quite often, as she says, “Will you clean up your garage? What happens if you go before me?” Employing my best God-given gifts of pastoral sensitivity, I just tell her she’ll make a fortune from all those old Holden parts gathering dust there.
Then in verses 40-41, two men will be in the field, one will be taken, and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill, one will be taken, and the other left. Some people who perhaps have health issues know that time on earth is running out for them. They do tidy up their loose ends and get their lives right with God. Unfortunately for most people, the time and day of our death is not a known factor. Most people don’t get the opportunity to tidy up the garage and get their lives right with God.
So, for one moment, life is going along merrily, and next we find ourselves in the presence of Jesus. One moment we’re saying to ourselves, “Well, I’ll have tomorrow to do this.” This being in a right relationship with God and with our fellow man needs to be dealt with now, daily, because once the chance has passed, the chance may never come again.
Using the image of the burglar from this morning’s gospel, of course we would be more vigilant if we knew the hour the thief was coming. Again, Jesus is speaking of preparedness.
One closing story illustrating preparedness. While on one of his expeditions to the Antarctic, Sir Ernest Shackleton left some of his men on Elephant Island with the intent of returning for them and carrying them back to England. But he was delayed. By the time he could go back for them, the sea had frozen, and he had no access to the island. Three times he tried to reach them but was prevented by the ice. Finally, on his fourth try, he broke through and found a narrow channel. Much to his surprise, he found the crewmen waiting for him, supplies packed and ready to board. They were soon on their way back to England.
He asked them how they knew to be ready for him. They told him they didn’t know when he would return, but they were sure that he would. So, every morning the leader rolled up his bag and packed his gear and told the crew to do the same. “Get your things ready boys, the boss may come today.” The crew leader did his crew a favour by keeping them prepared.
Jesus has done us a service by urging us to do the same. Be prepared.
Now many clergy finish their sermon with a prayer. However, this morning I’ve invited Slim Dusty to close for us. The title is “If Jesus Called On You,” which speaks on the theme of preparedness. And in this season of Advent, we are preparing to receive the Christ Child.
Listen to the song here on YouTube.
I’ve been gazing around at some people I’ve found,
As we move down life’s crowded old road,
Some are steady and sure, some don’t care anymore,
So this story to myself I told.
What would you do and say, if the Lord came today,
And was you he was just asking for?
As he came near to your gate, would you ask Him to wait,
Or would you jump up and open the door?
Would you feel out of place as he gazed on your face,
Would you be overcome with your shame,
And to him humbly speak, “Could you come back next week,
Then I’ll have everything rearranged?”
Or would you ask him inside and have nothing to hide,
And his glory surrounding yourself,
And be proud as he gazed at your books all arranged,
With the Bible pronounced on the shelf?
Could your friends all come in to the presence of him,
Could you be proud of your own happy throng?
If you can’t do this, I say, please take warning today,
And remember the truth of my song.
Yes, I’ve been thinking today of this world and its ways,
And the crime that just grows more and more,
And I’m praying that he will accept such as me,
When he turns up to knock on my door.
—Slim Dusty AO MBE (1927-2003), “If Jesus Called on You,” from the album Down the Dusty Road (1976).