ARE YOU READY FOR CHRISTMAS

ARE YOU READY FOR CHRISTMAS?

Matthew 3:1-2; 25:1-10; Isaiah 11:1-9

A sermon preached at First Presbyterian Church by Carter Lester on

December 9, 2007

This past summer, my two brothers-in-law and I visited our daughter, Kate, who was working at Ghost Ranch, a Presbyterian retreat and conference center in northwestern New Mexico. We had a great three days of hiking among the beautiful mountains and valleys that the artist Georgia O’Keefe made famous through her paintings and which has served as the location for western movies like “The 3:10 to Yuma” and the new Indiana Jones movie. One night, however, we had a bit more adventure than I am comfortable with – and we were not hiking or camping out in the wilds. We were simply riding in the car.

The area around Ghost Ranch is beautiful – but very unpopulated. One night, we went out to eat at the closest restaurant off the grounds of Ghost Ranch – a great “hole-in-the-wall” Mexican restaurant in a tiny town 30 minutes away. The rental car I was driving had dropped under a quarter tank of gas, but I thought that would be plenty to get back and forth and we could always fill up in the town with the restaurant.

Except when we got to the town, we found that the only gas station was closed. No problem. After a great supper, we set out for the famous Rio de Grande River Gorge bridge, which spans a fissure in the earth with the river hundreds of feet below. The map showed several towns on the way, where we could fill up. No problem.

We discovered something that night: New Mexico towns on the map are not the same as Pennsylvania towns. Big problem. We went miles without seeing a single house – and the “towns” on the map proved to be crossroads with four houses and no stores – and no gas stations. Mile after mile we rode, with no human habitation in sight – and with the gas tank indicator dropping well below “E.” There is a problem with rental cars – you don’t know how far below “E” you can go before you really are empty. We were about to find out. And there were no cell phone towers around. Most of the way, “No Service” flashed on our cell phones.

I don’t know what was the worst part in my mind: the picture of the four of us stopping on a dark night in the middle of nowhere with an empty gas tank and no phone signal – or the picture of the next twenty-five years of Thanksgiving and Christmas family dinners hearing jokes and jabs from my brothers-in-law about running out of gas. Never has there been a more beautiful sight than the gas station we found open on the outskirts of Taos as we literally coasted in. I wanted to kiss those gas pumps! By the way, we did get to see the Rio Grande River gorge on the way – sort of. We coasted over the bridge and did not stop to look at the view because we were scared to use up the gas!

I am not alone in my foolishness. In the parable that Jesus tells in Matthew 25, there are five foolish virgins or bridesmaids who have run out of fuel. In so doing, they deliver a message much like the message John the Baptist delivers before Jesus’ arrival earlier in the Gospel of Matthew.

This is not the easiest of parables to understand or follow. Questions abound. Why don’t the so-called wise bridesmaids share? What dealer of oil would have been open at midnight? Why is the bridegroom so harsh, closing the door on the foolish bridesmaids and telling them that he does not even recognize them? And why are the last words, “Keep awake!”? Didn’t both the wise and the foolish bridesmaids fall asleep?

We will begin to find some answers when we recognize that this story that Jesus tells is primarily an allegory, with each major element a symbol for something. The wedding banquet is a symbol of the kingdom of heaven, and the long-awaited bridegroom is a symbol for the expected Son of God, Jesus Christ, whose return is delayed. The midnight hour signifies that the Messiah will come at an unexpected time. The oil represents either good works, or faith itself. The wise bridesmaids do not share the oil – not because they are selfish – but because there are some things that cannot be readily shared. That you do good deeds does not excuse me from doing good deeds. That you have faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior does not relieve me of the need to have such faith.

What does it all mean, however? Perhaps, as one commentator on the text observes, “a significant clue to interpreting the parable surfaces when the wise bridesmaids are described as ‘those who were ready’…Ready for what? The bridegroom? No, the foolish bridesmaids were eager for the groom to arrive, too; the wise bridesmaids are distinctive because…they were ready for the groom’s delay.”[1] They were prepared. Because they had extra oil, their lamps were still burning when the bridegroom arrived later than expected.

What about you and me? Are we prepared for the bridegroom’s arrival?

Have we stocked up on oil so that our light can shine before all? What word of kindness are we called to say? What word of forgiveness are we being called to share – not tomorrow but today? What is it that we think of doing, what is it that we hope to get around to doing, what is it that we may do eventually – but which we really need to do today:

For our family?

For our neighbor?

For the poor, for the lonely, for the lost?

Have we stocked up on the oil of faith? Are we going to take the time and make the effort to sink our faith roots deeper, through worship and prayer, fellowship and service? So that we have a faith that can burn even when our spiritual “highs” have faded…even when the light outside fades and the night grows dark…even when the future that we hope for is delayed? Or is our faith a casual thing – part of our life – but not at life’s center, so that when the light fades, or all is not well, our light flickers and goes out?

“Keep awake therefore,” Jesus tells us. “Repent,” that is, “turn around and get moving in the other direction,” John the Baptist warns us. “Be prepared,” they tell us. Because complacency and inaction can be dangerous. Because sometimes the lamp really can run out of fuel. Sometimes the future comes too soon. Sometimes death will arrive. And sometimes the door will close. And then where will we be?

“Are you ready for Christmas?” you often will hear at work, at the stores, or in homes this time of year. It is a friendly question. Of course, what we mean is: “Is the tree up, your house decorated, and the gifts bought and wrapped?” With children, Christmas cannot come fast enough. But for many adults, as we consider the list of all that needs to be done, Christmas can come too soon, before we have gotten everything done, before we are ready for it.

“Are you ready for Christmas?” In their own way, John the Baptist and Jesus ask the same question here in the Gospel of Matthew. But for them, it is not just a friendly question; it is a serious question. Because they want us to be ready for the coming of the Lord. They don’t want Christmas to come too soon for us.

As the late Scottish pastor, Stuart McWilliam, put it in an Advent sermon: “He is coming again! And I do not mean by that what people so often seem to mean when they talk about Christ coming again, that the end of the world is at hand. It may be, for all I know, but thank goodness that is not my concern. I mean that this Christ keeps coming and coming again and again to us, demanding our verdict and our commitment to Him. This is what Christmas is about. It is about God coming to men and women. It is about God coming to you and me.”[2]

The Christmas story is not just a fantasy story. It is not just a familiar and cozy story that helps make Christmas a sentimental celebration and a safe tradition. Instead, the Christmas story is a radical and life changing story. It is a dangerous story that cannot help but turn the world and our lives upside down. Because the Lord of the Universe is coming to us. This is what Advent is about – filling up on oil and taking stock, doing what we need to do to get ready

The Christ who will come at Christmas is not some doll baby that we can play with and then leave behind us and go on with our lives as it was before. God has taken on flesh. In Jesus Christ, the Holy One comes into the world as the One who makes demands on our lives, who will grow and become a fiery prophet, a miraculous healer, a challenging teacher, and a crucified Lord and Savior.

Are we ready for all that? Are we ready for all that love and grace? Are we ready for all that challenge and adventure? Are we ready for Christmas this year? Because He cannot be stopped. Christ is already coming to us.

Keep watch! Repent! Be prepared!

Since the fourth century, Christians have has found the following prayer to be helpful in Advent as they try to prepare for the coming of our Lord again. It is a prayer of holy awe and reverent fear in the face of the great mystery and wonder of God coming to us in Jesus Christ. You probably have prayed it by singing it as a solemn and sacred song:

“Let all mortal flesh keep silence, And with fear and trembling stand; Ponder nothing earthly minded, For with blessing in His hand,

Christ our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand.”

Friends, let our mortal flesh learn to keep silence in holy reverent fear, and prepare – so that when the door to heaven opens and the Lord comes, he will find us ready to receive him – and to offer all that we have to him.

Silence

Amen. Let us now sing this hymn of prayer and preparation: “Let all Mortal flesh keep silent – hymn 5