Dear St. Paul’s Family,
Yesterday I received a sermon illustration in a most unfortunate way.
I picked up the girls from school and headed out for the hour-long drive to Sioux City to pick up Jessica, who was flying home from a conference in Boston. The girls settled into the back seat to watch Mary Poppins on the DVD player, and I spent the drive working through the myriad of items on my mental checklist: follow-up work on Commitment Sunday, preparations for a big funeral today, Advent starting this Sunday - - all in a shortened work week. Check, check, check.
I don’t know how long I had been driving before I noticed the flashing blue and red lights. When the officer approached me, I still had know idea why I had been pulled over.
“Do you know how fast you were going?” he asked me. Well, that answered that question. I wanted to say, “You have no idea how fast I’ve been moving today.” I wanted to show him my to-do list, my day runner, and my e-mail inbox. Take a radar gun to that, I thought to myself.
When he told me how fast I was going, I knew there was no squirming out of it. My 7-year old, Grace, looked up from her movie to notice what was happening and frantically asked:
“DADDY, IS HE GOING TO TAKE YOU TO JAIL?”
The officer chuckled and took my license back to the squad car, as I said to her “Don’t give him any ideas.”
Of course, speeding was just a symptom of the deeper problem. I had become more absorbed by the world inside my head, instead of focusing on the road. And it took flashing lights and a badge to shock me back to reality.
Now, turning this into a sermon illustration may be my blatant attempt to self-justify my speeding ticket, but I did wonder if this is what the gospel writer had in mind when penning the words that serve as our text for the first Sunday of Advent:
"But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken…Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come….And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."
It’s not the way we would expect – or even want – to start our Advent journey. We’d prefer placid scenes of hillside shepherds, starry nights, and lowing cattle. But not this. Not vivid violence and ominous urgency. These words read like flashing blue and red lights in your rear view mirror. “Pull over! Keep alert! Snap out of it! You’re drifting off into a different reality rather than the one that is set before you.”
- You’re living in an artificial world of your own construction, rather than a world that invites the mysteries of faith and trust.
- You’re stuck in a pressurized world of deadlines and instantaneous results, rather than a lifelong commitment to gradual maturity.
- You’re speeding through a world jaded by cynicism and worry, instead of embracing a world of imagination and possibility.
You might even say you’re not quite ready for Christmas or Advent yet. And that’s precisely the point. We’re not ready for the inbreak of God in our lives, because we are too busy living in our own self-made world.
I love the way Alfred Delp, the twentieth-century German priest and martyr under the Nazi regime put it:
Advent is a time when we ought to be shaken and brought to a realization of ourselves. The necessary condition for the fulfillment of Advent is the renunciation of the presumptuous attitudes and alluring dreams in which and by means of which we always build ourselves imaginary worlds…This shocked awakening is definitely part of experiencing Advent. But at the same time there is much more that belongs to it. Advent is blessed God’s promises, which constitute the hidden happiness of this time…Being shattered, being awakened – only with these is life made capable of Advent. (“The Shaking Reality of Advent” from When the Time Was Fulfilled.)
So is your life yet capable of Advent? If not, then pull over. Snap out of yourself for the next four weeks, and surrender to the mystery, the complexity, and the wonder of the incarnation once again.
Come along for the journey, and keep alert.
Grace and Peace,
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org
Mark 13:24-37
24 ‘But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
26 Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds” with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
28 ‘From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.
29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
32 ‘But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
33 Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.
34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
35 Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn,
36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.
37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.’
Advent 2008: “What God Wants for Christmas”
“What God Wants for Christmas Is…Our Attention”
Mark 13:24-37
November 30
“What God Wants for Christmas Is…Our Obedience”
Mark 1:1-8
December 7
“Live From Bethlehem”
Children’s Christmas Program
(and Adult Sunday School Cookie Sale)
December 14
“The Winter Rose”
Chancel Choir Cantata
December 21
“What God Wants for Christmas Is…Our Love”
Luke 2:1-20
December 24, 5:30pm
“What God Wants for Christmas Is…Our Trust”
Luke 2:22-40
December 28
STEWARDSHIP UPDATE
Thank you to everyone who helped make last Sunday’s Thanksgiving Sunday such a special one for our church, especially Sherry Held and her team for a wonderful meal, and the adult Sunday school class for coordinating the trimming of the new Chrismon trees.
We received a very good start to our pledges for 2009, and we will be giving you a numerical update soon. If you have not yet turned in your pledge card, you can bring it to the church office or put it in the offering plate this Sunday. Thank you!
POINSETTIA ORDERS
We are taking orders for poinsettias to adorn our chancel during Advent. The cost is $12, which you can purchase in honor or in memory of a loved one. Please call your orders in to the church office or write them down on your attendance sheet. The poinsettias will be arriving from Rhoadside Blooming House in time for our service on Sunday, December 14, and can be picked up after our Christmas Eve service. Please make your check payable to the church.
PROJECT MITTEN TREE
Starting next Sunday, our mitten tree will be placed at the base of the stairwell near the north entrance for you to bring your mittens and other items for our annual mitten tree donation drive.
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