A man was seated at a table in a restaurant. A waiter was passing by. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d said the man, \u201cbut how long have you been working here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout six months,\u201d replied the waiter.<\/p>\n

The man said wearily, \u201cIn that case it couldn\u2019t have been you that took my order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waiting is no fun.<\/p>\n

Over the next few weeks our children and grandchildren will become restless with expectation and excitement waiting on the coming of Christmas. So it is with the people of God. The Old Testament concludes with the people of Israel waiting on a coming Messiah. The New Testament concludes with the followers of Jesus awaiting his return. We have been waiting now for about 2,000 years.<\/p>\n

Jesus said that no one, not even him, knows the hour or the day when the Son of Man shall return. He will come as a thief in the night. Oh, I know that it is good box office among some Christians to always be looking for the right signs. Some preachers preach on nothing else.<\/p>\n

But we shouldn\u2019t try and rush God. If we are constantly looking toward the sky we end up ignoring the responsibilities we have here and now.<\/p>\n

A young boy returned from two weeks at summer camp. He showed his mother two badges that he had won: one for making improvements in swimming, the other for naming the most birds on a nature hike.<\/p>\n

There was a blue ribbon in his pocket signifying a third prize, and his mother asked him about that. \u201cAw,\u201d he said, \u201cI got that thing for having the neatest packed bag when we were ready to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of you,\u201d his mother said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo big deal,\u201d he said. \u201cI never unpacked it in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

If we are continuously looking for God to right the world\u2019s wrongs some day in a great cataclysmic conclusion to life on this earth, we may never \u201cunpack our bag\u201d and realize that it is here and now where God has placed us.<\/p>\n

As Thomas Carlyle once put it: \u201cOur main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.\u201d \u00a0So be patient and get to work.\u00a0 As one wag put it: \u201cJesus is coming back \u2013 look busy.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are also called to be faithful. Some of you remember the ancient epic poem by Homer called the Odyssey<\/em>. It is the story of Odysseus, who traveled the world pursuing many adventures. Meanwhile, back home, his beautiful wife Penelope was being pursued by various suitors trying to take advantage of Odysseus\u2019 twenty-year absence. In order to keep these suitors at bay, Penelope announced that when she finished weaving a particular garment, she would choose among these persistent suitors. There was something these suitors did not know, however. Each night Penelope undid the stitches that she put in during the daytime, and so she remained faithful to Odysseus until he returned.<\/p>\n

We, too, are called to be faithful. While we wait for Christ\u2019s return, we are his body in the world, called to do his work, even work that might seem mundane on the face of it.<\/p>\n

A pastor once said, \u201cI sometimes fear going into heaven to stand before Jesus with his nail-pierced hands. When he asks, \u2018What have you suffered?\u2019 all that I will be able to show him is a paper cut from folding the bulletin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, folding bulletins is important. Singing in the choir is important. Working with children and youth is important. Doing outreach ministry is important. We are here doing our duty as we await the coming of our Lord.<\/p>\n

Be faithful. Remember Albert Einstein\u2019s words after the Second World War: \u201cAs a lover of freedom, when the revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks. Only the church stood squarely across the path of Hitler\u2019s campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it, because the church alone has had the courage to stand for intellectual truth, and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised, now I praise unreservedly.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are Christ\u2019s body in the world today. So be patient. Be faithful.<\/p>\n

But one thing more: be prepared. Be prepared for Christ\u2019s coming. Nothing is more unpredictable than the future. If there is one lesson from history, it is that.<\/p>\n

When the city fathers of New York City planned for the future growth of their town, they laid out the streets and numbered them from south to north. When they began, there were only six or seven streets. In their planning maps, they projected how large they thought the city might grow.<\/p>\n

Reaching beyond their wildest imagination, they drew streets on the map all the way out to 19th Street. They called it \u201cBoundary Street\u201d because they were sure that\u2019s as large as New York City would ever become. At last count, the city had reached 284th Street.<\/p>\n

Be careful when you try to predict the future. Today\u2019s experts turn out sometimes to be tomorrow\u2019s fools.<\/p>\n

In 1881 the New York City YWCA announced typing lessons for women. Amazingly, angry protests greeted this announcement. Why? Many believed that the female constitution would break down under the strain.<\/p>\n

Some of you can remember when girls were only allowed to play half court in basketball for the same reason. Nobody envisioned what today\u2019s women athletes would be capable of.<\/p>\n

There is still so much we don\u2019t know about all the things that matter most, and predictions can only be based on current knowledge. For instance, what wise person predicted the collapse of both the real estate market and our major financial institutions nine years ago?<\/p>\n

With all of the latest super computers, economists cannot even predict with certainty what our dollar will be worth next year. As one man put it, if all the economists in the world were laid end to end, they still would not reach a conclusion.<\/p>\n

In the Greek there are two words for time: One is \u201ckairos\u201d and the other is \u201cchronos.\u201d \u201cChronos\u201d as in \u201cwhat time is it?\u201d is a neutral kind of word. \u201cKairos,\u201d on the other hand, is a word charged with power. As in the phrase \u201cTHIS is the time.\u201d It is that word that Paul uses when he talks about the time of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

This may be the time. Or it may not. But it is certainly the time to take stock of our lives to see if we are prepared for an unknowable future. Live each moment as if it were your last moment. The good that you would do, do now. The love that you would give, give now. The commitment you would make, make now.<\/p>\n

Take the advice of John the Baptist: \u201cPrepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.\u201d This Advent, be patient. Be faithful. And be prepared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A man was seated at a table in a restaurant. A waiter was passing by. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d said the man, \u201cbut how long have you been working here?\u201d \u201cAbout six months,\u201d replied the waiter. The man said wearily, \u201cIn that case it couldn\u2019t have been you that took my order.\u201d Waiting is no fun. Over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n