Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
“Ready Like Noah”
I know that I’ve shared with you before that the word “Advent” means “coming” or “arrival,” and that Bernard of Clairvaux, a twelfth-century abbot and theologian, wrote about “three Advents” that are each relevant to this season.
First of all, there is the Incarnation, the Birth of Jesus, the Advent at Christmas. That’s the one we probably think of first – with the four weeks of Advent being a time of waiting and preparation for Christ’s Nativity.
Another Advent is the Parousia, the anticipated Second Coming of Christ, the Advent at the end of the age, which is the subject of our Gospel text today.
And the “middle” Advent, the one in between these other two, is the everyday arrival of Jesus: the host at the table, the still small voice, the hungry mother, the weary migrant. We remember that Jesus comes to us again and again, calling us, inviting us to help repair the world, little by little.
You might have noticed that I focused more on that “middle” Advent when I was speaking to the children. We are invited to keep awake so that we can recognize Christ’s presence among us today, and we are invited to be ready to participate in whatever good things God is up to in the world.
Presbyterians don’t tend to have a big focus on the Second Coming of Christ. Most of us have taken note of Jesus’ declaration that “we do not know the day or the hour” so we have avoided going down the rabbit hole of trying to predict it, and probably mostly put it out of our minds.
I’m sure there are some folks reading a text like the one we had today and speculating about an idea that they call the rapture. Because Jesus talked about some people being taken and others being left, people have dramatically imagined good Christians being physically lifted up out of the world (just before it’s destruction, sometimes leaving little piles of clothes behind) and they are whisked off to the heavenly realm.
Together with other Christian churches, Presbyterians do affirm that we believe that “Christ will come again,” as we proclaim the Apostles’ Creed. But we are agnostic about what exactly that will look like, and we are skeptical about concepts like the rapture that you may have encountered in books or movies like “The Left Behind Series.”
However, the Scriptures are full of visions and assurances that one day God is going to do something dramatic to bring about the fullness of God’s reign on earth where everything is finally as it should be.
The reading from Isaiah 2 this morning is a good example. The prophet casts a vision of worldwide peace and flourishing “in the days to come” when swords are refashioned into ploughshares, spears become pruning hooks, and people have no need to learn how to be at war with one another.
And Jesus, when he was nearing the end of his public ministry, told his followers that there would be signs when the current age was coming to an end, beginning with the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. He said that a time of great suffering would follow, but then new signs would appear, and finally the Son of Man would arrive to make everything right.
However, since we don’t know exactly when Christ will come again (and not even Jesus knew) we have to stay vigilant. “Keep awake!” Jesus says, “Be ready!”
Now, I know what I need to do to get ready for Christmas. I need to plan some more worship services and write some more sermons. I need to practice for my choir’s Christmas concert. Nick needs to finish making his fruitcakes and plum puddings, and together we need to confirm our plans for Christmas Day, especially if we’re going to spend it with some of his family in Winnipeg.
I’m sure that each of you could make a similar list of preparations that you need to do so that you’ll be ready for Christmas, which might well include decorating, shopping, baking, attending special events, and more.
But what do we need to do to prepare for Christ’s coming again? How can we make sure that we are ready for that eventuality?
In our Gospel text today, Jesus warns his followers that they must be doing something to get ready, and he uses the example of Noah. You remember Noah, right? God told him to build an ark, which he went ahead and did, while his neighbours kept on “eating, drinking, and marrying,” oblivious to the fact that the whole world was about to be destroyed in a flood. They paid no attention to the crazy man building a boat under a cloudless sky – and then in a flash the flood was upon them.
In a reflection on this text on the Working Preacher website, Catherine Hamilton points out that floods happen that way, as the people of Jesus’ country knew and know.
She explains: “There are wadis in that land, in Israel, Egypt, North Africa – valleys that slice through the dry land. A wadi is dry and empty most of the year, enticing for a hike or a picnic. But come a sudden rain, and in no time, a wadi becomes a lethal, raging river.
“One spring, when I was a child living briefly in Tunisia,” Catherine shares, “An English family visiting the country did just what a wadi invites you to do: They had a picnic, Mom and Dad and two kids, in a nearby wadi. They did not know about wadis. There they were, eating and drinking, when out of sight, the storm began, and in a flash the torrent was upon them, crashing down through the wadi without any warning at all.”
And as Jesus said about the people of Noah’s time, “The flood came and swept them all away.”
Although Jesus is clear that we will not know the day or the time of his coming again, we are assured that he will come. “The English family did not know about wadis, but the locals knew, the locals know, and so they watch and do not picnic in a wadi.
Catherine suggests that “We are the locals in the world of God’s purpose, so it is our job to watch, it is our job in this world to be the people who stay awake, who with [our] whole lives watch for Jesus.”
I wonder if what we do in our churches and in our lives of faith seems as strange to our neighbours as Noah’s neighbours observing him building his big, giant boat.
I mean, some of Noah’s neighbours might have just thought he was really into woodworking. Maybe people observe our behaviour and just assume that we’re really into organ music and we enjoy connecting with people of various ages beyond our own families. They may assume that church is like any other social club, activity, or volunteer opportunity, and they are completely unaware of the urgency or the necessity of our faith.
I wonder if they realize that we’re getting ready for the new world that Christ has promised is going to come. We don’t know when, but we know it’s coming and we are preparing.
We’re preparing by confessing our sins and mending our relationships. We’re preparing by learning who God is and how God wants us to live. We’re preparing by studying the life of Jesus and trying to match up our lives with his teachings.
We’re preparing by practicing our faith in community – practicing kindness, practicing patience, practicing self-control, generosity, and love, and all the other fruits of the Spirit.
We’re preparing by paying attention and being deeply concerned about the fact that the world is not as it should be. We’re preparing by speaking, advocating, and acting for justice and peace in our time, with the hope that Isaiah’s vision will one day be fulfilled by the power of God.
I wonder about Noah. When he was just getting started on the ark, or when he was about half done, or even closer to ready to set sail… I wonder if he worried that the flood might come too soon and he wouldn’t be ready yet.
Unlike the number of days and weeks that we know we have to prepare for Christmas, we have no idea how long we will be given to prepare for the coming of Christ our Lord. If Christ came this afternoon, would you be ready? Or if he came on Christmas Day this year? Or if he came 20 years from now? I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t be ready, not really.
The point is not that we have to achieve perfection. We’re human beings, after all. But as Christ’s people, we believe that Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead, to judge us with grace and with truth. And we are called to live a life that is ready, always watching for Jesus’ face – watching, working, hoping, and praying for the coming of the Lord and for all people to see and recognize his coming.
When I shared that story about the picnicking family that was washed away in the flood, did you wish that the locals had warned them about what they knew? Catherine suggests that we Christians are the locals who know about Christ’s coming and how to prepare. She wonders if maybe our Christian lives could be a sign for others… a little like Noah building his ark.
Certainly, some of our neighbours may observe us and wonder about what we’re doing, just as Noah’s neighbours wondered about his strange behaviour. Some of them may wonder enough to ask about what we’re up to, giving us an opening to share. And when they ask, might we have the courage to invite them to help us with the preparations? Might we have the boldness to invite them into the boat?
The Apostle Paul told the Christians at Rome in the first century that they knew what time it was, how it was already the moment to wake from sleep. He said, “Salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.”
This Advent season, let us hear and respond to that same message. Let’s not wait any longer to begin our preparations, but let’s get ready for the coming of Christ.