I Give Thanks | Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (ELCA) Manchester MO

Pastor:

Pr. John Gerike

Sermon audio:

I Give Thanks

November 26 and 27, 2011

Mark 13:24-37

Psalm 136 is my Psalm for this season.

I’ve used it for a newsletter article,

and Council devotions,

and Thanksgiving Eve worship,

and now.

The Psalm is a responsive reading.

I can imagine the leader reading the part that changes each verse.

And the congregation says the part that stays the same.

That’s what we’re going to do.

But I’ve changed the leader parts

to reflect our Christian faith story.

Give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is good:

For God’s mercy endures forever (congregation repeats after each phrase).

Who created us and all living things…

Who gives us all we need for daily life…

Who still loves us, even though we sin and fall short…

Who forgives our sins, again and again…

Who never turns away from us, even though we turn away…

Who is with us always, even in the midst of tough times…

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son…

That whoever believes in him should not perish…

But have everlasting life…

Give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is good:

For God’s mercy endures forever.

But somehow we forget

that amazing good news.

We lose sight of God’s amazing grace.

And so we get this reminder.

Would you read verse 37 of the Gospel with me, please:

“And what I say to you I say to all:

Keep awake.”

I remembered a little phrase I’d heard:

“Life is short—stay awake.”

So, I typed that in Google,

and I got a slightly different version:

“Life is short—stay awake for it.”

Do you know who uses that quote?

Caribou coffee.

Which makes sense—

--I supppose.

And then they ask the question?

What do you stay awake for?

And people respond—

--and some of the responses get put on Caribou Coffee’s

coffee cups.

What do you stay awake for?

What’s worth staying awake for?

Jesus says to us:

“Keep awake.”

This is the first weekend in Advent.

In Advent we focus on preparation.

Preparation for the coming of Christ.

Or perhaps, better,

the comings of Christ.

The coming of Christ as a baby in Bethlehem.

The coming of Christ at the end of time.

And the coming of Christ in our lives day after day.

Keep awake!

Would you read verse 35 and 36 with me:

“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,

or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.”

The Romans divided the night into 4 watches—

--and Mark points them out:

--evening

--midnight

--cockcrow

--dawn.

He could come back in the evening,

or at midnight,

or at cockcrow,

or at dawn.

The Biblical scholar Thomas Long

points out something interesting.

Our Bible reading for today is from

Mark, chapter 13.

Do you know what you find if you look

at Mark, chapter 14?

What’s the first watch of the night?

Evening.

“And when it was evening,

he said to his disciples,

one of you will betray me.”

He could come back in the evening.

What’s the next watch?

Midnight.

“Late that night, they went to the garden,

‘Watch,” he said, ‘while I pray.”

But when he had prayed,

he came out and found them asleep.

‘Could you not watch with me just one hour?’”

He could come back at evening.

He could come back at midnight.

And the next watch?

Cockcrow.

“Weren’t you with him?”

“No, I wasn’t with him.”

“Yes you were, I saw you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Peter said.

And the cock crowed.

He could come back at evening.

Midnight.

Cockcrow.

And the last one?

Dawn.

“When it was morning,” Mark says,

“they handed him over to be crucified.”

Keeping awake doesn’t just mean looking to the future,

wondering when the end will come.

Keeping awake is for every moment of every day.

Evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn—

--and all day long.

Every tick of the clock has the potential for following Jesus.

And every tick of the clock has the potential for falling asleep.

“And what I say to you, I say to all,” Jesus says,

“Keep awake.”

But if the disciples in the Garden of Gethesemane

can’t even stay awake for an hour,

how are we going to stay awake

for the rest of our lives.

We fail.

We fall.

We sleep.

We sin.

We fall short.

We do.

But (Bible scholar Brian Stoffregen reminds us),

when we look at the sleeping disciples,

we also need to remember that,

even after falling asleep at their post—

--three times—

--Jesus didn’t tell them to leave.

He was frustrated.

But he didn’t send them home.

Instead, what did Jesus do?

Jesus went to the cross.

To die for all people.

Even sleepy disciples.

Even you and me.

Why does God love us?

Not because of anything we do.

But because of who God is.

It’s pure grace.

And loved by God,

we are strengthened to stay awake—

--to know that God is with us

--and to follow where Christ leads the way.

And loved by God,

even knowing we fail and sin and fall asleep,

even knowing all that,

Jesus says:

“Keep awake.”

What does that mean for us?

What does that look like?

I think of dogs.

Usually,

somewhere during the year,

I ask my Confirmation Class a trivia question.

I ask them if they know the name

of Martin Luther’s dog.

Did you know Martin Luther had a dog?

I haven’t asked the Confirmation Class that question yet—

--so if they’re here,

they’re getting some help.

What was Martin Luther’s dog’s name?

Klutz.

And he writes about Klutz.

He must have fed him table scraps,

because Luther writes about how,

when Luther was at the table,

the dog watched him with open mouth

and motionless eyes.

And Luther writes:

“All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat.

Otherwise he has no thought, wish, or hope.

Oh, if we could pray the way this dog watches meat.

If our relationship with God were so close.”

As many of you know,

we have a dog.

Springer Spaniel.

Minnie.

She’s 14 years old,

so getting slower.

Can’t always get up too easily.

Can’t hear much at all.

But one thing definitely perks her up.

If she sees us putting on tennis shoes,

or a sweatshirt—

--or any signs that we’re getting ready to take a walk

(which, when she could hear,

we couldn’t say out loud)—

--she is alert and ready

--prancing around

--spinning around in circles

--she can hardly wait.

And then we go in the laundry room

to get her leash,

and she can hardly stand it—

--she’s so excited.

Her whole body is quivering with excitement.

Her tail is wagging.

She is ready.

She is alert.

She is most-definitely awake.

Being ready,

being awake,

is not doing a certain list of things.

It’s an attitude.

An attitude that comes from relationship.

To be awake

is to see the wonderful love of God

and follow where God leads.

To be awake

is to be loved by God

and to live in that love.

To be awake

is to have a relationship with the God who loves you.

And, in that relationship,

you are prepared,

you are ready,

--you are awake.

Life is short—stay awake for it.

Because Jesus says to you and to me:

What I say to you,

I say to all:

Keep awake.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen