Good Shepherd Lutheran Church(elca)

Following Christ, Growing in Faith, Sharing God's Love

Home › Content

Untitled

Pastor: 
Pr. John Gerike

<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if !mso]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <![endif]-->

Sermon

November 28 and 29, 2009

Luke 21:25-36

 

I really like turkey sandwiches.

            I like the Thanksgiving meal—

                        --and then I like the days that follow

                        --with leftovers.

            The pie is gone pretty quickly.

                        But sometimes at our house,

                                    the turkey can last a while.

            So we have a repeat of the Thanksgiving meal,

                        and we have turkey and wild rice soup,

                        and some years we have turkey divan

                        and turkey tetrazzini—

                                    --and especially turkey sandwiches

                                    --the classic with mayo, salt and pepper

                                    --and then, occasionally,

                                                I’ll just put some cranberry sauce right on the sandwich.

 

So, these days after Thanksgiving,

            I’m thankful for the leftovers.

 

 

But in the church year,

            we’re on to something new.

  It’s a new year in the church—

                        --because this is the first Sunday/weekend in Advent.

            A new year by the liturgical church calendar.

 

And Advent is a time of anticipation,

            a time of waiting,

            a time of preparation,

            a time of hope.

 

We were at the grocery store

            a couple days before Thanksgiving.

  We went about 9:00 on Tuesday evening to avoid the crowds.

            And as we walked down the aisles,

                        we were singing along with the overhead music.

                                    Christmas music.

            And I thought,

                        one month from now

                                    it will be Christmas eve.

            That’s coming quick.

                        Am I ready?

 

And now,

            as we move into Advent,

                        it’s time for decorations.

            We’re having our hanging of the greens

                        next weekend here at church—

                                    --but I’m guessing a lot of you have decorations up

                                                at home already.

            We could.

                        But we don’t yet.

 

There’s still lots to be done in less than a month.

            Decorations.

            Presents.

            Cookies.

            Clean the house.

            Write a Christmas Letter—

                        --sometimes that’s done by Christmas

                        --one year it became an Easter letter.

            And the list goes on and on.

 

 

And in the midst of the busyness,

            in the midst of the crowded stores,

  in the midst of the day-after-Thanksgiving black Friday sales,

                        in the midst of the parties and get-togethers.

 

            I start to wonder if we might be missing something.

 

 

This Advent,

            a deeper question arises.

 

In this Advent,

            we don’t just prepare for a holiday—

                        --we prepare for Christmas

                        --Christ’s coming,

            and the question becomes:

 

Jesus is coming.  Am I ready?

  Jesus is coming.  Are you ready?

 

 

 

 

 

What does our Gospel reading say about being ready?

            Verse 31 says:

                        “When you see these things taking place,

                                    you know that the Kingdom of God is near.”

 

What things?

            Probably referring back to verses 25 through 27:

 

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,

            and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea

                        and the waves.

            People will faint from fear and foreboding

                        of what is coming upon the world,

                                    for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

            Then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud

                        with power and great glory.”

 

 

You know what’s interesting about that list of signs

            that the end is coming?

  There are signs like that all the time.

            People are talking now about 2012.

                        And before that 2000.

                                    And long before that 1000.

                                                And a whole bunch of times in between.

 

The signs remind us

            that the end could come anytime.

                        We don’t know and we won’t know.

 

 

But anytime there’s a tornado,

            or a hurricane,

                        or an earthquake—

            --we realize that things aren’t as solid and stable

                        as they sometimes appear.

 

            And when we watch the news,

                        and again and again see news of war,

                                    and terrorism,

                                                and murder,

                        we are seeing signs that the end will come.

 

 

 

 

We don’t know what it will be like.

            We don’t know when the end is coming.

  But there are signs,

            reminding us that it is coming.

                        The only thing we know for sure today,

                                    is that it is closer than yesterday.

 

And even if the end of the world doesn’t come in our lifetime,

            we are still drawn ever closer

                        to the end of our own lives.

            And that time, too, is unknown.

 

 

 

Brent, Ruth and I were able to help deliver Thanksgiving dinners

            last Sunday.

  The people of Good Shepherd

            spread out all over the area sharing food and God’s love.

                        Our deliveries were in Maplewood.

            We went down on highway 40

                        and drove back on Manchester road.

            And as we were driving,

                        all of a sudden the traffic was clogged.

                                    And we figured it was either a water main break

                                                or an accident.

 

When we got a little further,

            we saw that it was an accident.

                        And as we got close,

                                    Brent said:

                                                “They’re pulling someone out of that car.”

            And then we were past.

 

We don’t know what happened.

            They may have just been taking precautions,

                        or the person may not have survived.

           

We don’t know what will happen.

            We’re driving along—

                        --everything seems fine—

                                    --and then…

 

The end is unknown.

            It could be today.

                        It might not be for years.

            But the end is coming.

 

And in the midst of that reality,

            we have an Advent promise.

  The promise that Jesus is coming.

            And that’s good news.

 

 

Actually,

            in Advent we remember 3 comings of Jesus.

  The coming in Bethlehem 2000 years ago.

            The coming of Jesus to our lives now.

                        And Jesus’ coming at the end of time.

 

 

And did you hear the good news in our gospel reading?

            In verse 27 and 28:

 

“Then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud

            with power and great glory.

  Now, when these things begin to take place…”

 

What?

            When these things happen—

                        ---cower in fear???

                        ---despair because there’s no hope???

 

No—when these things happen,

            “stand up and raise your heads,

                        because your redemption is drawing near.”

 

 

The coming of Jesus is good news.

 

We have the promise that God is always with us.

            That Jesus comes to us again and again.

  That Jesus is with us.

            In life and in death,

                        we are the Lord’s.

            And nothing can ever separate us from the love of God

                        in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

There’s a story I’ve heard

            about a POW camp in Germany in World War II.

  Life in this camp had been hard.

                        The men feared for their lives each day.

            It was toward the end of the war,

                        and the prisoners were hearing rumors

                                    that things were going badly for the Germans

                                                and well for the Allies.

            And one day,

                        they got word that the war was over.

            They weren’t released right away.

                        It still took a while for everything to truly happen.

                                    But oh, how their existence changed,

                                                when they knew the final outcome.

 

            The fear was gone.

                        Hope and joy were restored.

            There was still waiting,                      

                        but oh, how the waiting had changed.

 

 

The final outcome for us has been decided.

            The victory has been won.

                        By Christ.

                        On the cross.

            And a promise has been made.

  A promise that the Lord is coming.

            Coming again and again to us now.

                        And coming once and for all at the end of time.

 

And oh, how that changes the waiting.

 

 

 

 

And in the midst of that waiting,

            our Gospel reading, in verse 36

                        encourages us to:

                                    “Be alert at all times…”

 

What does that mean for us?

            Well, it doesn’t mean to be alert for a particular moment—

                        --because we don’t know the time

 

 

 

The reason a thief can sneak into your house and steal things

                        is the element of surprise.

            You don’t know when he’s coming.

 

If you knew that someone was going to break into your house

            at 2:00 am on Tuesday morning,

                        it wouldn’t be any problem.

            You could go to sleep,

                        set your alarm,

                                    then get up in time to have the police there,

                                                waiting and ready.

           

But, since you don’t know when a thief might come around,

            you always have to be ready.

 

 

And how do we do that?

            What does that mean for us?

 

 

 

I think of dogs.

            Did you know that Martin Luther had a dog?

                        That’s one of my trivia questions for my Confirmation Class.

            What was Martin Luther’s dog’s name?

                        I haven’t asked that yet this year—

                                    --so my Confirmation students who are here

                                                get 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 he 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.”

 

 

 

We have a dog,

            Springer Spaniel,

                        Minnie.

            Minnie’s 12 years old—

                        --so getting slower.

            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 we can’t say out loud until it’s time)—

            --she is alert and ready

                        --prancing around

                                    --spinning around in circles

                                                --she can hardly wait.

 

And then we say,

            “Minnie, do you want to go for a walk?”

                        And she can hardly contain herself.

 

And then we say,

            “Go get your leash.”

                        And she races into the laundry room

                                    and waits for us to put on her leash.

            Her whole body quivering with excitement.

                        Her tail wagging.

                                    She is ready.

 

Being ready is not doing a certain list of things,

            it’s an attitude.

                        An attitude that comes from a relationship.

 

To be ready

            is to see the wonderful love of God

                        and follow where God leads.

 

To be ready

            is to be loved,

                        and to live in that love.

 

To be ready

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

                        And in that relationship,

                                    you are ready—

                                    --you are prepared.

 

May the hope of Advent surround you

            as you live in God’s love.

 

 

In Jesus’ name,

            Amen