[Mcgregorpage] McGregorPage #637 Advent 1, 11/30/08

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Advent 1 -- November 30, 2008

Isaiah 64:1 9
Psalm 80:1 7, 17 19
1 Corinthians 1:3 9
Mark 13:24 37


Ready To Trade

Jesus instructs the disciples to be ready to trade this world for the next.  Paul gives thanks to God that the church in Corinth is ready to trade.  The Psalmist is ready to trade the miserable present for the reign of God.  Isaiah is ready to trade a miserable present for a future like the past, when both God and Israel were faithful.

"Come quickly Lord!" was a prayer the early church learned from her mother, the synagogue.  It was always heard in the worst of times, but to utter that plea in the best of times is a real testimony to faith in God.  We tend to alternate between, "Come quickly Lord," and "Stand back; I can do it myself."

Some years ago, a thirteen-year-old boy brought a gun to school and shot a girl in the head.  It was all the more shocking because the assault took place in a small, New Mexico town.  A witness to the crime interviewed on television had yet to lose the baby fat in his face and spoke with an unchanged voice.  I found myself joining Isaiah asking God to tear open the heavens, come down and set things right, at least as right as they were when I was thirteen, before our children were armed and dangerous, but that is not the prayer Jesus has in mind, not one to set the clock back to a better time.  Jesus wan
ts us to be ready to trade this world for the next.

To say that not even the Son knows the day and the hour is certainly to say that we don't know it either.  What's more, we don't even know the nature of this trade, trading this day for "the day of the Lord."  What we do know Paul tells us:  "God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."  (1 Corinthians 1:9)  Paul also gives us an idea what "ready" means:   "I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind   just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you    so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ."  (1 Corinthians 1:4-7) 

The right fielder in a sand lot baseball game knows the difficulty of readiness.  One could stand out there the whole game and never see a ball come your way.  When you hear the crack of the bat and get an early flash of the ball's trajectory, high and between first and second base, all of a sudden, you are supposed to move like an anti-missile missile.  You are supposed to be able to meet the ball in the air.  Unfortunately, however, you discover that your feet have taken root where they were planted.

What would it be like to live every day ready to trade it for the day of the Lo
rd?  I would be more intent on God's glory than my own.  I would be less threatened by earthly powers.  I would be more interested in relationships that will transfer in the trade, love of God and neighbor.  I would be less interested in possessions.  

This first Sunday in Advent invites us not to prepare for a festive winter solstice but to be ready to trade this world for the next.


May these thoughts strengthen you. 
 
An Open Letter to Fellow Pastors 
>From Roland McGregor, United Methodist Pastor 
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