Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving a few days late!  I'm happy to say our trip to visit our son and his wife in Florida was a success, complete with a little Florida tan.  I always appreciate getting together with family on Thanksgiving, but the only drawback this year is that we have no leftover turkey in the frig.  While some of you may think that's a blessing, I sorta miss making all those great sandwiches.  But I'm sure God will provide...

          Today is the first Sunday of the new Church Year.  As I mentioned last Sunday the Church Year is divided into two halves:  the Lord's Half which deals with the life of Jesus, and the Church's Half Year, which emphasizes the teachings of Jesus.  Today's the first Sunday in Advent, beginning a new Church Year.  Advent is a season of waiting and getting ready, so I've chosen the theme, "Getting Ready..." in our services during the coming weeks, "Getting ready ...for Christ's Return ...for a Blessed Event ...for Christmas ...for Year 2000 ... and for our Charter Sunday, January 9.  May God bless us as we consider briefly the business of "Getting Ready for Christ's Return."

          Advent comes from two Latin words meaning "to come to."  At this time of year we remember Christ's two advents, (1) when He first came and (2) when He will come again.  We're living between the two.  We remember well His first advent when He came to the world as the child born in Bethlehem.  But Scriptures tell us the babe didn't stay little.  He grew to manhood, completed the work of salvation, and then returned to heaven until His second advent, on Judgment Day.

          Most people have become somewhat confused about the significance of Christmas and Easter.  The most important festival of the Church is not the one recalling His birth, His first advent.  It's Easter, the festival recalling His resurrection.  Everyone has a birth, but only Christ had a re-birth in the Resurrection.  It's good to get ready for Jesus' birthday party, but trusting in His birth won't get us to heaven.  But believing He rose from the dead will!  Christmas may be a joyful season, but it doesn't hold a candle to the meaning of Easter.

          Today we're between those two advents, and as the days pass, we'll mostly be thinking how to celebrate His first one.  But it's imperative that we're ready for His second advent also.  We must always be ready for His return in glory.

          Our Lord was a practical person.  During His ministry He accomplished His greatest and most difficult task -- saving the world.  But His second greatest task may have been almost as difficult -- teaching His disciples, preparing them to carry on after He returned to heaven.  But He did His work well, and when the disciples were prepared, so would be all the people who would follow.  So His teaching methods were extremely important.

          One of His most practical methods of teaching was through stories, and today's short parable is a good example.  He was talking about being ready:  "It's like a man going away:  He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.  Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back--whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.  If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.  What I say to you, I say to everyone:  'Watch!'"

          When you and I leave home, we lock our doors and perhaps turn on the alarm.  My son and his wife have an alarm and have done this out of habit so much that it can shock their guests.  The day after Thanksgiving when Debbie left to do some early shopping, I opened the door and mistakenly tripped their alarm.  She had reset that silly thing with us in the house!  Are those things ever loud inside a small house!  And our former track star son can still move fast when he's motivated!

          Jesus says waiting for His return is like watching over the Master's home while He is gone.  You don't know when He will return, so he posts servants to watch for His coming.  They must stay awake.  A sleeping servant can't guard anything.  And we can't either.  He's put us in charge of watching over His house, and we can't afford to fall asleep.

          But sometimes I think we do.  It's easy to fall asleep when times are so good.  Our prosperity has lulled a whole lot of us American Christians into dreamland.  We're so caught up in our search for enjoyment and fulfillment that we're in danger of losing our first love -- to do God's will and share our faith.  When the times are this good, there's almost no way God can keep us on our toes.  I have tried and tried and found no workable solution for this.  God will have to shock us, to get us awake, because we won't stay awake in such good times as these.  Sometimes God has to trip our alarm!

          Jesus says we must stay awake because even He doesn't know when He'll be coming back.  During His time on earth before the Resurrection, which we call His State of Humiliation, He chose to limit His divine wisdom.  Wouldn't you love to know exactly when He's coming?  Wouldn't that be a wonderful bit of knowledge?  Actually, it wouldn't be as helpful as you think.  A roadmap to the future is more a hindrance to faith than a help.  Certain signs have been given us, but not for the purpose of making a detailed sequence of predictable events.  Faith is absolutely necessary, and anything that short circuits our faith is bad for us.

          We're nearing the end of 1999, the possible beginning of a new millennium.  I'm among those who don't believe it starts until 2001, but that's just semantics.  And it surely doesn't stop those who firmly believe something catastrophic will happen sometime the early days of year 2000.  They're hoarding food, generators and gold, thinking it's all going to collapse.  That doesn't seem to be an attitude of Christian faith, but of an alarmist with little faith.

          What's involved with being ready for His coming?  It's simple -- know your faith and be ready to defend it.  1 Peter 3:15 tells us, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect,..."

          This true story happened several years ago at the University of Southern California.  A philosophy professor there was a deeply committed atheist whose goal in teaching was to prove that God didn't exist.  (That seems to be the goal of a whole host of elite educators these days.)  Most students feared arguing with him because of his impeccable logic.  For twenty years he had taught the class and few had the courage to stand up to him.  Some tried arguing, but to no avail.

          The last day of each semester, he would say to the class, "If there is anyone here who still believes in God, stand up!"  In twenty years, no one had ever stood up because of what he would do next.  He'd shout, "Anyone who believes in God is a fool!  If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking."  And every year he would drop the chalk to the floor and it would shatter.  The students would remain silent, and many were convinced that God could not exist.  A number of Christians attended the class, but in twenty years not one had stood up for their faith.

          A few years ago a Christian freshman enrolled in the class.  He'd heard the stories, but this was a required course.  So for the entire semester he prayed that when the time came he would have courage to stand up as a witness.  He didn't want to deny his faith, but he was scared.  When the last day came the professor said again, "If there is anyone here who still believes in God, stand up now!"  And the young man quietly stood.  The professor and the class of 300 were shocked.  Twenty years of conceit, twenty years of harassment, and twenty years of storm trooper tactics -- threatened!  The professor shouted, "YOU FOOL!  If nothing I have said has convinced you God doesn't exist, then you're truly just a fool!  If God existed, he could keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!"

          But as the professor dropped the chalk, he was so rattled that it slipped out of his fingers, bounced off his pant leg and shoe, and rolled onto the floor, unbroken.  The professor was speechless as he stared at the unbroken chalk.  He looked at the young man a moment and abruptly left the lecture hall.  The young man then spent a few minutes sharing his faith in Jesus.  And all 300 students stayed and listened to his witness.  Know your faith and be ready to defend it.

          Knowing your faith means Bible study, and if there's one thing I plan to push and push some more in the coming year, it's Bible study.  We all need it.  There's no one here who has learned enough.  Study it in groups or alone, at work or at home, by reading or by listening to it on tape.  Every Christian home with a computer should have a Bible search program on it that gets used.

          You've heard me talk about Small Group Ministry here at Epiphany, and those all center on Bible study.  People share and care for each other, but all they do centers on God's Word.  And we have Sunday morning Bible study -- 9 AM right here.  And we have Thursday night Bible study.  We're having our first midweek Advent service this Thursday at 7:15 at the Best Western, but that service, too will center around God's Word.  Know your faith and be ready to defend it.

          That's all that really matters -- to know God and His Word, that He loves us and that He cares enough about us to give the life of His only Son for us.  Nothing is more important than believing Christ is your Lord.  He loves you no matter what.  He forgives you no matter what.

          And He tells us, "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back...  If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping."  Be ready for His return.  Know your faith and be ready to defend it.  And don't fall asleep on your watch!  Amen

Copyright © 1999 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.