“An Invitation To Walk In The Light” Christmas Eve, 2007

(First, read the text for this sermon: Isaiah 9:2-7)

On this evening, we gather in the darkness of night. We anticipate the light of Christmas morning!

The images of darkness and light are primal. They are prominent in that most familiar Christmas story we just read, from Luke. Also, from the prophet Isaiah, we read:

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness --
on them light has shined.

This passage from Isaiah contains verses that are beloved! When we read:

For a child has been born for us, …
… and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace --

we can’t help but sing the chorus from Handel’s Messiah: “For unto us a child is born …”

Messiah has become an indispensable part of the annual Christmas celebration for many of us. Each Christmas we also enjoy visits from loved ones and gifts and decorations and (for some) once a year worship …

The annual celebration is wonderful! I bring you the good news of this evening, though. It is an invitation to something much more life-changing and liberating than repeating the annual rituals that you and I have come to call “Christmas.” We are called by the scripture and by the liturgy of this night to be an everyday follower of this Jesus, whose birth we’re celebrating.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--
on them light has shined.

God the Holy Spirit calls you and me to walk in that light!

Isaiah the prophet most probably uttered the words in this passage in chapter nine to celebrate the birth of a new crown prince, soon after the Syro-Epraimitic war of 734 BCE. Isaiah spoke words that were specific to that time and place. They were good news for an oppressed people! Isaiah spoke of the hope of overthrowing the Assyrians (the superpower of the day):

For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.

For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

The next verses are very much like a hymn that would be used in the enthronement ritual for the new crown prince who has just been born to continue the Davidic line:

For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Those last words describe a vision of perpetual peace! Of never-ending justice and righteousness! And so, the early church heard these promises and saw them fulfilled in Jesus. The early church understood these verses not just referring to the hoped for overthrow of the Assyrians eight centuries previous, but that the “great light” could be identified as Jesus!

They read,

those who lived in a land of deep darkness --
on them light has shined,

and they understood that light to be Jesus!

They read,

His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom,

and they understood that to refer to Jesus’ authority!

They read,

He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore,

and they understood this to be the justice and righteousness that Jesus had brought into the world.

So, too, do you and I hear these words and envision Jesus the Messiah. On this night we celebrate with great joy what God has done in Jesus the Christ! And the Holy Spirit moves among us on this night inviting us to walk in the light that is the Christ, walking in the ways that Isaiah calls to our attention and that are expanded by what we have seen in the revelation that is Jesus. Walking in the light that is the Christ means walking in the way of justice and righteousness for all who are oppressed politically and driven into poverty. It means walking in the way of peace-making and conflict resolution among those who are fighting each other, in our homes, in our communities, and in far-away nations.

The Holy Spirit invites you and me to walk in that light as it shines into our personal darkness, as well.

I read,

For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian --

and I think of all that are burdens for you and me, all that oppresses you and me.

What personal burdens do you carry, from which you need liberation? What for you is the “yoke” and the “bar” and the “rod?” Is it the “yoke” of fear? Is it the “bar” of anger and resentment? Is it the “rod” of regret? These ancient words of prophecy become good news of deliverance and liberation for you and me – from all destructive emotions that imprison us.

Deliverance and liberation are what Jesus the Christ brings! Light in the darkness! The Light now has a capital “L”!

The annual celebration of what we call “Christmas” is wonderful. But what God the Holy Spirit is doing tonight is something far more important. The Spirit is inviting us into what is life-changing. It is an invitation to resist the darkness, and to walk, each day, in the Light that has come into the world!

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

“God Is With Us” December 23, 2007 Advent 4

(First, read the text for this sermon: Matthew 1:18-25)

This morning we read the Christmas story in the gospel of Matthew. It’s pretty short, isn’t it? And it’s much different from the story that is beloved and familiar. (That’s the one in the gospel of Luke. That’s the one with the angels and the shepherds and the manger! We’ll read that one tomorrow night.)

Among the many differences between the stories in Matthew and in Luke, one of the most striking is the importance of Joseph. In Luke’s story, Joseph is only a bit player. But in Matthew’s story, Joseph is the central figure! To me, Joseph witnesses to a tenacious faith that God is with us in the messiness of our lives!

The gospel writer describes Joseph as a “righteous man.” That means that he is able to maintain a right standing with God, by fulfilling the religious law. It’s a religious system in which, if you follow the rules, then God is placated, and everything is under control. There’s nothing in this system that’s wild or crazy or out on the margins.

It’s important to understand the religious assumptions Joseph is starting from, because soon he’s going to find himself in a real mess! God is going to pull Joseph far away from conventional religious comfort. How will he respond?

According to the passage, Joseph is “engaged” to a young girl named Mary. The gospel writer also refers to Joseph as Mary’s “husband.” But Joseph and Mary aren’t living together yet. To put it crassly, Joseph hasn’t taken delivery of Mary yet! The property transaction has been completed, between Joseph and Mary’s father. The agreement has been reached, for Mary to be transferred from her father’s house to Joseph’s. The transfer just hasn’t happened yet. Mary is a valuable piece of property because she is a virgin. This was of extreme importance – because property inheritance rules were so important. If men could not be absolutely sure that children born were their own, then the whole system of property transfers would fall apart. (Sorry to be so blunt. It’s just that there wasn’t anything romantic in the religious system Joseph and Mary were living under.)

Here’s why any of this matters: Joseph is secure in his religious status as a righteous man, and he’s lining up his possessions to begin the next stage of his life. But what a mess he now finds himself in. We read in Matthew: Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. (Don’t you love how matter of fact and cryptic that is? Luke’s story has lots more detail about just how this pregnancy happens – but that’s because, there, Mary is the chief character in the story. Here, the story is all about Joseph, and it doesn’t matter how this pregnancy has happened; just that it has happened!)

Mary is “found to be with child.” You and I, dear readers, know that this child is from the Holy Spirit. But at this point, we know more than Joseph! At this point in the story, Joseph doesn’t know anything about God’s involvement in any of this. What he does know is that his property is damaged. The girl he has negotiated to receive from her father is obviously no longer a virgin. (Obviously that’s true, if she’s pregnant!) And Joseph knows that the child is not his! And so there’s no question for a righteous man: Joseph cannot go forward with the legal agreement. He decides to dissolve the arrangement he had with Mary’s father.

In fact, Joseph makes plans to act far beyond the requirements for righteousness! Instead, he’s merciful to an astonishing degree. According to the religious law that defines right standing with God, the penalty for a woman who is pregnant by someone other than her husband is death by stoning. If Joseph was concerned about following the law to the letter, that is what he would demand! But exercising unimaginable grace and mercy, Joseph is willing to release his claim without insisting on damages from Mary’s father.

Unfortunately for Mary, this means that she is destined to scrabble for existence for her and her baby, for however many years her inevitably short life will last. But Joseph is managing this difficult situation well, even if he’s doing it in a way that’s unorthodox. He’s being merciful and, at the same time, he’s doing nothing to damage his status as a righteous member of the people of God. He’s still got things under control!

But just when [Joseph] had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Good Lord! The mess has suddenly gotten lots messier! What will Joseph do?

This is a good time to pause, and to enter into the story, right there with Joseph. How is life messy for you? Where is it scary because it seems to be out of control?

Isn’t that the hardest thing to do: to let go of what you can’t control anyway? For instance, many of us struggle with illness and disability. All of us find that, as we get older than, say, 35 years old, our bodies increasingly won’t do what they used to. For some that’s a crisis! Some of us gathered here are suffering through family conflicts. Some of us are hurting from professional disappointments.

Many of us feel our struggles more acutely during these days leading up to Christmas. For instance, our grief over loved ones who have died is more sharp at this time of year. For some of us, there just seems to be something intangible that is wrong, something that’s hard to define. Maybe it’s that we put such a burden on ourselves at Christmas time, of how we “should” feel and celebrate. Pastor Gary Erdos puts this particular feeling well: “Christmas is not like the movies, books, songs and neighbors seem to make it out to be. The possibility for disappointment is great. The likelihood of exhaustion is almost total. Almost all of us vow to make changes in how we deal with Christmas and almost none of us do.”

We try so hard, but there’s so much that’s not under our control! There’s so much that’s messy, and that’s scary!

So let’s return to Joseph, because that’s his situation too. He’s told in a dream, of all places, who this child will be, and the gospel writer adds: All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,"
which means, "God is with us."

God is with us! That’s the faith statement here. God is with us! Where? Right in our mess!

Indeed, perhaps, it is only when things fall apart, or stress breaks us down; when we admit that we can’t keep it under control, or hold it together; perhaps it is only then that the Holy Spirit can open us to the good news of God’s presence with us. “Emmanuel, which means, God is with us.”

Here are, perhaps, the most significant words in this morning’s story: When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.

Imagine such faith – such faith that God is with us! That God can be trusted to be present to us, in the mess. That God can be counted on to lead us through the mess.

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

"Watching, Hoping, Working, Open To Surprise" Advent 3 December 16, 2007

(First read the passages for this sermon: Matthew 11:2-11; James 5:7-10)

John the Baptist is just a big problem! That’s true every Advent, when we read about him on two consecutive Sundays.

It’s ok that his clothing and his food and his actions are just like the prophet Elijah. That’s the point of what we read last Sunday: In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.' "
Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Many of God’s people expected the prophet Elijah to return, just before the Messiah would come. So: so far, so good with John the Baptist.

And obviously John spoke to a deep and wide spiritual hunger. Last week we read: Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But listen to how last week’s passage concludes:

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

John the Baptist is a problem, isn’t he, saying frightening things like that?

John the Baptist is in this morning’s story, too, from the gospel of Matthew. But now, eight chapters later, he’s in a much different situation. He’s been thrown in prison by King Herod. (That’s what Herod did after John protested to the king that it was wrong to steal his brother’s wife to be his own wife. Remember that story?) And John had been sure that God would do what he had said God would do – back there in chapter three! And, in the intervening time, Jesus has been calling disciples and healing and teaching.

But has Jesus been doing what John expected of him? Has there been, for instance, unquenchable fire? No! Notice the Baptists’ confusion about all of this, expressed in this morning’s story: When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" John thinks he was wrong! Then comes Jesus’ reply: Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

“And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me." John the Baptist is not alone. Most of God’s people cannot figure Jesus out because what he is doing is not at all what God’s people expected of the Messiah. Most looked to the Messiah to act with great power to bring great national victory! But is Jesus working to overthrow the Romans, restoring Israel as the preeminent power in the world? Instead, Jesus is bringing good news and healing to those considered abhorrent and unclean because of their defects: the blind, the lame, those with leprosy, those who are deaf, the poor. Jesus, the One sent from God, is directing all of his attention to those too poor to afford health insurance, and to those considered unworthy to be with “respectable people” in a place of worship. What a surprise! Indeed, what offense!

If you and I are open to the surprise of what’s really in the Bible stories about Jesus, then where do we look for the coming of the kingdom? According to this passage, and according to all the gospel stories about Jesus, we look to what God is doing among the blind (physically and spiritually!); and among those with physical disabilities; and among those who are unclean and outcast; and among those who are deaf (physically and spiritually!); and among those who are poor (literally and spiritually!). It is there, in human weakness, that we see the advent of the kingdom.

In other words, God is at work in this world in ways you and I least suspect! We’re just like the John the Baptist in this! However, you and I are baptized into the community that is watching, hoping, working, open to surprise, as God enters in.

I find some intriguing commentary to all of this, in a couple of the verses from the passage we read in James this morning. To those in his community at the end of the first century who were anxious because the coming kingdom hadn’t made a great big splash, the author of James writes: Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

When you are called to be patient, don’t you feel called to great tension? Most every one of us struggles with patience!

In the Advent devotional booklet that many of us are using, words from Henri Nouwen give expression to this tension. (This is from the devotion for one week ago today.) “A waiting person is a patient person. The word ‘patience’ implies the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us. Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there. Impatient people expect the real thing to happen somewhere else, and therefore they want to get away from the present situation and go elsewhere. For them, the moment is empty. But patient people dare to stay where they are, waiting.”

This is anything but passive! “Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there.” That is the dynamic tension of Advent.

Do you see the tension for us in this community of the baptized? Remember the verb tenses as we speak the mystery of faith in the Holy Communion liturgy: “Christ is risen. Christ will come again.”

We know how it’s all going to turn out! But we‘re “in-between” what is and what will be.

Advent means watching, hoping, working, open to the surprising ways God is breaking into our world!

In the name of God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

“We Are A Community Of Hope For Each Other” Advent 2 December 9, 2007

(First read the passages for this sermon: Romans 15:4-13; Isaiah 11:1-10)

How good it is, to gather together during Advent.

The Spirit has gathered us together to create for us some breathing room during the increasing rush of these weeks. At this time, in this place, you and I do not have to worry about that long list of things to do – Christmas cards and buying presents and worrying about travel arrangements and … Here, we can simply gather together, knowing God’s presence.

This is a sensual gathering! God comes to us through all our senses. Here we listen as words of scripture are read, words of great hope in God’s promises. In silence we watch while another candle is lit on the Advent wreath – pointing us towards God’s fulfillment that is not yet. At the altar, Christ comes to us in physical presence, through our senses of touch and taste, through the bread and the wine.

We gather together during Advent and the Holy Spirit moves us to encourage each other to be hopeful, to be alert – because God is bringing fulfillment to history, and if we don’t watch for that, we miss how it’s happening!

We are a community of hope for each other.

That’s how this morning’s verses from Romans speak to me on this second Sunday in Advent. It’s a passage that describes the stance of a community of Christians who are watching for God to bring fulfillment to history. In this watching, we are supporting each other, we are encouraging each other, we are carrying each other when that is necessary. And all the while, the Spirit is forming us in patience, endurance, steadfastness, in encouragement, in hope.

Here’s the way Paul puts it: For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the next verses, Paul tells us that you and I are welcomed into what God is doing, in God’s unfolding purposes for creation. Paul writes that this welcome is universal. It is for Jews and non-Jews. This is made possible through Christ. God’s purpose is to renew all of creation! God’s purpose is to gather the whole world into one community of salvation. The Holy Spirit includes you and me in all of that. We are part of the people of all times and all places who watch and hope and work for these final purposes of God for all of creation.

Indeed, we know how it’s all going to turn out! We heard some specifics described, by the prophet Isaiah:

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.

They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

We are a community of Christians, gathering together to encourage each other’s hope for such fulfillment! In our assembly, we hear words of fulfillment read from the prophet. We sit in silence and watch as another candle is lit on the Advent wreath. We anticipate what God will bring to be.

It is especially important that we do these things because this is a time of year that highlights our lack of fulfillment! So many are sad and depressed at this time of year. So many feel their losses more acutely during these weeks – because all the cultural voices tell us that we are supposed to be dancing and singing during every waking moment of this “most wonderful time of the year!” And if you don’t feel that way? Well then, the remedy is to buy stuff! Piles and piles of stuff to put under the Christmas tree!

But then, what happens, on Christmas morning, when all those presents are opened? It’s fun to do that! But what then? In the midst of all that torn-open wrapping paper, has fulfillment come? Instead, aren’t you left struggling with the same things you were before?

Our hope is not fulfilled by buying stuff. Acutely aware of that, we gather at this time and in this space, watching for God to bring fulfillment to history. In this watching, we are supporting each other, we are reminding each other, we are carrying each other when that is necessary. The Spirit is forming us in those blessings that Paul describes: in patience, endurance, steadfastness, in encouragement, in hope.

We are a community of hope for each other. We are a community of hope for each other in the face of so much that causes our hope to be fragile.

For instance, there seems to be no end to war and poverty, and political candidates compete to make people fearful of what terrible things will happen if they are not elected. In this community of hope, we resist such fearfulness! Instead, we gather to encourage each other in the hope of God’s promises fulfilled.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.

Watching for such fulfillment, we are a community of hope for each other.

Conflict in the Holy Land appears to be intractable. Moderate Islamic voices are rarely heard in the press which publicizes and sensationalizes Muslims on the extremes of intolerance and violence, which makes it easy to think that all Muslims are our enemies. In this community of hope, we resist that! Instead, we gather to encourage each other in the hope of God’s promises fulfilled – for the time to come when not only will Muslims and Christians and Jews come together, but that there will be cosmic peace, and salvation in all the created order!

The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.

Watching for such fulfillment, we are a community of hope for each other.

We struggle as citizens in our country, because there is continuing and deepening polarization in our political process. There is deadlock that prevents the discovery of an end to the war in Iraq. Our president and congress cannot even work together to provide health insurance for all the children in our nation! In the face of what would make our hope fragile, we gather to encourage each other in the hope of God’s promises fulfilled:

They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

We are a community of hope for each other. We look for the coming of cosmic peace and salvation among all of creation! Indeed, because of Christ’s coming to enflesh the promises of God, we already know how it’s all going to turn out!

We are a community of hope for each other, supporting each other, reminding each other, carrying each other when that is necessary, hearing scriptural words of hope, watching candles lit on the Advent wreath, eating and drinking forgiveness and salvation – and all the while, the Holy Spirit is forming us in those gifts that Paul identifies: in patience, endurance, steadfastness, in encouragement, in hope.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, Paul writes, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thanks be to God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

"Looking For What God Is Bringing Into Being" Advent 1 December 2, 2007

(First, read the texts for this sermon: Matthew 24:36-44 ; Isaiah 2:1-5)

“Are you ready for Christmas?” That’s a question you’ll hear and you’ll ask, with increasing frequency during the coming pressure-packed weeks!

Have you written your Christmas cards? Me neither! We did receive our first card – from a friend who always gets her cards into the mail the day after Thanksgiving. (The word “compulsive” comes to mind …) I have bought our Christmas tree – to get it in water so it will stay fresh. And I have bought a gift or two, and I’m thinking of how to work in alternative gifts, as I’ve done the past couple of years. (Pick up a booklet in the narthex for ideas of these!) Our children have told us when they’ll be here to visit with us.

So, we are getting ready for Christmas. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” (so the song goes) – and it comes every year. Christmas came last year, and Christmas will come again next year. It’s a holy day in the repeating, annual cycle of time.

But in the church, the themes and prayers and readings for Advent do not point us towards that annual, recurring celebration. Instead, the theme of this four-week season is to be alert for something new – for the advent of our God; as God is entering into our lives. We’re vigilant for the advent of God’s kingdom, the coming of God’s reign on earth. Instead of getting ready for something that’s happening (in my case) for the 55th time, the Scripture readings and prayers and liturgy during the season of Advent remind us to be we’re watching for what God is doing, what God is creating, as we move towards God’s final purposes for history!

“Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come,” we prayed a few minutes ago in the Prayer of the Day for the First Sunday in Advent. In the Holy Communion Prayer of Thanksgiving during Advent we pray, “Holy God, we long for your Spirit. Come among us. Bless this meal. May your Word take flesh in us. Awaken your people. Fill us with your light. Bring the gift of peace on earth.”

Look at how this theme of watchfulness is all through the verses we read from the gospel of Matthew this morning. This passage is taken from chapters 24 and 25 in Matthew, which are full of teachings and parables about the end of time, when God will bring fulfillment to God’s creation. When will that be? We read, "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” In these words, Jesus is saying that even he does not know when the end will come! So don’t obsess over particular dates, or signs of the end. But what’s still important is to be alert, to be ready, to be watchful.

The sayings in this passage not only direct us to be prepared for a final end to history, a general resurrection; but for the end whenever it will come for each of us. The end to our personal histories might be as sudden as two people who are at work, and one of them suddenly dies; or two women preparing food, and one of them suddenly dies. Some of you have suffered such a sudden death of a loved one. So be watchful. Be prepared for the end.

I don’t think this passage warns of judgment on “bad people.” We read this illustration, taken from the story in Genesis: For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Is it bad to eat and drink and marry and give away in marriage? Of course not! The point is that the people were not watchful in the midst of their everyday lives. They had lost their alertness for God in their everyday activities.

You see, watchfulness is to be our constant stance – because we’re “in-between.” Pay attention to the verb tenses as we proclaim the mystery of faith: “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” We watch for that final coming. We even ask for it – whenever we pray the Lord’s Prayer. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven,” we pray over and over.

Meanwhile, we are looking for what God is bringing into being, now! We watch for the risen Christ, as he enters into our lives. As we work for the kingdom, you and I are called to active engagement in our assigned ministries, with expectation and hope, alert for the advent of that kingdom.

“Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Where do we see what God is bringing into being?

Where is there compassion among human beings? There is the presence of the risen Christ! There is the advent of the kingdom of God, a glimpse of what will be when God brings history to fulfillment. When you are watchful, you see what God is bringing into being!

Where is there enacted the words of the prophet Isaiah from this morning?

He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.

In our sinfulness, our first reaction is nearly always to strike back when we have been struck, physically or emotionally. That is because peacemaking and conflict resolution is extremely difficult and it takes much more courage than violent retaliation. But whenever conflict resolution is happening, that is work of the Spirit. There is the presence of the risen Christ. There is the advent of the kingdom of God, a glimpse of what will be when God brings history to fulfillment. When you are watchful, you see what God is bringing into being!

Where is there love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control? These are the fruit of the Spirit that Paul identifies in Galatians (5:22-23). Whenever you encounter these in your day-to-day lives, there is the advent of the kingdom of God, a glimpse of what will be when God brings history to fulfillment. When you are watchful, you see what God is bringing into being!

We are promised that the risen Christ comes to us in the bread and the wine of Holy Communion. (Luke 24:30-31) During our Sunday morning worship, we enact the kingdom that God is bringing into being!

We are promised that the risen Christ comes to us in those who are poor; that when we care for the poor or neglect the poor, we are caring for or neglecting the risen Jesus! (Matthew 25:31-46) In our care for the poor, there is the advent of the kingdom of God

And so, when do you and I act with compassion, in the day-to-day work that God gives us to do? When do we act as peacemakers, resolving conflict rather than reactively striking back? When do others see, in you and me, the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control? There is the advent of the kingdom of God in you and me, a glimpse for others to see of what will be when God brings history to fulfillment.

“Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come,” we pray. Watch – to see what God is bringing into being! Act – with hope and expectancy!

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia