Matthew 24 — Sermon by Peter Bridgewood

Please be seated.

Every year during Christmas time, my two

sisters, my parents, and I would sit

down to watch the 1964

cartoon How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Who can forget the miserable conniving

Grinch isolated on Mount Crumpet sh

staring down at the Who's with his

little dog Max. The Grinch hated

Christmas, hated the noise, hated the

Whoast Beast, and yes, he hated the

singing most of all. So he decided to

put an end to it and steal the Who's

Christmas on the night of Christmas Eve.

House to house, the Grinch slithered and

slugged with a smile most unpleasant. My

favorite line in the entire book.

Until he came to one house where a

little 2-year-old who got up for a

drink.

She was awake while all the other Who's

lie asleep.

Now, growing up, I didn't make much of

this, but the innocence of little Cindy

Lhoo changed the trajectory of the

story.

"Why are you taking our Christmas tree?"

she asks innocently enough. "The Grinch

may have lied and continued to do what

he was doing, but something had

changed."

In Cindy Lou, we see represented the

humble heart of a group who ultimately

chose to sing regardless of whatever

materials they had lost.

We are called to spiritually be as Cindy

Lou who was physically that being awake.

Awake.

When Jesus returns,

will we be like sleepy Bethlehem?

Or will we be as the shepherds, ready to

go and to worship by following the star

to the Prince of Peace? Will you and I

will we be found awake?

The lesson here is that peace comes as

God's children wake up and live in the

light. Peace comes as God's children

wake up and live as children in the

light. So, first, Advent calls us to

wake up. And turning to Matthew's

gospel, Jesus has been speaking about a

time referred to as the consummation.

Perhaps you have heard of it as the end

times. And our Lord anticipates the

question, how will we know when the end

is near? And he does so with two brief

illustrations.

The first is the fig tree. Jesus

compares the coming of desolation and

hardship described earlier in the

chapter with the first leaves of the fig

tree which uh as those who live in the

uh ancient near east knew would arrive

in late spring. Because the fig tree is

unique among the plants of the Mount of

Olives, it acted as a sort of signpost

to the coming of summer.

A right response to the reality of false

messiahs, wars, and famines. Everything

that Jesus spoke of, and indeed

everything that he spoke of in verses 15

to 28 should be to recognize that

summer, if you will, is getting closer.

And when we notice these things, as we

sometimes do, our mental radar should be

to prepare us for Jesus' imminent

return.

Now, here's the thing. Will the fig tree

indicate the exact moment of Jesus'

return?

No. Which is actually Jesus' next point.

In verse 36, he says, "But concerning

that day and hour, no one knows,

not even the angels of heaven, nor the

son, but the father only." Now, just a

quick clarification on this rather

important verse. You see, as God, Jesus,

excuse me, as God, Jesus has the

knowledge, but as a man on earth, Jesus

did not have the independent use of that

knowledge.

And so why should then we presume to

know the exact time?

Jesus follows this by informing his

disciples that his second coming will be

as the judgment during the days of Noah.

Just as the people were busily

distracted then, so too will people be

found unaware when Jesus returned.

So what are we to do?

What are we to do? Well, both Matthew

and Paul have a similar message. Wake

up. Wake up.

Wake up. Matthew uses the imperative to

communicate that it is critical that we

vigilantly keep watch in our lives. Keep

watch over ourselves and our salvation.

Paul in Romans 13:11 says, "The hour has

Romans 13:11

come for you to wake from sleep, for

salvation is nearer to us now than when

we first believed."

The wise disciple recognizes that

staying awake with Christ means that at

any point we may be called into question

for the life that we have been living.

Ask yourselves, what currently occupies

my time and my talents?

Who or what am I worshiping?

And what needs to change in me so Christ

can find me ready? Let me repeat that.

What needs to change in me so Christ can

find me ready? Have you ever laid in bed

wondering, "Am I ready? Am I ready for

his return?" This brings to mind an

experiment that took place during rush

hour on January 12th, 2007.

In a metro station in Washington DC,

Joshua Bell, a world-renowned violinist,

was playing pieces like box chasson on

his three and a half million dollar

stratavarius.

And during the 45 minutes that he

played, and I hear I listened carefully,

1,097

people passed him by. Seven stopped and

listened. Seven.

And this raised the question, how often

do people miss beauty in their daily

lives?

I am so thankful for my children. They

teach me so often to slow down and to

observe the birds and the butterflies,

the great things in creation that so

often we can miss.

19 years later and I see a society that

some somehow has become even more busy,

certainly more distracted than in 2007.

And sadly, misaligned priorities are not

just an issue outside the church.

As we enter into a new year, I ask you,

are you sleepwalking by Jesus?

Am I?

It's time for us to stop living in the

darkness and to tune into the light of

this world.

Next, Advent instructs us to live in the

light.

Now, waking up is the first step to any

good day. I highly recommend it.

However, waking up isn't enough, right?

Not only do we need to refuse the

darkness, we got to turn the light on,

right?

And one, and this reminds me, in case

you don't know, of McBTH, um Shakespeare

is a well-known William Shakespeare is a

well-known playwright from England who

wrote many both um comedies and

tragedies. McBth is one of the best

known among his tragedies. And and just

really quickly, McBth unfortunately he

ends up becoming so consumed with anger

and intense desire that he ends up

murdering a number of people. It was a

disaster. And so in this plague, McBth

upon learning that King Duncan will name

his son Malcolm his heir says this. He

says, "Stars hide your fires. Let not

light see my deep dark black desires.

His concern is that faith will fate will

see the ugliness that is within him.

Advent invites us to explore where we

have been avoiding the light.

McBth's ambition and lust for power

became his undoing. And it's a gentle

warning for us that those areas of

darkness in our lives where unrepentant

sin abounds will hinder us in our

relationships with our neighbors. We

cannot shine in Christ's peace where

fruit of unrighteousness persists. The

things that people don't even

necessarily see. All of the sins

mentioned in Romans 13.

Paul's words to those who have been

adopted as sons and daughters of the

king ought to reflect the passing of the

night. The night is far gone. He writes,

"The day is at hand. So then let us cast

off the works of darkness and put on the

armor of light."

Advent says Tish Harrison Warren is the

season of the uncovering.

Bear fruit that befits repentance.

The same sin that led to the murder of

the innocents is the same that divides

the church and churches today. All sin

we know leads to death.

But the divine light of his grace

exposes those areas that needs

repentance and in the process brings us

peace.

I love how Paul speaks into this in the

book of Ephesians chapter 5:es 8-16. I'm

going to read that and I ask you to

listen carefully. It's a powerful

passage. He says, "For you were once

darkness, but now you are light in the

Lord. Live as children of light, for the

fruit of the light consists in all

goodness, righteousness, and truth. And

find out what pleases the Lord. have

nothing to do with the fruitless deeds

of darkness, but rather expose them. It

is shameful even to mention what the

disobedient do in secret. But everything

exposed by the light becomes visible,

and everything that is illuminated

becomes a light.

Be very careful then, how you live, not

as unwise, but as wise, making the most

of every opportunity, because the days

are evil.

One of the great medieval theologians

was Thomas Ampus whose work the

imitation of Christ influenced John

Newton and helped inspire the hymn we

know it well amazing grace. And in this

devotional he wrote enlighten me good

Jesus with the brightness of internal

light and take away all darkness from

the habitation of my heart. Restrain my

wandering thoughts and suppress the

temptations which attack me so

violently.

Fight strongly for me and vanquish these

evil beasts the alluring desires of the

flesh

so that peace may come through your

power and the fullness of your praise

resound in the holy courts which is a

pure conscience.

Church fathers and mothers like Thomas

Ampus encourage us on Advent to cast off

the deeds of the flesh and to reorient

ourselves to the manger and therefore to

the cross.

The good news Jesus tells us as he told

his followers during his last hours

before the cross is my peace I give to

you.

For us, as for them, that does not

exclude hardship.

It does mean a wholeness and a

contentment that comes through his

spirit as we are enlightened by his

grace.

The call upon us is the same as Isaiah's

exhortation in Isaiah 2. Come

descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the

light of our Lord.

We live in the light knowing that Advent

brings us to final peace.

And one of the distinct opportunities

that we have during Advent is to join

with the Old Testament children of

Israel. As they waited, so we wait. And

as they yearned, so we yearn. Just as

Jesus' first coming was mysterious and

required intention, the examples of

Simeon and Anna stand out to me, so too

will Jesus coming again require such.

A similar message prophesied then

carries us today. In Isaiah 2 and in

Psalm 122, we have powerful images of a

future glorious peace.

In Isaiah 2, pilgrims from all over the

world streamed to the highest elevation,

the mountain of the house of the Lord.

Isaiah significantly draws out how the

worship of Yahweh, unlike idol worship,

was not limited to one place.

Rather, in the spirit of Genesis 12,

through Abraham, all the nations of the

earth will be blessed.

And this is what Jesus addresses in

Matthew 24 as he prophesied of when his

angels will gather his elect from the

four winds from one end of heaven to the

other.

And as these people hear of God's

revelation and that long for justice,

devices once used for war will be

crushed to pieces into pruning hooks and

vine dressers knives. Yes indeed. The

language here is to tend to God's

vineyard. It's as Isaiah prophesies

later in chapter 25, "On this mountain,

the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast

of rich food for all peoples, a banquet

of aged wine, the best of meats, and the

finest of wines."

Fresh off a Thanksgiving meal.

Hopefully, we can attest to how good

turkey and wine can bring people

together.

Most notably, there will be enduring

peace.

Brothers and sisters, we live in a world

that doesn't know this. It doesn't know

this peace. Yet, it longs for

fulfillment, prosperity, and wholeness.

Now, why doesn't the world have it?

Because it lives in darkness. It is

living in the darkness. It hasn't turned

the light on.

But people like St. Francis of Aisi

showed how Jesus entered into this

broken world offering a better

alternative. I love the example of St.

Francis how he would go to every person

with the greeting, "May the Lord grant

you peace."

This peace is central to Psalm 122.

The psalm takes us from the bird's eyee

view to the close-up perspective of the

pilgrims as they entered into this ideal

Jerusalem,

a name which means city of peace.

In verse three, we read that Jerusalem

is built as a city that is at unity in

itself. This isn't the Jerusalem that we

see today. No, it is an ideal Jerusalem.

It is the future home. This unity in

itself is the same verb used in Exodus

26 to describe the unity within the

tabernacle.

The Lord's instructions were to couple

the tent of worship together that it may

be a single whole.

Where there is unity, there is

wholeness, there is peace.

Such unity in God's house is what God

desires among his people. Just as the

psalmist calls for prayer in his day for

shalom within Jerusalem, so we should be

vigilant in our prayers for peace within

our congregation.

May it be said of us, for the sake of my

family and friends, I will say, peace be

within you. For the sake of the house of

the Lord our God, I will seek your

prosperity.

As I have heard it said, peace is not

the absence of struggle but the presence

of love. Peace comes through the

presence of love. If our church doesn't

have peace, maybe it is because we need

to evaluate our love to open wide our

hearts. I think this is a spirit by

which Paul says, "As far as it depends

on you, live at peace with everyone."

the peace with everyone.

Peace comes as God's children wake up

and live in the light.

In seminary, one professor that I deeply

respected, his name was Dr. Singleton,

you know, he would actually quiz us in

the hallways about other students in the

class. He took disciplehip and

evangelism very seriously, and I

appreciate that about him.

And he would ask his students after his

lesson a question with total sincerity.

How is your soul?

Brothers and sisters, how are your

souls?

And I repeat this for emphasis. How is

your soul today?

What is God saying to you through his

spirit?

Where does sin fester? Eating at your

conscience and causing tension. Where

tension does not belong

with your family, with your friends,

within this beloved body, the church.

Today I offer you the invitation to wake

up and to invite the spirit to shine in

your hearts to enlighten those areas

where you have been living in darkness.

as I ask him the same.

And I invite you to pause the Christmas

preparations which I'm sure have started

and to surrender the sin that puts

others down and divides,

but rather to take time to listen to his

lifegiving voice.

I really have enjoyed the music of Keith

Green. Keith Green, of course, doesn't

live today, but nevertheless, I feel

that his legacy does. A man who loved

the Lord, who combined a a very

beautiful voice with powerful piano

playing. Most importantly, he shared the

gospel.

And so, staying up until 2 in the

morning, Keith Green's conscience was

nagging him because his Bible had been

unopened and his prayers too uncommon.

And so he wrote the song, "Oh Lord,

you're beautiful." And listen to these

lyrics. Maybe these are lyrics that

speak to you today.

Oh Lord, please light the fire that once

burnt bright and clear. Replace the lamp

of my first love that burns with holy

fire. I want to take your word and shine

it all around. But first, help me just

to live it, Lord.

And when I'm doing well, help me to

never seek a crown, for my reward is

giving glory to you.

May our words be such at the coming of

this new year. And I close by praying

over you the doxology of Jude. Will you

pray with me?

Now to him who is able to keep you from

stumbling and to present you blameless

before the presence of his glory with

great joy. To the only God our savior

through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory,

majesty, dominion and authority before

all time now and forever. Amen.