Loving God, you teach us to be ready at all times for your coming, living in the light of your Son and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Renew us in your love as we gather together today, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            What time is it?  Is it the day of salvation?  Is it the first Sunday of a new church year?  Is it night or day, or somewhere in between?  Is it time to sleep, or time to wake up?  Is it the day or the hour of Christ’s coming?  Is it time to watch the World Cup?  Is it time to say, “Happy Anniversary”?  Or, is it 10:52 am, Central Standard Time?  “What time is it?” can be answered in so many different ways.

         When Paul is writing to the Romans, he is pretty sure that he knows what time it is.  It is time to wake from sleep, for salvation is near.  It is getting close to morning.  Soon the darkness will be replaced with light.  It is time to live honorably, clothing ourselves with Christ.

         Jesus, however, is far less specific.  While he does give his followers many signs of the end of the age and signs of his coming, ultimately, he teaches them that it is always time to keep awake and to be alert.  Nobody is going to know ahead of time the day or the hour when Christ will come.  So, what are we to do?

         For one thing, when we hear people giving a detailed timeline and predicting a date for Jesus’ return, we can be pretty sure that they don’t really know what they are talking about.  People do prefer certainty in their lives, but Jesus calls us to live in faith and in trust, looking to him at all times and in all places.  The one thing that is certain is that God is faithful, and God is the one who knows when the time is right for the beginning of the end.

         At the same time, when we hear the admonishment to keep awake, most of us have at least a dim awareness that it is not humanly possible to be “on alert” all the time.  We were created with a need for rest and renewal, and all kinds of unhealthy things start to happen when people try to stay awake for days on end.  And so, what does “keep awake” really mean?

         Some translations use “watch” or “be on the alert.”  There is also at least one passage where the same word is translated as “be alive.”  You may have noticed that in the New Testament, sleep is often used as a metaphor for death.  One might say that somebody has fallen asleep – meaning that they have died.  Thus, the opposite of sleep (or death) is to be alive – to be fully alive (kind of like the word gregarious in English).  And so, perhaps it is time to be fully alive!

         One way to understand this is that we are tuned in to Jesus and ready to encounter him in the world (sundaysandseasons.com).  The thing is that, even though we proclaim that Christ will come again, Jesus has not ceased to be present in us and among us and in our world.

         I may have shared with some of you what happened when I visited Cana in Galilee.  While there, we had a little taste of wine, which Father Kamal told us was wine from Jesus’ time.  Once we were back on the bus, he asked what we thought about the wine: Was it really wine from Jesus’ time?  As it turns out, it was a trick question.  Of course it was wine from Jesus’ time, for all of time is Jesus’ time – even now!

         While we may not live to see the Son of Man coming on the clouds, the end might come for us in other unexpected ways.  All it takes is a heart attack or a stroke or some other medical emergency to change our lives in an instant.  An accident, or a natural disaster, or a fire could take our lives at any time.  These are not causes for fear, but simply facts of life.  We do not know the day when our Lord might come for us.

         In the meantime, walk with God.  Stay tuned in to Jesus each and every day.  Watch, and pray, and be fully alive, open to the Holy Spirit and to following Jesus.  Position yourself so that you can see what God is doing in our world.  Position yourself where you are likely to encounter Jesus – often among the hungry, and the sick, and the prisoners, and the strangers.  Be ready to meet Jesus wherever and whenever you might encounter him, for he comes to us, even now.

         What time is it?  Both our reading from Romans and the royal blue of Advent proclaim that is just before the dawn: “the day is near” (13:12).  What time is it?  It is time to wake from sleep and be fully alive.  What time is it?  It is Jesus’ time – for he continues to be present in our world and in us.  What time is it?  It is time to share God’s love with all people, for all of us need God’s forgiveness, new life and salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Advent 1C                                         Matthew 24:36-44

November 27, 2022                        Romans 13:11-14

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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