Bible Text: Matthew 24:36-44 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes |
The house we lived in when I was about 6 or 7 years old had a large lamp post out front. While this detail was often insignificant to me most of the time, during the long days of summer that lamp post became a fixture for all the kids on the block. It was the “home base” for the often rowdy game of hide and seek. If you made it to the lamp post without being seen by the one who was “it” or the “seeker” then you won the game. It was also from this lamp post that the person who was “it” would fold their arms, supposedly close their eyes, and count to 10 while the others ran to hide. When that person reach number 10 they would inevitably yell out, “ready or not, here I come!” Due to my young age at the time, I often watched the game from my second storey bedroom window rather than playing along, because those games often took place well after my bedtime, but that meant I often had a good view of where people were hiding. When the “seeker” came upon someone who was hiding there was often a squeal of surprise! The words “Ready or not, here I come!” always had a bit of an ominous tone to them. Whether you had found a good hiding place or not the seeker was going to start looking for you. Strangely enough, it is those same ominous words that give us hope this morning but this morning its more like, “Ready or not, here comes Jesus!”
At our most recent presbytery retreat the Rev. Dr. Bob Paul was our plenary speaker. The topic was on visionary leadership. In a successful secular company they look at what is going on now and then vision a better version of the now and implement that vision. He used the example of Apple, and said that this company has done an incredible job of constantly re-inventing itself- sure it still makes computers but from computers came ipods, from ipods came smart phones, and only they know were their next vision will lead us. This too can sound a bit ominous.
However, the hope that we have is that as Christians we have a theological concept of vision. You see, we understand that our current reality can be transformed by the presence of God. And do you know what the Latin word for God’s coming presence is? Adventus. Ready or not, here comes Jesus! You see, no one could have predicted that God would transform the world through a person like Jesus. No one could have predicted that a woman like Mary would be visited by an angel, no one could have predicted that Jesus would be born in a stable, no one could have predicted that the first people to hear of Jesus’ birth would be a bunch of shepherds. And this is where we have hope. The future that God brings to us is outside of the bounds of what we can ever imagine or even plan for. Just as there is surprise when the seeker finds someone who is hiding, there is an element of surprise in God’s actions. We need to be open to the possibility that God has surprises in store for us. And when I say us I mean us, at CVPC I mean us as in all people. And this is how we have hope, but what is hope?
Julie Neraas, wrote a book entitled, Apprenticed to Hope: A Sourcebook for Difficult Times and in this book she points out that there is a difference between optimism and hope. Neraas lives with a chronic illness and this has informed her experience. For Neraas, optimism can offer a necessary energy boost at critical moments but hope is what sustains her in the long run. This is in part because within hope there is the possibility to also acknowledge despair. “Hope is rooted in the reality of everyday life, with all its joys, and with all its pain, uncertainty, horror and hurt. No understanding of hope is honest unless it deals with the absence of hope and those seasons when nothing comforts or reassures, Hope is an essence that goes to the core of our common humanity; optimism is an attitude.” The reality is that it can be hard for us as a church to have hope when so many of us are experiencing transitions in our own lives.
Another person who has some interesting insights on hope is the Rev. Ruth Harvey, Director of Place for Hope, a Christian conflict resolution organization based out of Glasgow. She states that hope is rooted in 3 things, 1) permission to lament/grieve; 2) the necessity to wait; and 3) the freedom to celebrate. She recalls the three-fold movement of the passion of Christ, the lament of Good Friday, the waiting of the disciples on Saturday and the resurrection celebration on Sunday as a good example of hope. The resurrection being another fine example of how God transforms the world in surprising ways. Hope is the promise of goodness beyond despair, even if in the very present moment we are despairing.
But how do we transition from simply having hope to being prepared? And how can you prepare for something that we know is going to be a surprise? Ready or not, here comes Jesus! Yet we should expect to see Jesus in the unexpected. The passage in Matthew reminds us that God is always at work, transforming the world, helping the now become the envisioned future. Are you ready to be a part of that transformation? Are you ready for God to surprise us with an astounding story? This isn’t about whether you have all your shopping done, or cards mailed out, or nativity scene registered for our annual nativity display. This is about being ready for God to transform us in ways we couldn’t have even imagined or planned for. God is at work- God is doing these things and all God asks of us is to be caught up in it. To be empowered by the fact that God is in charge of the transformation. Ready or not, here comes Jesus!
We are empowered to be part of this transformation through communion. We often think about how we are invited to come to the table and we are invited to come to the table and to be fed but that’s not the last step. This isn’t a one-sided relationship. We don’t just pass the plates of bread, eat it and sit quietly until the ritual is over. NO! We share in this communion so that we can then be ready to be sent out, to be the hope for a hurting world. We eat our bread, we drink our juice, not just because this is a familiar and calming practice but because it reminds us that after the meal, particularly after the meal that Jesus shared with the disciples on their way to Emmaus, Jesus sent them out to do the work.
For example, next weekend the community comes to us, which is a rare thing, to have people just walk in to our church, what an opportunity to show them who we are. Yes, they are coming to see the nativity displays but this gift that we give them is an incredible opportunity. I hope to see you all here too, bring your friends, neighbours, or simply just come to see it for yourself because it is a great demonstration of hope and you might even be transformed or be the transformation that someone else needs. Ready or not, here comes Jesus! Amen