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A Second Warning
The Reverend Alice Marcrum
2nd Sunday of Advent, 2005
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Just in case we hit the snooze button when the alarm clock sounded
its warning for us to prepare for the coming of the Christ in last
Sunday’s readings. We are given a second warning from a rather
strangely dressed prophet, who prefers the taste of locusts and wild
honey. As if that were not enough to wake us up, the prophet Isaiah
compares humans to grass proclaiming with these words, “All
people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord
blows upon it; surely the people are grass.”
While the prophet Isaiah reminds us of our fragile frames, the author
of the second letter of Peter warns us of the imminent return of the
Lord with these words, “But the day of the Lord will come like a
thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and
the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and
everything that is done on it will be disclosed.”
Sadly, strangely dressed prophets crying in the wilderness for people
to repent coupled with apocalyptic images of the end of the world and
a reminder that we as humans are as vulnerable to death as the
grass in the field just doesn’t catch people’s attention anymore. We
have become so use to hearing about the end of the world and our
need for repentance that we have let it roll off of us like water rolls off
a duck’s back. The urgency of the message has lost its impact after
waiting for almost two thousand years for the end to come. The
apathy of the Body of Christ and the indifference of the world to these
warnings remind me of the following story.
A priest and a pastor from the local churches are standing by the side
of the road, pounding a sign into the ground that reads:
"The End is Near! Turn Yourself Around Now, Before it's Too Late!"
As a car sped past them, the driver yelled, "Leave us alone, you
religious nuts!" From the curve they heard screeching tires and a big
splash.
The pastor turns to the priest and asks, "Do you think the sign should
just say 'Bridge Out'?"
Unfortunately, the end of the world will not be a laughing matter. In
the Book of Revelation we read these words.
“Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it;
the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place
was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small,
standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also
another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were
judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. And
the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave
up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to
what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into
the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and
anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life
was thrown into the lake of fire.”
This is the event that the author of the second letter of Peter is
alluding to when he wrote “the earth and everything that is done
on it will be disclosed.” Every act of love or selfishness, all that we
have done and not done will be brought before the judgment of the
Lord. There are many who believe that our works will save us, but the
scriptures are clear that is not the case. Only those whose names
are written in the Book of Life will be spared eternal damnation.
Again the scripture reads “anyone whose name was not found
written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire”.
So how do we get our names written in the Book of Life? There is
only One who has the authority to write our names down in this
precious book and His name is Jesus Christ. The reason He alone
has this privilege is because He is the only One who redeemed us
from our sins by sacrificing His Life for ours. No amount of good
works can make us holy enough to be saved. Only Jesus Christ can
save us. Like John the Baptist, we too are “not worthy to stoop
down and untie the thong of his sandals”.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, before we get caught up in the
busyness of buying the presents and decorating our homes for
Christmas, we need to prepare our hearts. Christmas is not about
getting little Johnny the latest toy or sending Aunt Sylvia a fruit
basket. Giving gifts are a part of Christmas, but this is supposed to
be an outward sign of something special that has taken place within
us. The words of John the Baptist for us to “Prepare the way of the
Lord, make his paths straight” is about our hearts.
We need to look within and open our hearts and lives up to the Lord
completely. Every nook and cranny of our being that composes who
we are needs to be given over to the Lord. Jesus gave His all for us.
Can we even contemplate giving Him anything less?
This is not an easy thing to do. As humans we want to control our
own destiny, but as we have learned today, we are as fragile as the
grass in the fields. Yet, the Lord wants to gather us up in His arms
and protect us like a shepherd protects his lambs. All we have to do
is say “Yes!” to the Lord.
Some here may be thinking, but pastor you don’t understand, my
heart is broken. How can I give a broken heart to the King of Kings?
The prophet Isaiah described the Messiah as “a man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief”. Of all the people in the world, you are most
blessed, because Jesus the Messiah is in the business of mending
broken hearts. Through prayer we can take our troubles and
brokenness to the One who understands us the most, the One who
bore our “griefs and carried our sorrows” upon the cross. Through
Jesus’ sacrifice, we can be made whole.
Like a good shepherd who tenderly binds up the wounds of his lambs
and sheep so does Our Good Shepherd want to nurse us back to
wholeness. The Lord desires to heal us, but we must be willing to let
Him. Let us follow the example of the psalmist who wrote, “I will
listen to what the Lord God is saying, for he is speaking peace
to his faithful people and to those who turn their hearts to him.”
It is so easy to hit the snooze button and just go through the motions
of Christmas. Oh, but what a loss to not open our hearts and lives up
to the Savior who alone can bring us true peace. If we hit the snooze
button, we will miss knowing the greatest gift of all, Jesus the Christ.
May we take the time during this Advent Season to prepare our
hearts for Him.
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