The A List

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

December 2, 2012

The First Sunday in Advent

The A List

Luke 12:35-38

Darkness comes early in December.

Even before our workday ends

the night sky covers our world from horizon to horizon,

punctuated by all those tiny dots we call stars,

along with the moon

and a few planets that reflect our sun’s light.

For all our knowledge,

all our science,

we still don’t fully grasp the expanse

of what looms over our heads.

How can we truly comprehend

that the light we are seeing from this star or that

traveled through galaxies and solar systems by the millions

journeying over tens of millions,

hundreds of millions,

perhaps even a billion years – years, not miles! –

to find its way to us?

The stars look so tiny in the inky blackness,

but how many are infinitely larger than our own sun?

Surely, more than we can count.

But every star has one thing in common:

every star will eventually consume the hydrogen

and other elements that it burns and go out,

extinguished like a candle,

leaving a hulking mass so big, so powerful

that it will pull even the molecules of reflective light back into it,

turning what was once a bright star

into what we call a black hole,

something that we cannot see,

that looks like nothing in the night sky.

Scientists estimate that more than 95% of the universe

is invisible to our eyes and

even our most powerful research telescopes and computers.

But even if we can’t see beyond the blackness,

the darkness,

the void,

what we do know is that when we look into the sky,

we are looking at time,

God’s time,

time that is all but infinite,

time that is in constant motion,

with beginnings and endings everywhere,

happening right before our very eyes,

even if we cannot see them.

We measure time based on our planet’s rotation

and revolution around the sun.

One rotation, from sunup to sunup,

we’ve divided into 24 hours,

and we call that a day.

One revolution takes a little more then 365 days,

and we call that a year.

One cycle of the moon we call a month.

If we lived on another planet,

as perhaps future generations will,

we might well measure time – days and years differently.  

What we call a day lasts 243 days on Venus!

To try to define God’s day

has always seemed to me to be the height of folly,

but there are those who insist that it is a 24-hour day.

If God is the Lord of the universe, and not just one planet,

then my best guess is that if we put the question to God,

“tell us how long your day is”,

God would respond in much the same way

he described himself to Moses,

“The measure of my day will be what it will be.”

But you and I – we live by the clock;

we live by the calendar.

And the calendar tells us it is Advent,

that Advent began yesterday.

Many of you may have done the same thing

I did yesterday: put up the Advent calendar

and opened the first door, the first box

as we count the days of Advent.

But Advent calls to turn away from clocks and calendars.

Advent calls us to remember

that we live in God’s time, not ours;

that we live, in fact, in between time,

beginning with the time when God created,

and ending at that time Jesus points us to,

that time when God will re-create the world

when our Lord comes again in glory.

We do not know when that day will come.

No one does;

no one can know.

So, as tempting as it is to listen to those who claim

to have deciphered the clues they are convinced

are hidden in the pages of Scripture,

we’d be wiser to listen to our Lord Jesus Christ.

“But about that day or hour no one knows,

neither the angels in heaven,

nor the Son,

but only the Father.

We are called not to look for signs,

but to live as though that time was imminent,

that it was going to happen before

this service ends this morning.

As we heard our Lord tell us in our Lesson:

“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;

be like those who are waiting for their master

to return from the wedding banquet,

so that they may open the door for him

as soon as he comes and knocks.

Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes;”

Mark records Jesus’ words as short and to the point:

“Beware, keep alert;

for you do not know when the time will come.”

In this time of year as we prepare our gift lists,

card lists,

guest lists,

shopping and other lists,

Advent calls us to prepare an “A” list,

a list that take precedence over every other list,

including our daily “to-do” lists.

Our “A” List reminds us to be

Awake,

Alert,

Attentive,

Alive,

Anticipating the return of our Lord.   

(Richard Rohr)

Our A list reminds us of our call

to live fully in the spirit of Christ

as we do the work Christ calls us to do.

And just what is that, what is that work

that Jesus calls us to do?

The folks who toured the National Cathedral this past Wednesday

saw our Lord’s call carved in a limestone reredos,

a large wall screen above the altar in one of the many chapels

that surround the nave of the cathedral.

The sculpture featured six figures

from chapter 25 of Matthew’s gospel,

which together capture the life our Lord calls us live

as we await his Advent:

“I was hungry and you gave me food;

I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink;

I was a stranger and you welcomed me;

I was naked and you gave me clothing;

I was sick and you took care of me;

I was in prison and you visited me.”

(Matthew 25:35ff)

This is the life Jesus calls us to live

even as we live in eager anticipation

of that day when he will come again in glory

come again to make all things new,

come again to fulfill the prophesy of Isaiah

who spoke of that day when the wolf would

lie down with the lamb

and nations would beat their swords into plowshares

and spears into pruning hooks

because war would be no more:

“Nature reordered to match God's intent,

nations obeying the call to repent,
all of creation completely restored,
filled with the knowledge and love of the Lord.”

(“The Dream Isaiah Saw”)

The night sky is ablaze with stars,

ablaze with mystery

ablaze with the wonder of God.

But even as we look up to the heavens,

we know that night will give way to day,

the darkness will give way to light.

Not according to our watches and clocks,

but according to the will of God.

Indeed, the night is far gone Paul tells us,

and the day is near.

[So] beware, keep alert;

for you do not know when the time will come.”

Blessed are those

whom the master finds alert when he comes.”

AMEN