First Sunday of Advent
Mark 13:24-37 24 “But in those days, following that distress, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. 28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it[ is near, right at the door.30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert[c]! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
My sophomore year of college, the phone rang early one Saturday morning. I shared a dorm room with my best friend, and these were the days of land lines. I answered the phone to hear his father’s voice on the other end. He asked to speak to this son. Still groggy from waking up, I responded, “Well, he’s still asleep.” With urgency he simply said, “Well, he needs to wake up.” So, I shook my buddy, and he grabbed the phone. Sadly, an elderly family member had died, and he needed to get home.
I think of that story as I read these words of Jesus. We read this text, or others like it in Matthew and Luke, every first Sunday of Advent. The word Advent simply means “coming” or “arrival.” This time of year, we think about the first coming of Jesus in the incarnation as well as the future second coming. Jesus reminds us that if we don’t wake up, we’ll miss it. Many were asleep and missed his first coming, just as many will miss his second coming.
None of us like waking up. We probably don’t like waking others up. But this morning, we hear the words of our Lord. Well, you need to wake up.
To wake up is to be alert. To wake up is resist all the distractions that cause us to zone out. To wake up is to truly understand what’s going on. We see this language used so often. When I hear people talk about being “woke”, they’re talking about seeing what’s really going on. What does it mean for Jesus to tell us to wake up and see what’s really going on?
According to Jesus, the heart of reality is the gospel. The gospel is the foundational truth. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the agent of creation, God in the flesh. Jesus came to earth to show us how to have life and to free us from sin and death. When he conquered death, he returned to the Father’s right hand. Jesus poured out the Spirit at Pentecost and continues to pour the Spirit into the hearts of the redeemed. The church, at her best, brings about the experience of the kingdom of God. Someday, Jesus will return to finally destroy evil and usher us into the New Heavens and New Earth. This is the gospel. This is reality. This is truth. This is the direction of history. We need to wake up. But too often, I fall asleep. Too often, I don’t want others to wake me up. Too often, I’m afraid to wake others up. I mean, nobody likes to be awakened. But it’s the task we’ve been given. We must wake each other up.
So this morning, I want to share five brief things we must do to stay awake and keep each other awake to the truth of the gospel.
1. Stop and think. Too often, we get caught in set rhythms and patterns. Too often, we just go through the motions. For those who drive, have you ever had this experience? You’re driving a familiar route you’ve driven hundreds of times. You start the car, start to daydream, and then suddenly you’re at your destination. You barely remember the journey. You just zoned out. It was so familiar; you were asleep even while awake. We do this a lot. We sleepwalk through life. We go through the motions. We zone out. We need to stop and think.
We need regular experiences of silence. We need regular times when we take a walk outside and reflect on the big questions in life. We need to ask ourselves, ‘what am I missing?’ Historically, this was the purpose of the Sabbath. One day a week, you unplug from normal routines. You wake up to the reality of God’s presence. You stop and think. You stop and pray. You stop and worship. Put this on your calendar. Write it down. Plan for it. We need regular moments when we stop, think, and wait for God to speak to us.
2. Look outside yourself. As humans, we gravitate towards self-protection. We gravitate towards self-preservation. We gravitate towards comfort. We live in a society of mirrors, both literally and physically. Many people spend the majority of their time with people like them. Many people live in echo chambers and news silos. The gospel teaches us to look beyond ourselves. When we love our neighbors, we don’t just serve them, although that’s a great thing. We listen to them. We learn from them.
It’s important that we get past ourselves. If possible after COVID, it’s helpful to travel and see other parts of the country and world. It’s helpful to talk to friends and neighbors who have moved from other places. It’s helpful to read books from authors around the world or authors from groups you’ve never heard from before. It’s helpful to learn a different language. It’s helpful to listen to a podcast episode from someone with whom you likely disagree. It’s helpful to drive through parts of town you don’t often visit.
Years ago, I remember a conversation that I’m not proud of. Looking back, I’m embarrassed by it. It ended with my friend saying, “JP, you need to get out more.” It made me so mad, because they were right. Remember, the gospel has an outward movement. Jesus enters inside of us and drives us out to show his love to others. The movement of the gospel forces us to look beyond ourselves.
3. Resist the urge to self-medicate. This world, in its present form, is really hard. We’ve run out of words to try to describe this year, even as we know we have it better than so many others, both today and throughout history. Life is challenging. There’s always been a temptation to numb our senses to the pain of this world. Life feels difficult, so let’s lessen that feeling. It’s a temptation I’ve felt for sure.
Be cautious about the urge to self-medicate. Habits that seem harmless can become harmful if we’re not careful. It seems harmless to check your phone when you’re bored or need some information. But when your kids have trouble getting your attention, has it become harmful? It seems harmless to binge watch Disney plus or Hulu or Netflix, but when it gets in the way of communicating with real people, has it become harmful? Sure, we all have times we want to get lost in a good book or a good movie. We have to practice discernment to know when a good thing has become a bad thing for us.
Going deeper, many self-medicate by misusing prescription drugs, drinking too much, looking at pornography, or flirting on the edge of an inappropriate relationships. For some, these practices dull the pain of isolation, alienation, and boredom. It’s easy to rationalize using medicine in ways other than prescribed. I can tell you from watching a friend go down that path, it’s not worth it. It will not end well. Many indulge their Christian freedom in drinking while refraining from the sin of drunkenness. However, without clear boundaries and restraints, it’s easy for this habit to get out of control. Most alcoholics have had a moment when they said, “I’m not an alcoholic. Why would you think I’m an alcoholic?” If your friends or family have concerns about your drinking, think about what they’re saying.
The accessibility of pornography has made that temptation so difficult for some to resist. Satan uses the tool of shame to keep you from telling anyone. Satan tries to tell you that you’re uniquely dirty and if you share your problem then people will think you’re a gross pervert. Church, listen to me. If you are 7 or 70, male or female, we are here for you. Pornography has reached epidemic levels, and it thrives in secrecy. Do not give into shame, but respond to guilt by remember that Christ has taken your sin away. Know this though, pornography is simply not good for you, no matter your situation. Research show that pornography usage distorts expectations, escalates in content and frequency, and raises one’s likelihood of harassing or abusing someone else. It’s dangerous. It may make you feel good for a few seconds, but it can really hurt you and others. You’re not alone. Like any of this, we’re with you. Let’s fight together.
Regularly, I see people flirt around the edges of inappropriate relationships as a way to dull the pain of boredom or that sense of feeling stuck. Remember the first two points. Stop and think. Look beyond yourself. Those types of things start slowly and maybe innocently, but over time, it grows. It hurts people, and it will hurt you. Resist the urge to self-medicate your pain. Let’s take our pain to God and each other. Let’s find healing, not escape.
4. Look out for propaganda and conspiracy theories. I wouldn’t have thought to bring this up ten years ago, but now, I think it’s important. There’s a lot of information out there, and some of it is distorted, manipulated, and fake. We’ve seen a vast rise in conspiracy theories, and many of you have people in your life that you love and respect who have been taken in by them. Conspiracy theories thrive on several things. A thirst for a simple answer to a complicated thing. A sense of powerlessness amidst resentment towards other’s power. A belief that one is a victim in some way. A desire to be a part of a secret. A quest to be the smart person in the room that truly gets it. If one has all of this going on, they’re more prone to be tempted by a conspiracy theory.
We need to be vigilant about this. None of us are immune from its temptation. If we want to really believe something, someone in the world will try to create that for us. We need to search our hearts and be wise. We need to look out for each other, our loved ones, neighbors, and this world. This all leads to the last point.
5. Connect with people you trust who will tell you the truth. As I look back on the times when I slept walk through life the most, I didn’t have people speaking truth to me. When I look back to my most alert moments, I had people in my face telling me hard truths even when I didn’t want to hear it, maybe especially when I didn’t want to hear it.
Every so often, we witness a high profile fall from grace. We discover a popular figure had a sinful practice from their life, and they fall out of favor. They lose their position, and sometimes even end up in prison. I’m drawn to these stores. They serve as reminder for all of us. You can almost always find a key similarity in these stories. They didn’t have anyone in their life to tell them the hard truth. They surrounded themselves with people who would say yes. Know this, you’ll know your true friends when you hear the word “no.”
This is what we’re called to be as church. We will not always tell each other what we like or want to hear. But we promise to do our best to tell each other the truth, in humility as best we know how. In doing so, we’ll keep each other awake.
Church family, know this. Jesus is coming back. I don’t know when it will be, but I know he will come. When he does, many will not be ready. Will you be ready? Will you be awake? I don’t want you to miss out. It’s time to wake up.
