Wake Up Call

The Rev. John Motis

Back in September we remembered the 20th anniversary of the events of 9/11 (as it’s now known). I’m sure you all remember them well enough. This was the day that four passenger jets were hijacked: two crashing into the Twin Towers, one into the Pentagon Building and one crashing in a field in Pennsylvania. Well over 3,000 people died that day. This was the day that many, many things changed: The United States had been attacked on our soil! Most of us had never experienced this kind of attack and really didn’t know what to feel. We all knew that terrorism was present and much more common in other countries, not in America! Because of this day, the way we do things has changed: we now walk-through scanning devices to enter concerts, sporting events, and most forms of travel. Our carry-on bags are scanned and checked: we cannot carry a container with more than four ounces of liquid. Just yesterday, they took Laura’s jelly on her way home from Asheville. Small pocket-knives and finger-nail clippers are confiscated if we forget them in our bag. In no small way we were given a wake-up call: something quite significant has happened. All would be different from now on.

We had been given a wake-up call.

In a not so similar way, John the Baptist is on the scene this morning, for the divine purpose of bringing a wake-up call to the world. He was drawing quite a crowd, a crowd that included God fearing people, tax collectors and even Roman soldiers. Something was clearly going on, and it was causing quite a stir. People were drawn to the Jordan and to John. I wonder what they were saying to each other, “did you hear about that crazy guy down at river? Are you going down there? What could it mean?” Many believed that he was prophet, even though they had never seen one before, it seemed that he was acting like one, or at least what they thought was one.  After all it had been over 400 years since the last prophet had shaken up the people. It seemed as though, God had forgotten His people and His creation. Was God allowing the world to run itself, was it all to be as it is? Everyone on their own, finding their own way. To be fair, some were quite comfortable in their situation. They had all that they needed for happiness: money, power, and security.

However, not at all the same for many others, they were struggling just to survive, they had been praying for God to intervene in their world.        

They were the ones who wondered if God had forgotten them. John was here to announce that something more significant than anything they could dream was happening! God was coming into His world in a real way. In the form of a person, and It is here and now! Old forms of personal security and happiness were of no value. Being an ancestor of Abraham wasn’t good enough. In very much the same way, having a relative that is a Christian won’t save us either. John was calling for “Personal Holiness”.  John was calling the people to pay attention, “but one who is more powerful than I is coming: I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

John’s message had a tone of urgency about it, to be sure. He wanted those who heard him, to not delay, to turn away from those things that they knew hindered their relationship with God – because He was about to accomplish their salvation. John is calling his hearers and us to repent because we are about to behold the grace of God in Jesus the Christ.

I am certainly not one who preaches in the style of John the Baptist, but I do believe that if we want to take this text seriously during this Advent season, we need to realize that we are not just preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ. As important as God’s incarnation is to the faith of the Christian Church. John’s message is not about a baby born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger. His message is about opening our hearts and minds to the fact that in the person of Jesus the Christ, God has come among us, and invites us to become members of His kingdom. It is an awesome message that John proclaims – a message that states that God is acting to redeem us from sin and to restore us to a new life in relationship with God. Through the one coming into the world.  

This is the Good News that the people came out to hear John proclaim. This is the Good News that we have to proclaim today, centuries later. And yes, it is a message that calls upon us to be honest with ourselves to take a good look at how we live our lives, in the hope that we might repent of our sins, in order to embrace God’s kingdom with integrity.

Although we are in the midst of preparing to celebrate Christmas, and the amazement of the incarnation, John reminds us that the true glory of God is not just revealed in our Lord’s birth, but in Christ’s faithfulness to His Father’s will.

John’s call to us, as he did the people of his day, is to open our hearts and prepare to receive God’s presence among us, in the person of His Son.

When we live into that call, our lives are changed. The Holy Spirit is living in us. We cannot help but to be changed. We have the Hope and Love of Christ living in us. Our hearts are different, our lives are different. Remember The Grinch how is heart grew three sizes? We are to be people of Hope and Love living in God’s world. When we live into that calling, our presence should make a difference wherever we are.

For nearly 30 years I have been meeting with a small group of men from here at Good Shepherd. We have used, “The Journey, God’s word of daily living,” for our discussions. The members of the group has changed over the years, in fact I am the only original member. This past week our discussion question was, “Who is your living example of a Godly person? Why?” We each shared our person. Our answers: my wife, my father, grandparent, or a member of this church. Reason why, they prayed for me, the held me accountable, their life was a living example, raising Godly children who knew Jesus, I feel the presence of Jesus when I am in their presence. My question to all of us this morning, who is your person and why? Are you that person for someone else? Why not?

Are you the person of hope and joy for someone else?

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Always? Those words seem kind of empty, like: Happy Holidays, or I am thinking happy thoughts for you. You are in my thoughts and prayers when we respond on Facebook. Perhaps, never giving it another thought. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! All is fine! It’s all great!

How do we do that when things aren’t rejoiceful, everything isn’t great! I certainly think that is what Paul’s readers were thinking. They were being condemned for their cultural practices. There was bickering. On one hand, so called fellow believers were telling them that they were not worshiping God properly; they were not doing it like other regions. Then, there was the persecution for their faith!

Everything wasn’t fine for Paul either. Paul is writing this letter from prison in Rome around the year AD 64. This was the time of Nero. He had scapegoated Christians following a great fire that destroyed much of Jerusalem, he was not on their side.

 Paul was sitting in a cold, dark, wet prison cell. He had been stripped of everything. He was waiting for his eventual beheading. In essence, Paul was on death row. Paul knew his time was coming when he sat down to write to his friends in Philippi. Still, he told the Philippians to “Rejoice.” In spite of his trials and what he knew was coming, he was encouraging his readers, the Philippians and us to rejoice even in our trials. Paul’s letter was not to minimize his readers’ troubles, only to help, by putting them into perspective. He shares the teachings of Jesus. “Do not worry about anything.” Paul was echoing Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount, where he points to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, who are cared for by their Heavenly Father, just like us! Paul had Jesus and all was well, in spite of his current situation.

Our daily needs are crucial-but take heart, we are in God’s hands. A good friend, Beverly Abbitt said to me one day when we were discussing the unknowns of Covid back now two years ago. “I am not afraid, Jesus has me right here in the palm of His hand.”  If we have Jesus everything will be alright.

There is something going on that is much greater than our problems, and the problems of our society. That something is someone! Emanual, “God with Us” We see people struggling around us. We see them not knowing where to turn and how to deal with the problems, trials, hardships and struggles of life that surely come.

Jesus hasn’t left them or us to deal with the challenges of our lives alone. Take heart, He is present with us through His Holy Spirit. He doesn’t want anyone to be alone. There is truly no reason for anyone to live a life without Him! Sometimes, His presence comes through other believers. That is those who are right beside us every day. By being present, maybe a hug, “you know me, “the serial hugger!” That someone is us! For many, we might be the only personal contact that they get. The hug that they so need. There are many lonely, hurting people out there. They need Jesus, and we know where to find Him.

The holidays have a way of accentuating our feelings. Joy, Sadness and Grief. For those who are grieving and are sad, this is an especially difficult time. Memories of the whole family together. When everything seemed to be just right. I remember the last Christmas when my whole family was together. How very quickly things change. Now all that is left is the memory. 

We know who they are: children without a parent, parents without children, widows, widowers, people alone because of divorce. We can bring them into our lives. Invite them to be part of your family. Thanksgiving morning God put a person on my heart that might be having Thanksgiving dinner alone. I texted him to find out that he was going to have dinner at a restaurant by himself. What a joy it was to have him with us a part of our family and lives.

This is the season of Joy! It is a time where it is said joy has come; joy has come into the world. We sing joy to the world! Today we light the candle of joy. It is the odd man out. The only pink candle among the three purple ones. We are half-way through the Season of Advent. This candle is different, so let’s take this opportunity to stop for an extra moment. I invite you all to pause and consider where you are and whose you are. There is much comfort to be found in the practice of pausing to read, pray, and reflect. Today we pause to prepare in our hearts a sense of holy anticipation for the celebration of Christ’s birth and the promise of His second coming. I think it is important for us to study scripture as a reminder of the ways God has been faithful to us through the fulfillment of prophecy; and to find the hope in the promises that God laid out in His Word.

This the third Sunday of Advent, I invite you to reflect with me on the joy we have access to because of our faith and trust in Jesus. One of the defining characteristics of Christ-followers is their joyful demeanor. Let’s not allow the struggles of this year to steal from the great joy we have because of Jesus.

As Christians, we are called to make a difference in the world, we can effect change. Calling the world to “wake up.”  Something is going on. John the Baptist’s call was a call to personal holiness. Make that our call as live out the Hope that is within us because of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Remember, He has you right in the palm of His hand! Now share it!