Wake Up!

Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew :36-44


Whenever I read anything that sounds apocalyptic I begin to sing “It is the end of the world as we know it.” by REM. I can't help it, but I do. As I began to look more closely at the readings though the theme of being on edge, or anticipation of waiting was there.


These were all communities who had experienced hardship. Isaiah took place during the Syria-Ephraim war (Syria and Israel attacked Judah). In the Roman's community there was a great deal of persecution by the Roman government, and in Matthew, that community had been recently rejected from the synagogues and forced out of the Jewish community. These were people who were tired, who understood hardship and needed hope. Hope for something new.


Do any of you need hope?


Do you have past wounds, hurts, injuries that you have tried to harden your heart to but they still remain tender and vulnerable? Do you need hope?


I do. I know there are many things that I struggle with. I think for many of us, me included having relationships with people is a struggle. It is easier and safer to isolate my emotional self. It is easier to hide and not get to know people than it is to risk being hurt again. It is hard to be vulnerable, especially if you have been hurt. Yet is this not what we are called to do?


We are called to be in community, to serve and to live out the Good News. WE are called to be in relationship with one another and that is risky business people. You have to risk being hurt. You have to be willing to forgive, you have to do some hard work and relaxing in the recliner in front of a tv show is not cutting it.


Matthew reminds us to be ready.


We are to be ready. Are you ready? Are you living in hope? Are you willing to take some risks? To reach out to someone new and get to know them? Are you willing to live out the Gospel? Really live it out? How are you doing it?


The gospel is not a prison sentence, it is new hope. It is realizing that we do not travel this world alone. That we have God helping us to navigate this broken world with all of its problems and short comings. We can stop living out the Gospel when we are reunited with Christ, until that point we need to be doing some living! That does not mean that we live life as usual, as those in Noah's time, but that we are constantly on God watch. We watch for God moments, we watch for opportunities to be a good person to someone else, we watch for moments of sharing love with another person. This does not mean you lecture someone on Christ, you simply love them where they are. You risk being hurt. You hope in Christ and you love another person.


This is the season of Advent. The season of Hope. The time to take a serious look at your life and see if you are truly living in hope.



Are you like the owner of the house, going about your business as usual, doing your day to day, letting