Today, we enter the second week of Advent; the second week of our preparation for the coming of the Lord among us at Christmas time. But we also know that he comes to us whenever we engage in practices whose main reason for being is to put us in touch with our Lord and the Lord with us on a daily basis. These practices include –
Practices that put us in touch with the Lord as we prepare for his coming (John Wesley’s “means of grace”):
* Prayer
Personal or communal
* Reflective reading of the Scriptures
John Wesley on “Searching the Scriptures”
Sacred Reading or Lectio Divina
* Active participation in worship
* Receiving Holy Communion
When the opportunity presents itself for doing so
* Doing acts of compassion and justice toward people in need in our midst and in many places around the world.
Helping those in need through the ministry of presence, the sharing of one’s gifts and other resources, or a smile, a touch of encouragement;
Or, as John Wesley strongly encourages us: to “do no harm, do good.”
By putting into regular practice some of these means of grace, we will be “preparing a room in our heart” as we wait for the Lord to come and be with us this Christmas and at any time and season in the year.
There is, however, another coming or advent of Jesus that the reading from the second letter of Peter reminds us about – the coming again of Jesus at the end time.
In Peter’s time, it was believed that the end time was to happen in their lifetime. They therefore expected Jesus, who had ascended to heaven, to return soon. They believed he would come back -- when he was least expected. --
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. -- 2 Peter 3:10, CEB
No one really knew then, nor does anyone now know the exact time of Jesus’ return. Jesus himself unequivocally stated that he had no clue. Listen to what he said:
36 “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the heavenly angels and not the Son. Only the Father knows...” (Matthew 24:36, Common English Bible)
That he was coming again, however, was not in doubt. A few verses down in the same chapter from Matthew, Jesus emphasized the importance of being prepared for that eventuality when he told the following parable about the servants:
45 “Who then are the faithful and wise servants whom their master puts in charge of giving food at the right time to those who live in his house? 46 Happy are those servants whom the master finds fulfilling their responsibilities when he comes. 47 I assure you that he will put them in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose those bad servants should say to themselves: My master won’t come until later. 49 And suppose they began to beat their fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunks? 50 The master of those servants will come on a day when they are not expecting him, at a time they couldn’t predict. 51 He will cut them in pieces and put them in a place with the hypocrites. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.” (Matthew 24:45-51, Common English Bible)
Like the author of the Gospel according to Mark, which we reflected on last week, and the parable from Matthew, Peter described Jesus’ coming again in rich apocalyptic imagery because that was what he learned as a Jew and that was how the end time was described and understood in his culture.
“On that day the heavens will pass away with a dreadful noise, the elements will be consumed by fire, and the earth and all the works done on it will be exposed...” the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. (2 Peter 3:11-12, Common English Bible)
Kind of a scary time, isn’t it? But not if one is prepared and ready like the Boy and Girl Scouts. Not if one pays attention to the word of hope given in the midst of the apocalyptic disaster.
But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. (2 Peter 3:13, Common English Bible)
There will be, a “Great Clean Up,” to use a phrase by Eugene Peterson, author of The Message.” But that clean up will only affect negatively those who have not prepared for the coming of the Lord. Otherwise, why would the believers be impatient with the Lord’s coming? They welcomed it. They wanted to be reunited with the One they loved.
Our preparation for our daily encounters with the Lord through the different means of grace God has given us are ways we stay in love with God as we await his advent. Our preparations this Advent for his coming again to us at Christmas time, are a kind of fire or disaster drill, if you will, for the end time. Though considered inconvenient by most of us, they do help get us ready for the real thing when a fire or a disaster does actually happen.
The believers in Peter’s time were disappointed that Jesus did not return again soon, as they expected. They wanted him to establish that “new heaven and new earth where justice is at home” that he promised. They were getting impatient! Sounds like many of us, right? Us being impatient, I mean, though not for the same reasons.
Just look at how many accidents on the road happen because we are impatient. Road rage has become so commonplace, we don’t even wince anymore, when we hear about it. Have you ever been in a line and someone cuts in front of you because s/he could not stand the wait?
I think that, as believers today, we have to be glad that God is patient with us, or we could be in deep trouble. For how many of us can truly say that we are prepared for his coming? Yes, yes, our church is decorated and so are our homes, but are our hearts ready for him? How many of us are waiting actively as faithful and wise disciples for his coming by using the means of grace available to us?
As Peter said, the Lord is being patient with us. That the Lord is patient, is to our advantage. God’s patience is giving us, as Alaina read earlier, the opportunity to repent of our sins and to return to the Lord. God is giving us the opportunity to “live holy and godly lives” (2 Peter 3:11, CEB) by staying in love with God and neighbor:
Therefore, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found by him in peace—pure and faultless. – (2 Peter 3: 14, CEB)
When we live lives pleasing to God as they are to ourselves and those around us, we will have nothing to fear. We will be at peace within and without. May that peace be yours this Christmas time and always. Amen.
“Prepare ye, the way of the Lord. Prepare ye, the way of the Lord.”
Question for Reflection:
What are you doing these days to live in peace with God, with yourself, with others and with creation as you prepare for the Lord’s coming?
