Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · November 30, 2008

First Sunday of Advent

Prayer of the Day

Dear Lord, help us to be prepared to see you when you come again. Help us to celebrate this season with hope and joy. Stir up your power in us as we witness your presence among us. Stir our hearts, stir our spirits, and stir our minds as you bring hope, healing, and peace. Amen.

Scripture

Mark 13:24-37

“But in those days, after that suffering,

       the sun will be darkened,

                   and the moon will not give its light,

       and the stars will be falling from heaven,

                   and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.   Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see those things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore keep awake – for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

Message

When the Lord Comes

Larry Gallamore

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could know what’s going on in another person’s mind just by observing them? Some people seem to be able to do something similar to that. Have you ever looked at another person and thought, “I know what she’s thinking?” People who have been married for a number of years can often do that.

Sometimes you can look at a person you barely know, and you get that feeling you know what’s going on inside her head. It’s the strangest feeling! A few months back I was teaching a “Caring and Listening Seminar,” and I noticed a woman sitting at one of the round tables. Her demeanor and her face revealed many journeys through darkness. I was talking about how Jesus always seems to appear in the darkest moments of our lives. Tears started flowing steadily down her face. Not wanting to single her out or call attention to what was happening inside her mind, I continued on with an illustration from the movie Sea Biscuit where an injured race horse was about to be put down, and a stable hand yells, “Stop! I’ll save you the bullet. I’ll take him.” 

A horse buyer, played by Jeff Bridges, asks if the horse would ever race again. The stable hand replies, “No, not this one.” The horse buyer, unable to take in the meaning of what’s being said, blurts out the obvious, “Why? Why are you bothering with him then?”

The stable hand replies, “Because I can. Just because someone’s banged up a little doesn’t mean he isn’t worth anything.”

My friends, that’s the way God feels about you. Just because you’re banged up a bit doesn’t mean you’re not worth anything. You can count on Jesus. He’ll always be there when you need him.

The writer of Mark has Jesus coming in the darkness (Mark 13:24). Listen to Mark. He is talking real darkness. The moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven; the powers in the heavens will be shaken. You’re thinking, “My Lord, what a morning!” Could this be where the title of that great old spiritual, “My Lord, What a Mornin’” originated?

What an amazing text! The further and further you get into trouble, the more appropriate it is to imagine God tearing open the heavens and coming down to make things right. You’re beginning to see, at times like this, God is punching holes in the darkness to let God’s light through. 

I can’t wait for Christmas! I can’t wait to see what God is going to do this year of 2008!

My friends, we’ve seen a lot of darkness this year: apocalyptic-like fires in California; hurricanes bringing disaster on the Gulf Coast; loss of life in school and church shootings; killings in offices, homes, and along our highways; plus financial meltdowns that have shaken the very foundations of our world. For many, darkness has changed their lives forever, paralyzing them with fear.

This year we’re looking for Jesus. This year we’re waiting expectantly, whereas in previous years we’ve just been hanging around. You’ve had enough darkness; you’re ready for the Light.

We have to spread the word that Jesus is coming. We need to tell those who have been covered with water by the tsunamis that Jesus is coming. We need to tell those devastated by war that Jesus is coming. We need to tell those who have been bombed by terrorists that Jesus is coming. We need to tell those who are homeless due to foreclosure that Jesus is coming. We need to tell those who have been left on the edge of poverty by loss of their retirement that Jesus is coming. We need to tell those who have lost almost everything to fires and earthquakes that Jesus is coming. We need to tell those who have been victims of social injustice that Jesus is coming. Do you hear me, church? Jesus is coming!

We need to get ready. There is no time for sleeping, no time for shirking your responsibility, no time to neglect your prayer life, no time to overlook your Bible study. Jesus is coming. He’s coming to straighten out this old world. He is coming to right all wrongs. He is coming to restore peace and good will.

He is descending into war zones turning swords into plowshares. He’s turning violence into compassion, turning enemies into friends. He is setting a table wide enough to seat all people and full enough to feed all God’s children. He is coming to those wracked with pain, to soothe their tormented spirits, and calm their troubled minds. He’s coming to shine in the dark corners of despair where fear lurks and anxiety threatens.

Jesus is coming like the seed wiggling its way through the dark soil. He is coming like a fig tree that’s just turning green, like a leaf breaking forth from a branch bearing the promise of new life.

Stay awake! Get prepared for the best time of your life. Stay awake for your transformation! Don’t give up on God! The key to waiting is knowing how you are going to wait? The key is knowing what you are waiting for! Do you have any idea what you are waiting for? You are waiting for a wonder child. Isaiah told us centuries ago when he said, “The people that walk in darkness have seen a great Light. They that dwell in the land of death, on them the Light has shined” (9:2).

I want you to know what you are looking for. I want you to know the excitement described in Isaiah. If you don’t know what you are looking for, you will miss Jesus when he comes. You are told to watch, be ready. It gets really exciting when you know what you are waiting for. What are you expecting? 

You have to be in the right state of mind to really enjoy Christmas. You’ve known this for years, or maybe you are hearing it for the first time. You have to be in the right state of mind to see Jesus. 

That’s what the story of Ebenezer Scrooge is all about. Scrooge had to get in the right state of mind to discover the reality of Christmas, and so do you. By now, you are already beginning to think about Christmas. Are you ready to talk about what you should look for? This is really exciting!

Isaiah is going to help show you what to look for in his marvelous description of this Christ Child. Listen to what he says. He names the Child by describing his five qualities. First of all, the Child is called Wonderful. The word “wonderful” as used in the Bible means a miracle, just that; nothing less. You realize the Bible teaches the miracle from the first page to the last. You know we have some so-called biblical scholars who say blandly that miracles do not happen, thus dismissing the whole matter with a wave of their hand. Nevertheless, you know miracles happen every day in the lives of people who believe. There are times when God shocks you with a miracle when least expected.

There’s a wonderful story told about a young pastor just out of seminary in his first church. He goes to the hospital to see an elderly parishioner who is dying of cancer. As he arrives and enters the hospital room, he doesn’t know what to say. He just listens to her story. As he gets ready to leave, he asks the woman if she would like him to pray. She says, “Oh, yes, please do.” He doesn’t know what to pray for so he asks the patient, “What do you want me to pray for?” 

She says, “Pray that I will be completely healed.” So the young pastor prayed that God would heal her. When he finished, and as he said “Amen,” the woman jumped out of bed shouting, “I’m healed, I’m healed, I’m healed.” She ran down the hall yelling “I’m healed, I’m healed, I’m healed!” As the young pastor got back to the parking lot, he looked up to God, don’t you ever do that to me again.”

Isaiah says Jesus is the miracle child. As soon as Jesus is born in your heart, the miracle starts coming. The whole point is that the miracle child can lift you out of your circumstances and set you down in different circumstances. The wonder child is a miracle child.

The prophet Isaiah says the wonder child is also a Counselor. A counselor, you know, is one who gives advice or guidance.   You can talk to him about accepting or rejecting a business offer, to say something or leave it unsaid, to sign or not to sign an important contract. You can ask him anything. The prophet also reveals to us who this Wonder Child really is. If you don’t know by now, the child is no less than God himself, the Mighty God. He is the one that transforms and turns your life around.

He is also the Everlasting Father. God is our Father, not merely our Creator. We are the children of a good Father. When the Bible speaks of a Father, it is referring to a good Father, one that provides what you need for body and soul.

And finally, the prophet says the Wonder child is the Prince of Peace. Just try to realize what that title means for you in practice. If everyone had real peace in their soul, how easy it would be to find your place in the world. If everyone has peace of soul and peace of mind, the whole world would be at peace. The government of the world would be upon his shoulders.

Do you know why we are tired, worried, ill, and depressed? Because we have been trying to carry the government upon our own shoulders. The burden is too much for us. Jesus is coming, Jesus the tireless One, Jesus the all-powerful One, the all-wise One, the all-resourceful One. If you allow him to come into your heart, you’ll welcome him joyfully, because your difficulties have seen the beginning of the end.

Imagine what it will mean to you if you invite Jesus into your heart this Christmas. You’ll love everyone. Love moves everyone. Love is the great motivator; love is the greatest of all feelings. Love is a mindset. People will scale mountains with luggage on their backs, swim upstream in a hurricane, and battle armies against all odds in order to fulfill that hardwired emotion in us to love and to be loved. Love rules. You want to experience Christmas, as you never experienced Christmas before. Come to Jesus. God is knocking at your door saying, “Let me in.” Why don’t you open the door of your heart to the soft presence of the Unseen Guest? It opens with an inner latch. Christ says, “I will wipe away all tears and will heal you. I’ll inspire you and set you on the high road. I’ll do wonderful things for you.”

I want you to make this your best Christmas ever. Life doesn’t go backward. Life is a progression and an endless development. Life always moves forward. I’m happy to tell you that Jesus is coming. He is what we need in 2008. I’ve always been fascinated with the power, with the wonder-working power, that produces changed lives. Indeed, Jesus is the greatest power in the world because he alone can change a human being, the most complicated, even perverse, of all entities. I have seen it work in the lives of so many.

I was so fortunate to grow up in an era with a strong evangelistic motivation in our churches. The churches were dedicated to winning people to Jesus Christ. Great emphasis was laid upon dedicating one’s life to Christ. In Sunday School we had “decision days,” and parents were never happier than when their children found the Lord. Of course, there were some phonies. I’ve known a few myself.  But they are the exception rather than the rule. 

We were brought up to have ideals and principles, to be clean, honest, and decent. Of course, we were not perfect, but one thing is for sure. We were taught to love God, to love Jesus, and to love our neighbors. And we had a happy time. It was a glorious era. We are coming back to such a time. The problems of 2008 have redirected us toward the Lord. We have learned that God can never be set aside. God alone remains. There is a new spiritual movement sweeping our country. Once again churches are preaching and teaching the power of Jesus to change lives and to bring peace, joy, and happiness.

The year 2008 is a great time to be alive, if only because it drives us back to some basic fundamentals: “What shall it profit an individual or a nation to gain the whole world and lose its soul.”

Many have supposed that modern economics, education, and the sciences were displacing religion, making it somewhat useless. On the contrary, the more advanced a society becomes the more critical is our need of the principles of a sustaining faith, the kind of life that Christ brings into the world. Jesus is coming. Let’s celebrate.

So be it. Amen.

Benediction

Come, Lord Jesus. Find us awake and ready! Please come! Amen.