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Throughout all of the scriptures there is one common refrain, a refrain echoed over and over again -

"Being Prepared: Maintaining our Vision!"       Jack Keating        December 2, 2007          

Cicero United Methodist Church        Matthew 24: 36-44             Advent I

Throughout all of the scriptures there is one common refrain, a refrain echoed over and over again - the refrain that says that the final act of God's salvation of the world is coming,

-           that the time when the lion will lie down with the lamb,

-           and nations will beat their swords into ploughshares,

-           and their spears into pruning hooks

-           and God himself will judge between the nations.

This idea is expressed in many ways:

-           it is expressed by the prophets who speak throughout the old          testament of the coming day of the Lord

-           that day which will bring the destruction of evil and the vindication of the      good,

-           it is expressed by Jesus who speaks in each gospel of the coming of the   Son of Man on the clouds with power and many signs ... to bring peace       to the earth and to separate out the sheep from the goats

-           and it is expressed by the Apostles, who speak of the day of the      Messiah's return and the triumph of the righteous.

Today - this time that we are in - is further represented by almost all of the prophets, and by Jesus and the apostles, as a time of darkness: a time in which we must wait for the day to come, a time in which we must nourish the vision we have been given, a time in which we must stand by faith on the promises of God and be prepared for them to be suddenly brought to fulfillment.

For sure this is the theme of Advent - being prepared for the coming to pass of all of God's promises; - being prepared for the time of peace, the time of justice, the time that none shall hunger or thirst anymore.

It is about being prepared and about the vision of the prophets and the apostles, and of Jesus himself, that I want to speak to you today.

Many centuries ago a rabbi once asked his students how they could tell when the night was passed and the day was on its way back again.

One student suggested - "when you see an animal in the distance and you can tell if it is a sheep or a goat."

Another student said: "When you can see a tree in the distance and you can tell whether it is a fig tree or a peace tree."

But the rabbi was not impressed with these answers. So he finally told his students, "It is when you can look into the face of any human being and see there the face of your brother or sister - because of you can not do this, then no matter what time it is - for you it is still night."

The vision of salvation that we have is very important, because without an adequate vision, we are inadequately prepared to live this life as God wants us to live, and without an adequate hope, we are inadequately prepared to deal with the world.

Today's industries recognize the principle behind what I have just said - and most of them now have pretty extensive orientation programs for new employees:

-           in addition to the usual lectures on safety in the workplace, they give           tours of the entire operation to the new worker.

-           They show films of how the product they are making is designed and         used,

-           They speak of the firm's philosophy and marketing strategy

-           They stress the care and attention that the firm pays to all its people

-           The attempt, in one way or another, to show where all the efforts made      by the workers fit in and just how important they are within the total plan           of the company.

The theory is that if the employee feels that what they are doing makes a difference, if they feel that their work is important and that they, as persons are truly valued in it, if they catch hold of the company's vision, then they work harder, are more committed, happier, and ultimately more productive.

And you know what? Vision is important in every area of your life, not just in our workplaces.

A couple of years ago I was working with a young man and young woman planning for their wedding. I asked them, as I usually do, what kind of gifts they brought to each other.

The young man looked at his fiancee and said, "She brings me a sense of meaning and purpose". And I was struck by his response so I asked him to say more.

He told me that before he had met her he had kind of drifted along, he had worked hard ­but could not see any real purpose in it, but now, with a wife and, hopefully children entering his life, he had a reason to live - he had someone to care for and someone to care for him.

What happened to this young man happens to many people when they come to love someone and are loved in return by them - they catch hold of a vision - and that vision feeds their lives and brings light to every step they make.

What vision sustains your Christian walk?

What helps us face the darkness, the times when we are hurt by others, the times when we and those around us suffer, the times when peace seems so far off and justice seems to be just a dream?

   What vision of God and of God's salvation do we have?

   Well to many the world has become a terrible place, an awful void, an appalling wilderness.

Yet many Christians, if they do not actually join the chorus of complaints that are heard all around ... remain silent, passive, and apathetic.

They do not nurture the vision of the prophets and the apostles within them. They do not - it seems - believe in the promises made through these apostles anymore.

And so they - with all who dwell in darkness - suffer without hope. Indeed they add to the suffering of the world by denying that world the hope that God intends it to have.

Why is this? Why have people let go of the vision that God gives to us in virtually every page of the Bible?

Some would say that it is because the promises of God are nothing but dreams. Others would say it is because - even if those promises are true - their fulfillment is too far away to make any difference.

   I know many of us are tired of promises that have no substance to them.

We have come to realize that buying a new car does not make us happier: that the brand new soap we saw advertised does not really bring us a brighter bright: and that the new deodorant that promises us confidence all day, does not really make a difference when we have to speak in public or meet someone who is important to our future.

The promises of God are not empty however, nor are they without substance. In fact, many of them have already come to pass, they have already been fulfilled.

Remember the question the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus? "Are you the one who is to come - or should we wait for another?"

And Jesus answered them this way: "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them."

Someone once estimated that over 150 separate prophecies or promises of God came true with the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

God has kept his promises - those made in days of old, those made to Abraham concerning the creation of a mighty nation from his seed, those made later on concerning the rise and fall of Jerusalem as his chosen city, and those made concerning the birth of the messiah in the line of David.

God has kept his promises made in days of old and God keeps his promises - those meant for today, those which concern his presence among those who believe, those which concern peace and comfort and support to those who have faith, those which concern strength, found even in weakness to meet adversity, those which concern forgiveness and healing.

God has kept his promises, God keeps his promises and God will keep his promises - those meant for that day, that day which will yet surprise us in the future, the day of Christ's return: the day of peace for all nations and people, the day of judgment and vindication.

Vision is essential to our life. Without it, and without the hope that the vision provides, we will surely turn as dark as the night around us- and begin to die.

Vision needs to be nurtured, however, if it is to be kept alive. It needs to be clung to, especially when the darkness threatens us. It needs to be used - to be a filter through which we can see all of life.

   We can keep the vision alive,

-                      by remembering - all that God has done

-                      and by thinking about what God is doing,      

            -           and out of this foundation, by believing what God will still yet bring to pass              all that he has promised.

   Martin Luther King Jr. once said "I have a dream" and he shared that dream with others.  And though he is gone now - the world has changed because of that dream, and it continues to change because of those who hold onto it.

We too have a dream - a promise - a vision - and if we choose to hold onto it, if we proclaim it to ourselves and others, without ever letting go of it, the world will also change around us. The light will come and we will see the face of our brothers and sisters. Our lives will have purpose and meaning. And we will see what God has promised come to pass ­in this life - and in the next. Praise be to God. Amen.