Advent 1_2007               December 2, 2007

There is a book for Church leaders Called “Twelve Keys to an Effective Church” by Kennon Callahan which has been used by many congregations to help plan their future. Its goal is similar to the program we’re using “Natural Church Development,” to increase enthusiasm for the gospel so that the congregations will go out and tell others.

In the book Twelve Keys to and Effective Church, Callahan poses this question. Do you think the best year for your congregation’s ministry is behind you, or in the years to come? In other words, Are the glory years for your congregation already past, back in the good old days, or are they yet to come in your congregation’s future?

Then Callahan says if you answered that if you the best years for your congregation are behind you, then stop right there and don’t use the program. It will not work. But if you believe that your best years are yet to come, then he urges the congregation to continue to grow use the process will help them grow.

This question strikes at the heart of what we believe as Christians personally, across our city, and across the nation. Let’s ask, are our best years behind us, or are they yet to come? Consider the city and nation, are our best years behind us, or are they yet to come? How about for our congregation? Most importantly, consider the question for you and your family. Are the best years yet to come?

Keep that question in mind as we consider the reading, Matthew 24:36 44 will help us answer that question of what God is promising to do for those who are faithful. Jesus is talking about the day of God’s coming when he says,

“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.... 37For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. .... 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Did you hear the reference to the story of Noah and the great flood? You remember it don't you? The world had become so full of sin and violence, God decided to start over and wash everyone away. Everyone, except Noah and his family. God told Noah to build an ark, a huge boat. Other people called Noah a fool for building such a huge boat. They went about their daily business, eating drinking, getting married as if nothing was happening. Once it began to rain, it was too late for them. Everyone was swept away by the flood, but Noah and his family were saved.

Jesus said that when he comes again, people are going will be going about their daily routines as if nothing is going to change. Two people will at work, one will be taken away and the other will be left behind. Two others will be working at home, one will be taken away and the other left behind. Like Noah and his family, those who are faithful will be saved, and they will be left behind, while the others who are not ready will be swept away.

Here Jesus says those who are unfaithful and unprepared are taken way, but those who are prepared for his coming will be left behind to see God’s transformation of the world. This is not a small detail, but consistent with the story of Noah, and also in the first reading from the book of Isaiah. God will come down to earth, and make a new creation through Jesus Christ. The principal is, God always comes down. The only way we can go up comes because God first comes down. (I thank Kelly Fryer for this idea.)

When we think of the great flood, our baptism is God’s way of washing away our sin. Later, when God gave the law to Moses, it was given so that we can live together in peace. Isaiah had that vision of a new creation where the people of God will turn their swords into plows, transform all the weapons of war into tools to grow fruits and wheat to feed and clothe people. That’s God’s promise to us, and we can look forward to Christ’s coming.

What I’m saying is that God always comes down. In the church season of Advent, we are preparing for God to come down. We remember the first time he came down as a baby born to Mary, the story of Christmas. We remember that God came down again when he raised Jesus from the dead. Here Jesus is talking about the tribulations that his disciples will suffer in the world after his resurrection. When God comes down again, the third time, it will be like the kingdom that Isaiah was talking about.

The important thing to remember is, God always comes down. The promise that Jesus will come again means that he will come down and it will be a new day. God will transform the world as it is and make it the kingdom that Isaiah was talking about, where swords will be beat into plowshares, children will pay with snakes without any fear of being bitten, and lions and lambs will lie together in peace.

So now ask the question again. Are the best years behind us, of in front of us? The gospel says that the best years are always in front of us. When we are ready for Jesus to come down, that changes and transforms everything. It orients us to God’s purpose for us and for all creation. The question for us is simple, are we going to be part of the problem of sin and evil, or are we going to be part of the solution God is bringing to the world?

If we believe the best years are behind us, we’re part of the problem. We don’t have any hope. If we believe the best years are in front of us, then we’re part of the solution that God has in store for us. We will live in hope, in spite of all the sin and evil in the world, because we believe the best years are ahead of us.

So how does this work for us? Let’s start with issues of our own family. Do you believe the best years for your family are yet to come, or do you believe the best years are behind you.

Many years ago I met a woman in her mid thirties I’ll call Jane. I may have told this story before, because it is so remarkable. Jane wanted a divorce, and thought the best years for her marriage were behind her. In fact, she thought she wanted a divorce. It was not a happy Thanksgiving for her and her family. Jane and her husband were having huge financial problems, and they often fought over money. After the family Thanksgiving dinner, Jane told him, “This has to stop. You bought tickets to that stupid football game for $500; now we don’t have money for the electric bill.” He said, “You bought over $200 worth of clothes last month alone.”

Jane and her husband were doing what Adam and Eve did when sin first came the world. They were blaming each other for the problems they both created. Her husband started coming home late because he was going to a bar after work. Jane went to the doctor and told him that she was nervous and couldn’t sleep. and he gave her a prescription so she could sleep.

Jane decided it was time to make a change, and to start going to church. She couldn’t get her husband or her children to go, so she went alone. It was the first time she did something on her own. At first it was strange being there, but after a few weeks, she got familiar with some of the members, especially a woman about her age named Sara, who invited her to a small prayer group.

After a few weeks, she asked her Sara and the others in the group to pray for peace in her life. Jane asked, “How can I get my husband to straighten out. He drinks too much, spends too much away. He’s probably seeing someone else. Now he’s having problems at work and is going to get himself fired.”

Sara said, "You can’t make him change. He won’t change unless he wants to change.” The only thing you can do is take care of you and then your children. After Jane considered this, she was relieved. She said later that it felt as if she was set free, but she couldn’t really figure out why. I saw that a transformation was taking place, and it was a gift of the Holy Spirit. Over the next several weeks, Jane began to focus on her life and made some changes. Gradually, Jane stopped blaming her husband for her unhappiness. By the summer, she and her husband began to talk and their relationship gradually grew closer.

I worked with them to set a budget, and establish other boundaries and limits for themselves. To them, it felt like a whole new kind of relationship. In the months ahead, their marriage became better than ever before.

Even before Jane and her husband started coming to church, they both knew the basic principals of Christian faith, but that knowledge alone didn’t help them. What did help is when Jane decided to be responsible for the care of her own soul. To go to worship and pray with a small group. When she worked on changing her own life, other people in her family began to change.

Let me ask, do you think our best years are ahead of us. I don’t think you’d come to church unless you believed that. We know that our best years in front of us because of the transforming power of Jesus Christ. With the eternal promise of Christ, we can always say our best years are in front of us. In the meantime, let us be faithful, and tell others that God’s peace is coming, to our families, to our congregation and community, even to the world! We live in the hope that God is coming down, again. People can change, even be transformed if we have the will to live in God’s promise today. Let Christ come to down us with his love, and we will look forward to the time when he comes again to rule the world!

AMEN