Matthew 24:36-44

“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

When I was growing up, being a Christian was never a particularly cool thing. In my public primary school, we never talked about faith, and though I went to a Church of England grammar school in high school, religion class was something everyone resented having to go to, as much as saying the School Prayer in every Assembly, or singing our school song, Jerusalem – just ensuring we knew that it was a Church of England school! There was however a lunchtime club that some of you also might have been part of; it was called ISCF (Inter School Christian Fellowship) at one stage, and then changed to SUIS (Scripture Union In Schools). Our SUIS club met over lunch once a week with a faculty supervisor, and basically talked about issues of faith and ethics that were pressing on us as teenage girls.

In an effort to try and normalise our being Christian in a school largely comprised of agnostics, we would wear funky crosses as necklaces or earrings, or fabric bracelets with either the letters WWJD (What Would Jesus Do), PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens), or FROG (Fully Rely On God). Another thing that was very popular when I was younger was evangelism-by-bumper-sticker, particularly the one that read: “Jesus is coming; look busy.”

But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. Jesus is coming; look busy.

It’s a quote that makes us chuckle, but it also strikes a chord in us. Heaven forbid the day the Son of Man comes, and we’re napping, or on holiday, or on the loo. But let’s take a step back; let’s go back to basics. When we heard the reading for today, what did Jesus look like? Did Jesus look like a gentle Middle-Eastern carpenter, eating with prostitutes and embracing children? Or did Jesus look quite different? Perhaps like a judge, tally sheets in hand, rewarding the good and punishing the wicked, strong and mighty, crushing the oppressors and consigning the sinful to eternal damnation?

Yes, both these images are Biblical. But, if you weigh up all the Biblical texts that describe Jesus, image number 1 would win outright. It’s just that the second image makes better movies and newspaper ads and bumper stickers, so it often gets more publicity. In our world, it’s much easier to imagine Jesus as a stern, watchful employer who expects to see his employees busy every time he looks in their direction, or like a suspicious teacher monitoring an exam in school, making sure the students look busy because if not, they’re cheating – than the gentle carpenter. There are much more of the former images in our world. Jesus is coming… look busy, or else!

But friends, there is only one Christ. There is only one Son of Man. The Coming Christ is the same person who was revealed to the world as the wise Nazarene carpenter. Throughout most of this year, we have heard stories and parables, and learnt about who this Son of Man is. What have we learnt?

We have learnt that Jesus is the one who accepts the doubts of Thomas and wins him over with humour and love. Jesus is the one who meets the heartbroken Mary in the garden and fills her with hope and joyous bewilderment. Jesus is the one who met with the ashamed Peter who had denied him, accepted him as a brother and entrusted him with care of his flock. Jesus is the one who met the two going to Emmaus, inspiring them to such a renewed hope that they described their hearts as burning within them. We have learnt that Jesus is the one who surrendered his life to the powers of the time, only to conquer even death. And in these coming weeks, we will learn that Jesus, the coming Christ, entered the world as a little baby that no one would ever suspect of changing the world forever.

The one Jesus we worship consistently smashes all expectations of what the world thinks he should be. While the Jews wanted a conqueror King to overthrow the oppressive government of the time, Jesus came as a child to poor parents, who grew up to do carpentry for a living. While many others displayed pious anger towards a woman caught in adultery, Jesus proclaimed unconditional acceptance and forgiveness. While the Pharisees expected him to keep in line with their casting out of lepers, the demonised, the poor, the tax-collectors, the resident aliens, or whoever was the scapegoat of the week, Jesus showed love and hospitality to all. While his followers displayed distrust and fear of Samaritans, Jesus told stories of good Samaritans not only as neighbours, but as models of grace. While his disciples wanted to publicise his miracles and healings, Jesus consistently told them not to tell anyone what they had seen. When the early believers wanted Jesus to come back ASAP after his ascension, Jesus waits, and waits, allowing his Church to go about the business of reconciliation without him right there with them. Jesus Christ almost never bowed to societal expectations of who he was to be or how he was to act. Jesus was poor, an outcast, a refugee, persecuted, and brown-skinned. This is the Jesus we worship.

Our theme for Advent this year is “Silent Night, Holy Night: Respite From The Rush.” I am all but sure that our lives are getting more and more busy as we gear ourselves towards Christmas. Our lives begin to be oriented around parties and celebrations and preparations. In fact, in China, the polite answer to the question “how are you” is to say “I am very busy, thank you.” We buy into the idea that busy-ness is the measure of our success as humans and as Christians. But friends, this equation is a societal equation. It is not Christ’s. To measure the success and holiness of our lives by how busy we are is actually to deny a basic truth of our Reformed faith. We believe that through Christ’s death and resurrection, we have been saved and redeemed. It has already happened. We don’t need to earn our salvation. We are already recipients of God’s amazing grace.

I wonder if, as we whip ourselves up into a busy-ness frenzy over the next month, we are actually enslaving ourselves to notions of success and discipleship. I wonder if we are enslaving ourselves to ideas about our kids having every opportunity possible, so we schedule them into frenetic lives and then wonder why they have trouble concentrating. I wonder if we are enslaving ourselves to the belief that the only thing that will bring contentment and satisfaction is more money, more success, more parties, more ornaments, more items on our resumes, more more more.

In this light, our Scripture reading has a pretty hard word for us. How can we keep awake and ready for the coming of the Son of Man, if we spend our whole lives in frantic busyness? If the Christ we worship and adore is one who defied and smashed all expectations, why are we still catering to societal expectations of what our lives should be leading up to Christmas?

This is our challenge to you all, in this first week of Advent, in this first Sunday of a new liturgical year, today as we hold our Annual General Meeting. Jesus is coming: DO NOT LOOK BUSY.

How about: Jesus is coming: be still, and know that I am God.

Jesus is coming: stop, and wait expectantly.

Jesus is coming: take some time, re-evaluate your life, and re-orient it to Him, through prayers and reading the Bible and singing and enjoying the company of your sisters and brothers here.

Jesus is coming; take time to discern what is worth your time and energy.

Jesus is coming; wake up, and pay attention to the wonder of life, instead of just living it.

Jesus is coming: are you preparing yourselves, or just sticking your heads in the sand?

In fact, the Bible passage goes even further; it tells us that our task of staying alert for the coming of the Son of Man is to replace all other priorities. That is the point of Advent. To make preparations for the coming of the Son of Man our top priority, above presents and parties and anything else. That, my sisters and brothers, is my challenge for you all, this Advent season.

Jesus is coming: be still, and wait for the Lord. Amen.