Staying Awake in the Dark

I have often thought it ironic that on the Sunday when our sanctuary is most transformed into a place of beauty and light, we talk of the ugliness and terror of the Last Days.  Here we sit, surrounded by green garland… twinkling lights… and beautiful flowers, and our scripture is filled with images of the sun being darkened… the moon not giving out light…  stars falling from heaven… the undoing of creation itself as the Son of Man comes without warning.   Perhaps we should think about a decorating scheme that looks more like what we do on Good Friday than on Christmas Eve. You know what I mean… black drapes… doused candles… and the windows covered over.   I can already hear the people taking a deep breath and bracing themselves.  I was just kidding…

The theme of our text today is “Keep awake!”  Most of us can remember a time when we wanted to stay awake, but were unable to successfully fight against the natural forces that pull us into sleep.  Probably, the first such example in all of our lives was Christmas Eve night.  We all wanted to stay awake to witness the birth of the Christ child.   OK, maybe not.   Maybe what we really wanted to see was Santa Claus land his sleigh on our roof… to hear the clatter of reindeer hooves…and to witness the stuffing of one particular stocking that was hanging near the fireplace.  Who cared about the other stockings?  It was mine that looked so flat and empty.  And I was so deserving.   Well, I am here to tell you that, in all my years of waiting, I never have seen Santa Claus land on my roof.  I have never seen a reindeer… even in the zoo.  And that stocking always got filled after the Sandman had grabbed me and dragged me into the land of dreams.

There are some other times that I have wanted to stay awake that have also been unsuccessful.  I never caught the Tooth Fairy putting those coins under my pillow when she took my teeth.  I always wanted to ask her what she did with all those teeth.   I have missed meteor showers… eclipses of the moon… and other special celestial events that can only be seen at night.  I have missed that wonderful glittery ball dropping in Times Square on New Year’s Eve more often than I have seen it drop over the years.  I have dozed off reading all kinds of textbooks… writing term papers on all kinds of topics… and preparing for more final exams than I can count.  A significant number of conversations during my college years revolved around different strategies for staying awake.  That’s where I learned about the magical powers of coffee and ‘No Doz’.  I have also learned that it doesn’t get any easier when you get older.  You just learn to use alarm clocks or cell phones in strategic ways to make irritating noises that pull you out of your dreams.

“Stay awake,” Jesus tells his disciples, “for you could miss something really important, if you do not.”  But is he really talking about us staying up all night?  Was he telling them to forsake sleep for the rest of their lives in order to be prepared when he returned?   Obviously not. Who would want a bunch of exhausted zombies as followers… even if they were faithful Christians?   So, what is he really telling us to do?

We have just finished a year of walking through the gospel of Matthew.  Today, on the First Sunday of Advent, we begin a new year and, this year, we will be exploring the gospel of Mark.  You might expect, if the story begins today, that we would be preparing for the birth of Jesus, but each year on the First Sunday of Advent, we look, not at the beginning of the story, but at the end of it.  After all, it is not what Jesus did on the day that he was born that counts.  It is what he will do on the day that he returns in glory that makes the difference.  It is who he is… and who we are… on the Day of Judgment that sets Christianity apart from all the other World Religions.  So, the right place to start is at the end of the story, not the beginning.  It is the end of the story that makes the beginning so important.

Jesus has already told his disciples what will happen on Judgment Day.  And he has told them how they will be judged.  We have heard the story of the fig tree that was cursed for not bearing any fruit.  We have heard the story of the wicked tenants.  We know that judgment will be rendered.   What we do not know is when.   So, in chapter 13, Jesus begins to describe all that will happen before the final days.  So, we sit up and pay attention.  We pull out our list of the things that will happen and begin to check them off as they occur.  The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem has already happened.  Wars and rumors of wars have come and gone.  Nations rising up against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms… that has already happened and continues to happen.  Famine and earthquakes have devastated the earth in many different places.  Brother betraying brother… a father his child… children turning against their parents… all these things have happened and continue to happen.  In fact, these things happen so often and with such regularity that we have become complacent about them.  We hardly pay attention to the news reports any more… and that is just the point.   We have become so complacent that we no longer pay attention to these events and we have been lulled into a sense of indifference about them.

“Be aware that no one leads you astray,” Jesus warns, and yet we often hear the mantra "Everybody else is doing it"… and that soothes our ruffled feathers.  Does “everybody else” doing it make it OK…  OK for us to do it?    Two weeks ago, we heard the evening news report that a professional golfer, J.P. Hayes, had used the wrong golf ball on one hole in a golf tournament in McKinney, Texas.  He pointed his error out to an official and was penalized two-strokes for that hole.  He still finished the round with a respectable 74.   Later, he discovered that the ball he used for that hole was not even on the USGA’s list of approved equipment.  He called an official and was disqualified from the tournament.    I am willing to bet that all of us who heard that story got a warm feeling in our hearts about this man who did the right thing.  We were proud of him and proud that he was an American.  And most of us didn’t even know the extent of the consequences for this man’s honesty.  That disqualification will prevent J.P. Hayes from playing as a professional in any top-tier professional golf event during all of 2009… one golf ball on one hole. He makes his living as a golfer. Now, he could have kept his mouth shut and no one would have known the difference.  But he didn’t.   Knowing the consequences of his honesty, didn’t that warm spot in your heart for this man suddenly grow larger?   Aren’t you even more proud of him?

But, if that is all that happens, then you miss the whole point.  Did you even ask yourself why this event was newsworthy?   Why did this story make the national news two weeks ago?   Could it be because his actions were so unusual that they made the headlines across the nation?   Is that something for us to be proud of… that honesty is so unusual that it makes national headlines when it is revealed?   Have we gotten to the point that we expect people to cheat… and we are surprised when they don’t?

That’s the complacency that Jesus is warning us about.  “Everybody else” may be doing it, but “everybody else may be wrong."  It’s the “everybody else” that we need to guard against. "Watch out for them!"  Watch out for those students who think cheating is the normal way to get good grades. Watch out for those individuals who think that drinking and drugs and sex are the only ways to have a good time and to enjoy life. Watch out for those adults whose jokes and language betray disrespect for other people and God. Watch out for the worldly attitude of being concerned only about me and what is mine. Watch out! Be on your guard! Be alert! Don’t allow yourself to slide into complacency.  It is an unbelieving, sinful society in which we live. It is easy to get sucked into it and become part of that worldly way of thinking and acting. Don't be deceived!  What matters in the final days is not that we were like “everybody else” but that we were like Jesus.

The word gregoreo occurs six times in Mark, three times in chapter 13 (verses. 34, 35, 37) and three times in chapter 14 (verses 34, 37, 38). “Keep awake, be alert, be watchful, be alive,” Jesus says. He gave the same command to his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. However, the disciples fell asleep. Jesus woke them again and asked, "Couldn't you stay awake for one hour?" The answer: "No, they couldn't."  Even after Jesus tells them, "Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial," they fall asleep two more times.  And it is while they are asleep that the soldiers arrived to arrest Jesus. If the disciples couldn't stay awake for a short time in the garden, how will we "stay awake" for the rest of our lives?  Jesus is telling us to be on our guard… every minute of every day. We will not always be aware of the dangers around us. We will get sucked into the ideas… the manners… and the lifestyle of the sinful and destructive world in which we live.

Gregoreo… keep awake!   Keep awake in the darkness that surrounds us. For the next fifty-one weeks, we will tell the story again... not because you haven’t heard it before, but to help you remember why it is important for you to be on your guard.   There is no condemnation here from Jesus… only love.  Even after they fell asleep at their posts three times, Jesus didn't tell them all to leave. He didn't send them home because they were unworthy to be disciples. Instead, Jesus went to the cross to die for them… even for sleepy disciples… even for you and for me.  But he tried to warn them… as he tries to warn us today. 

In the Star Wars movies, Darth Vader often tries to convince Luke Skywalker that the Dark Side is where he should be… that the Dark Side is much more powerful than the Force.  And, in those times when Luke Skywalker’s anger threatens to overwhelm him, he almost caves. But we all cheer for him because he doesn’t cave.  He remains a “good guy” even when it seems that “everybody else” is on the Dark Side.   The question that I want to ask you today is this:  What will you do this Christmas season that is not what “everybody else” is doing?  What will you do that really sets you apart as a Christian… that brings your family into a remembrance of what it truly means to be a Christian?   And, when you do that thing… whatever it is… I want you to hear all the angels in heaven cheering you on… just as we cheer for Luke Skywalker.  You see, there really is a cloud of witnesses… and they care… about you… about me… and about the events that will unfold in this world in the coming year.    Keep awake… and watch!  And the way that we watch for Jesus is to live as Jesus lived… and to love as Jesus loved… as we look for his return.  Then, we will see our Lord coming… in clouds with power and glory… coming for us.  Amen.

Mark 13:24-37