Advent 1: Being Prepared, Knowing Hope

“Be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour”

The whole problem with this is that we don’t know when it will be, so how can we be ready?  When I was a teenager my friends were a little older than me, so they were driving before I was. Whenever anyone was coming to pick me up, Dad would make sure I was ready early, because you shouldn’t keep people waiting. J

It was about always being ready.

It may surprise some of you to know that I was a Girl Guide, and the motto is ‘Be Prepared’.   Going out for a walk would mean a backpack, water, food, money, first aid kit etc. you can imagine the amount of stuff that was packed for a camping trip.

Somehow I don’t think Matthew was meaning ‘be prepared’ by carrying a compass, Swiss army knife, matches, map, ……

What might it mean, in the gospel sense, to Be Prepared?

Much of life just happens, we can’t prepare for every eventuality. In the past few weeks we have heard of typhoons  and storms, and at 10.25pm pm Friday evening, Scottish time, a Police helicopter fell on a pub in Glasgow. When you go to the pub, or out for Dinner, do you plan what you will do if a police helicopter crashes into the building? Of course not, it happens so rarely.

I suspect Being Prepared is about knowing who we are in Christ, more than having a map and compass. Being prepared is living in the way of Christ.

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Our verse in the candle song today, was ‘Hope is a light to show the way’ .

What does it mean to be a light, to offer hope?

Some of the people I meet do not have hope, and cannot imagine any future different to the one they are living in. I recently met a young man who was living on the street, a few people had befriended him, and they asked for my help in finding a place for him to live. He wouldn’t take our help, he has tried all the government departments, knows what is available and knows he can’t afford even the cheapest rents on unemployment benefits. Department of Housing has a crisis accommodation program, for people like this young man. But, it is one night at a time, and each morning you back up all your belongings, go to the office again, and get another docket for another nights accommodation – not simple when you don’t have transport, and you may not be in the same place as last night, so all your belongings go with you.

After 2-3 weeks, you may be eligible for assistance with private rental bond etc.

No-one plans to be living on the streets.

…..

In the passage from Isaiah, we hear of a different world to what people were experiencing.

This first part of Isaiah, is about God’s judgement on the people of Israel, about how the land will be desolate, the people in exile, yet interspersed, there are some passages of hope. Jerusalem was the site of many battles, and was overrun by other nations. The Israelites saw this as punishment from God. The five verses we heard today are one of these passages of hope, promises of God, hope for a future.

A future that will be different to their daily experience.

Imagine if the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, were told that their future would be one without war – how easy would it be to believe that sometime in the future, fear and violence would not be part of daily life?

….

 

Each week during Advent, I will have a symbol for you to take home. today it is a gold bauble for you to hang on your tree, or around the home somewhere:

 

I want you to think about:

What is my experience of God’s hope in the world today?

 

When you look at the bauble, I want to think about God’s hope in your life.

…

Last Saturday I went into Circular Quay, to the Give Hope gathering. There we saw the banner created from over 250 patches from around the Synod. we worshipped, we prayed and we sang.

Here is a clip of the event. [show YouTube clip 1.5 minutes  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G90wQNlaykw&feature=youtu.be ]

 

In what ways might we offer hope to those who are without hope?