Vails Gate UMC

FROM THE PASTOR ~ December 2011

It seems strange to have this Scripture excerpt as part of the 1st Sunday in Advent
(the complete Scripture is Mark 13:24-37), because it comes at the end of Jesus’ life and
speaks of his 2nd coming. We are brought to the end just when we thought we were at
the beginning.

Advent is a time of waiting and if you are like me, December isn’t about sitting
around and twiddling your thumbs; it is about action. We are getting this
ready…decorating the house, buying and wrapping gifts, cooking special treats…we are
usually so overwhelmed, that we have more to do than we have time to do it in, and yet,
Christmas doesn’t wait for us. It comes whether we are ready or not.

Notice that all the things I mentioned have to do with getting ready for the secular
Christmas celebration, not the religious occasion of marking our Savior’s birth. I think
we can actually learn something from our secular behavior that will help us during this
Advent time. Yes, it is a time of waiting, but it is not a mistake that this is our first
Scripture during the Advent season. It is a call for us to be active as we are waiting for
the birth. We must be attentive to the world around us as we wait for Christmas Day to
arrive. We must be attentive to the ways that God is at work during this busy time. We
must be alert to the places we actually might meet Jesus as we are waiting for him to
come. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? But, since we are actually in an in-between time,
between the time Jesus first walked the earth and the time he will come again, we do need
to be on the alert. And, the Gospel passage from Matthew 25, which we heard on
November 20th, reminded us that whenever we do something unto the “least of these” we
do it to Jesus. Perhaps we will see Jesus in the Salvation Army ringer, maybe we will see
him in the face of the children who receive warm mittens, maybe Jesus is at the
Newburgh Ministry awaiting new socks…the possibilities are really endless.

Christmas is going to come whether we are ready or not. We do not want to miss
a chance to meet Jesus along the way. When we get to Christmas Day I want to hear
about all the places you were active in your waiting and where you saw God at work and
if just maybe you met Jesus.

In the Peace that came in a tiny baby,

Pastor Martha