November Pastors Corner
November is sometimes considered an unspectacular month. It’s “already, not yet” in the sense of being close to “the holidays” but not quite there. In American culture, it’s our brief time of waiting for something bigger and better.
November also is the church’s time for waiting since “Advent” or “waiting for the Lord’s coming” nearly always begins in November on the Sunday following Thanksgiving. Such is the case in 2010, but our church “Advent waiting” is never dull. The turn of the year is reflected in our Sunday texts which move from the “Blessings and woes” and descriptions of the end of the age in Luke to the warnings in Matthew 24 about watchfulness as we begin the season of Advent.
The warning of watchfulness took on new meaning for Natalie and me last week. Our alarm company called to report a break-in at 3:17 p.m. I’m being deliberate about the time since Mt. 24.43-44 reads “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.”
I’ve bolded “night” to make a point. If I had known a burglar would visit at 3:17 p.m., I would have been home ready and waiting. Burglars are brazen enough to break in during the afternoon, and alarm companies can give a precise time for that event. But one thing remains the same from Bible times to today: we didn’t see it coming until after the fact. By analogy, and following the words of Christ himself, we most likely won’t see “the Son of Man” coming until the alarm sounds.
Scripture is full of alarm signals telling us to “repent and believe” precisely so that Jesus Christ might “break in” to your heart, your home, your life.
Scripture is also full of lukewarm, lethargic and halfhearted responses to the claim of God upon our lives. Nevertheless, human nature is such that we deny and discount all the signs of the alarm sounding. Our continual confession is that we fall short of the glory of God. The result is the continual underperforming of our individual faith lives, our congregational life and the whole church of Christ throughout the world. That’s our reality. Now for our potential.
“We are what God has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Eph.2.10) November is a fitting time to ask ourselves what “good works” are we doing in our lives through our congregation? We have done many “good works” for 128 years. Many more “good works” are lying dormant within us, waiting to be shared in joy for the sake of Christ’s ministry in our midst. As we wait for 2011 to arrive, remember that Christ won’t wait two months to visit you. He is now present in Word and Sacrament to call forth the “good works” prepared beforehand to be your way of life. Opportunities abound within the life of First Lutheran, your home, your work place and our world. Christ’s ministry through First Lutheran depends upon the energetic response of all. “Wake, awake, for night is flying!”
Pastor Philip Nesvig