Theme:  A state of readiness to meet God face to face.

It was January 27, 1986. We were getting ready. The whole nation was getting ready. It was going to be a great day.  All eyes were watching the television sets. It was going to be the “all time greatest” space launching. We had a schoolteacher; a woman; an astronaut.  It was one of the most exciting days in American history.  We were glued to the television set because we knew it was going to be a historic moment. We loved the stories of the people who were going to go out and orbit the earth that day, especially that young woman astronaut, the school teacher. We waited and waited, and suddenly there was an ignition of all that power and the rocket shot high into the air, high, and higher into the air.  And suddenly, the rocket exploded, and our dreams exploded; and our hopes exploded.  Suddenly, there came a river of tears from our eyes. Jesus said, “And so shall it be at the end of history.  It will come suddenly (snap of thumb and forefinger or a sharp clap of the hands) like a thief in the night; like a snare; like a trap that snaps (clap) shut. So quickly. (A sharp sound improves this sermon; like a snap of the two fingers or a clap of two hands, sounding like a trap suddenly snapping shut. I used the sound of a clap because the noise was louder and sharper.)

 

It happened near Naples, Italy.  It happened sixty miles from Naples, Italy. There was a little Italian town by a name that sounds like Bowlwana.  It was located in an earthquake zone.  In 1930, fourteen hundred people were killed in a massive earthquake in that same town.  Earlier in 1908, 123,000 people were killed in earthquakes in that region of the world.  Yes, I said, 123,000 died. All the seismologists said, “Be alert. Be ready. You are a fool to live here. If you had any brains, you would move away. You are living in a major earthquake zone.  And then suddenly, like the sound of a snap, unexpectedly, an earthquake hit. 6.8 on the Richter scale. Within thirty minutes, l400 people had died. Yes, they knew it was coming but it happened so…suddenly (clap). Jesus said, “So will it be with you at the end of time.  I will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night; like a trap that snaps shut, suddenly, quickly and you won’t be expecting it at all.

It happened right after Christmas in South East Asia. December 26, 2004. You were part of it all. It was the second largest recorded earthquake at 9:31 on the Richter scale. The tsunami waves spread out across the Indian Ocean.. We all now know the meaning of the word, “tsunami,” and that wave rolled silently across that part of the world and 220,000 were left dead in a moment (soft sharp clap) of rushing water and sudden death. People five thousand miles away from the epicenter of the earthquake were killed in that deadly rush of water. And Jesus said, “And so it will be at the end of time, the time of your time and my time. It will come suddenly and unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. It will come suddenly like the sharp sound (clap) of a trap slamming closed.

I go to the hospital often. I go there a good deal.  I visited a woman.  She was so healthy, so vigorous, so strong.  She said, “I’ve never been sick a day in my whole life. What am I doing in this place?” Yesterday, she was so strong; today she is so weak; and tomorrow, she is gone. She is dead.  It happened so suddenly (snap).  She wasn’t expecting it. None of us were, especially her family. Jesus said, “And so the end will come suddenly (clap), unexpectedly, like a thief in the night; like a trap that snaps shut… so quickly.

It is with these images that we approach the gospel lesson for the First Sunday of Advent. The theme for the First Sunday of Advent is always this: be ready, be alert, be ready at all times to meet your God because suddenly, the end of all history is going to be here.  Because, suddenly, the end of your history is going to be here; the end of my history is going to be here.  The invitation for you and me today is to be ready, is to be ready at all times, to meet God face to face.

Thanks to Rev. Edward Markquart.