December 1, 2019 – Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
Time to Wake Up!
First Sunday of Advent – December 1, 2019
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
An awakening is happening. And hopefully we can leave the darkness behind and live in the light.
I heard these words recently and you might think a preacher had spoken them.
But if you thought that, you would be wrong.
On Thursday morning these words were spoken on . . . sports talk radio.
Former Winnipeg Blue Bomber Troy Westwood spoke them on TSN 1290 on your AM dial.
“An awakening is happening.
And hopefully we can leave the darkness behind and live in the light.”
He was referring to a major story in professional sports this past week:
the allegations of racism against Bill Peters, the head coach of the Calgary Flames.
On Monday morning Akim Aliu former NHL hockey player accused Bill Peters of
racist comments he had made 10 years earlier when both were in the minor leagues.
On Tuesday sports media were talking about the story all over Canada.
Aliu’s comments were corroborated by other players and at least one other coach.
The Calgary Flames and the NHL are investigating the allegations –
but most people figure that Peters’ time as a head coach in the NHL is over.
Morever, many are speculating that this incident is just the tip of the iceberg and that
many more stories of racism and physical and
verbal abuse in professional hockey will soon come out.
On TSN on Thursday, it was reported that some were thinking that this was a bad thing for
hockey in Canada.
But Troy Westwood was having none of that.
“This is a good thing,” he said. “A necessary thing. An awakening is happening.
And hopefully we can leave the darkness behind and live in the light.”
Wake up. Leave the darkness behind. Live in the light.
A preacher could not have summarized Advent any more succinctly.
Paul tells his readers in Rome that “now is the moment for you to wake from sleep.”
Jesus tells his listeners, “Keep awake . . .
for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”
Be alert. Wake up. This is the call of Advent.
We begin the church year by looking again to the end of all things.
To the day when all people will turn their weapons of war into tools for farming.
We believe the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus started something: the end of the world!
We believe especially that in Jesus’ resurrection God’s dream for this world started to come true!
And that we are now in the time when the light is growing and growing toward dawn,
toward living in the full light of God.
The signs of the coming light are all around us.
The sun is not yet up, but even now, the sky is beginning to lighten.
Watch for it!
Just like in Carolyn’s beautiful panels, the sky is lightening.
So Jesus says: stay awake!
So Paul says: wake up!
Look for the signs around you of the awakening that is happening.
The story in sports news this week is waking many up to racism in the NHL.
With many waking up to it, there is the hope that we can now walk more fully in the light.
This is a good thing!
Some of us need to wake up to your privilege and how we are not all treated equally:
it is the first step in walking together into the light of a better day.
It seems dark – it looks dark, particularly at this time of year when the days are getting darker.
But this is just the time when the church calendar invites us to look for
the signs of light around us.
And it is a time when our readings invite us to wake up!
Don’t give up hope in God’s vision for the world, writes the preacher Michael Rinehart.
Do you see the injustice in the world? Open your eyes.
Do you see those who are hurting? Wake up. Don’t doze.
Be aware of what the Spirit is doing in your community and get involved.
Wake up!
As [theologian] Howard Thurman says, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
(in Sundays and Seasons: Preaching – Year A – 2020, pp. 19-20)
As we know, Jesus often uses extreme language to wake us up.
To wake us up to injustice and apathy and hunger and illness and racism and poverty.
But also to wake us up to hope, to wonder, to his presence all around us,
to what God is doing now.
Yes: wake to racism. Wake to privilege. Wake to poverty. Wake to injustice.
But also: wake to what God is doing – God has raised Jesus from the dead.
The thief has come and is already here to take our apathy away, to take racism away, to
T ake selfishness away.
Wake up to what the Spirit is doing in our community and get involved.
The Spirit is making us new friends right here.
The Spirit is creating neighbourliness and welcome right here.
The Spirit is feeding the hungry, providing hospitality, and welcoming immigrants right here.
The Spirit is providing English language training, sewing skills,
and computer instruction right here.
Wake up to it and be part of it!
Support it with your time. Support it with your money. Get involved.
An awakening is happening right here at Sargent and Victor.
And hopefully we can all leave the darkness behind and live in the light.
So together, let us say, “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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