December 2, 2001
Rev. Eugene N. Nelson, Jr.
The Community Church of Sebastopol
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Matthew 24:36-44
In Italy, at Christmas, they tell the legend of Befana. In fact, in that country it is Befana, not Saint Nicholas, who is given credit for the gifts children find on Christmas morning. She gives gifts now because she missed her chance to share in the first Christmas. Phyllis McGinley tells Befana’s story with this poem:
Befana, the housewife, scrubbing her pane,
Saw three old sages ride down the lane,
Saw three gray travelers pass her door -
Gaspar, Balthazar, and Melchior.
“Where journey you, sirs?” she asked of them.
And Gaspar answered, “To Bethlehem,
For we have news of a marvelous thing:
Born in a stable is Christ the King.”
“Give him my welcome!” Balthazar smiled,
“Come with us mistress, to greet the Child.”
“O happily, happily would I fare
Were my dusting done and I’d polished the stair.”
Old Melchior leaned on his saddle horn
“Then send but a gift to the small Newborn.”
“Oh, gladly, gladly I’d send Him one
Were my cupboards clean and my weaving done.
I’d give Him a robe to warm His sleep,
But first I must mend the fire, and sweep.
As soon as ever I’ve baked my bread,
I’ll fetch Him a pillow for His head,
And coverlet, too,” Befana said.
“When the rooms are aired and the linen dry,
I’ll look to the Babe.” But the Three rode by.
She worked for a day and a night and a day,
Then, gifts in her hands, took up the way.
But she never could find where the Christ Child lay.
And still she wanders at Christmastide,
Houseless, whose house was all her pride,
Whose heart was tardy, whose gifts were late;
Wanders, and knocks at every gate,
Crying, “Good people, the bells begin!
Put off your toiling and let love in.”
“Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming . . . you must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” (I love scriptures that tell the congregation to stay awake)
The story of Befana could easily be the story of Gene Nelson, and, I suspect, the story of many of you as well. We have our tasks, our schedules, our many responsibilities; places to go, people to see, meetings to attend. Many days, especially at Christmas, it’s hard to fit it all in. And Christmas can fool us. Make us think that we are in control. Yes, it’s busy and hectic, too little time and way too much to do. But at least we know when it is. We can plan for it and we can breathe a sigh of relief when it is over. December 25th - there it is circled on the calendar. Yes, I can handle that. And it will be nice to get back to the daily routine when it is all over.
Trouble is, our scripture strongly suggests that it is never all over; it strongly suggests that we should not pay too much attention to December 25th, because the fact of the matter is that we can never be sure when Christ might be born into our midst. The Lord is coming - it might be on December 25; it might be while you are driving home from worship today. He comes, says the text, like a thief in the night. Interesting image - Christ as a thief. Yet, think about it. It is the nature of a thief, a burglar, not to prepare those whom he is planning to burglarize - takes all the fun out of it. Surprise, unexpectedness and shock typify burglaries. Is that how Christ - how the Kingdom of God - steals in among us? Not in trumpets and clouds of glory, but in quiet, unexpected surprises?
A minister was driving home from a late night meeting in a neighboring town. It was pouring rain, visibility was bad, but eager to be home, he was pushing well beyond the speed limit when he was stopped and ticketed by a patrolman. As if the night wasn’t lousy enough already. When he finally got home, traveling now at a lower rate of speed, his wife greeted him and said, “My dear, the weather was so bad - and it’s so late - I prayed that God would be with you as you drove home.” The minister thought about this for a moment, then replied, “You know, God was with me. But I just didn’t recognize the uniform!” Isn’t that how it always is?
When people tell me about encounters with the Holy, more often than not the stories I hear are pretty mundane. They are about people driving to work or sitting around the breakfast table or being at home watching television. They weren’t really expecting God, looking for God, didn’t really feel like they needed God - some didn’t even want God. And yet, just then, just there, God came to them.
“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.” God will act in God’s own time, will come and go as God pleases, and we never know when or where that might be. So don’t fall asleep at the wheel. We need to stay prepared, stay awake. Every day becomes a day to prepare the way of the Lord, because every day is a day when he might come among us. But if we aren’t ready, we might not recognize the uniform.
With the death of George Harrison this past week I have been thinking about the Beatles - maybe my own mortality. I remember like it was yesterday their appearance on Ed Sullivan in 1964. But we forget that by late 1966, a lot of people started writing the Beatles off. They had quit performing publicly, they hadn’t produced anything much, and people were saying, “well it was a nice couple of years, but I guess they’re done.” Then 1966 passed into l967. The Beatles went into the studio for 129 days. When they emerged, we heard this: Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. (played over the sound system)
Maybe you loved it, maybe you hated it, but no matter what, when Sgt. Peppers came out, the world of pop music and some will argue the world of music itself, was forever changed. Forever changed by this band from Liverpool that everybody thought was washed up. What does Sgt. Pepper have to do with our text? Well, maybe nothing; I just wanted to think about the Beatles a little bit today. . . or maybe this:
You just never know when it will happen - when something new and different and surprising will, without warning, break into your life. Maybe it’s shockingly new music like Sgt. Pepper - maybe it’s Christ himself. But know this, it will happen, and so, in the words of our text. “Keep awake . . . you do not know when the Lord is coming.” Befana missed it. Don’t you miss it.