As I was passing through the Village of Chatsworth, just southeast of Owen Sound, I spotted a church sign which read "Worship with us...Coffeehouse Service with Dick Wright".
"I've got a good 30 minutes to spare," I rationalized. "Maybe I'll drop in and have a coffee with this guy. Maybe even listen a bit to what he has to say."
As I entered the front door to the church and was warmly greeted by several parishioners, I finally clued in...Low and behold, that guy "Dick Wright" was me. Good thing that I prepared for the service!
Traditionally, in this lively and vibrant rural community Presbyterian Church, the first Sunday in September marks the end of summer vacations and a return to the regular routines of life. The coffee house service was a casual one, held in the basement of the church. The congregation sat at tables where everyone could relax and enjoy a cup of coffee and cookies before the service, and a re-fill during a break halfway through it.
It was the first time that I had conducted a worship service at St. Andrew's in Chathsworth and it was an excellent opportunity to get to know people under less formal conditions than normally is the case when leading worship in the sanctuary proper of a church.
My message on this particular Sunday was simple: "It is faith that bridges the gap between promise and reality."
Here is an abbreviated version of some of the thoughts I conveyed to the congregation.
Like Abraham who faced many challenges in his old age, we too face obstacles that stand between us and the fulfillment of God's promises. We may think our sin is too great for us to be saved. We may also think nothing ever seems to change and this old, sinful world will just keep on getting worse. We may think the promise of a new and better life in a new and better body on a new and better earth will never happen.
Like Abraham, our response is (or should be) to be faithful. Not for faith in ourselves. Not for faith in our deeds. Not faith in humanity. Not faith in some inner force or power. But faith in God and Christ.
Faith bridges the gap between promise and reality because faith looks entirely to God and Christ. And in Him we find a righteousness that is not our own but is credited to us.
One reality of life is waiting; waiting for someone to show up, for something to happen, for things to change. Another reality of life is that most of us do not like waiting. We look for the shortest line at the grocery store. We become impatient, even angry, waiting for the doctor or the restaurant waiter who is slow or inattentive. We hate being held up in traffic. The list is endless.
Sometimes it seems like life is nothing more than a waiting game. As children we wait for Christmas, summer vacation, and to grow up. As adults we wait for just the right job, that special someone who will make our life complete, a promotion, retirement.
Some people wait for the diagnosis, others for a cure. Some wait for the day the pain will stop and the grief will end. Others wait for the answer to their prayers. Many of us wait for that day when we have enough time, enough money, enough freedom, and the day we will live happy ever after.
At some level, waiting takes place every day. Each of us could name the things or people for which we wait. Sometimes we live with the overwhelming feeling of waiting but with no clear idea of what we are waiting for.
And more often than not, we do not wait in the present. We move into the future. The great tragedy is that in doing so we lose the present moment. That’s part of what makes waiting so painful and difficult.
Waiting in the future most often brings fear and anxiety about what will happen. We are haunted by the unknown and lack of control.
On the other hand, waiting in the past brings sadness, anger, or guilt about things that have happened, or the things done and left undone. As difficult as our present circumstances may be, that’s the only place where we can ever be fully alive. It is the only place we can truly experience God.
When we move out of the present and into the past or the future – we not only postpone life; we deny life. We deny our resurrection. We desecrate the sacrament of the present moment. We have refused the gift of God’s kingdom.
Everyone, everywhere, in every age waits...and Jesus did not eliminate waiting either. If anything, it sounds like just the opposite. He tells the crowd, “Be like those waiting for their master to return.”
Today’s gospel is not, however, simply about passing time in a waiting mode. It is about presence and being present. Jesus sees waiting as an act of faithfulness; the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen...
Having faith is what it is all about...we call it Christian faith.
So we are mistaken if we think we are talking about an absent God, a God who left some time ago, for whom we wait. We are equally mistaken if we think we are waiting for a God who lives out in the future.
Jesus is teaching us how and where to wait. He’s inviting us to be present to the One who is always already present. He’s inviting us to listen for the knock, to watch, and to be alert. He’s inviting us to be present to the reality of God in each other, in the world, and in ourselves. This is the God who is present in the ordinary circumstances of our lives, even in our waiting.
We might then be tempted to ask, “So where is God in all our waiting?” But maybe the better question is, “Where are we?”
I once heard of a chaplain who served at a summer camp for a whole bunch of 11 and 12-year-old campers. He said that one night before the kids went to sleep, they had some devotional time in their cabins. One of the counselors asked her campers, “Where did you see Jesus today?” A very surprised and excited young lad cried out, “You mean He was here today?!”
Jesus responds to questions like that by saying, “Yes, yes, yes. I was here. I am here. And I will be here.”
And he adds, “Be dressed for action. Something is going on right now. Right here. And I want you to be a part of it. Come participate. For it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. This is for you.”
“Have your lamps lit,” he says. “There is something to see. Move out of the darkness. Come into the light. See what is right in front of you, what is all around you, and what is in within you. For the Father wants you to have the kingdom.”
“Be alert,” he commands. But this isn’t a threat of punishment. It’s an invitation to be blessed. “Blessed are those whom he finds alert.”
Jesus is not just inviting us to be awake, to be ready, and to be watchful. He is calling us to be fully alive and to remain alive. Blessing and life are synonymous in God’s kingdom. It is as if Jesus is saying to us, “Be alert, be blessed, and I will come and serve you. I will feed you the bread of life. I will serve you the cup of salvation.”
All of this, Jesus says, happens at an unexpected hour. Like a thief in the night, the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
So when is the unexpected hour? When will all this happen? Well, my guess is that for most of us, maybe all of us, the most unexpected hour is today, right here, right now.
The most unexpected hour can also be the one spent in the hospital waiting room; the hour sitting next to the phone waiting for news of a loved one; the hour praying for a miracle; the hour in which we wait for clarity and a way forward; the hour waiting for the grief to end and life to return to normal; the hour in which it seems as if nothing is happening, when we are lost or lonely -- and it seems that there is nowhere to go.
As we draw to the conclusion of our worship this morning, you might still ask: “You mean He was actually here this morning during this coffee house time of worship?!”
Yeah........right here in the most unexpected hour of your life.
No more waiting!
Feel his presence...Embrace him...Take him home with you as you go forth today...Never let him go!
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