Priory Altogether Worship
Who here is waiting for Christmas? Who has ever said "I can't wait for Christmas!"
"I can't wait for the end of term and the Christmas holidays!"
"I can't wait to see what presents I get!"
"I can't wait to see what's in those parcels under the Christmas tree!"
There's a lot about waiting in the Bible. Right back to Old Testament times God's people were waiting for the Messiah. And in the early chapters of Luke everybody is waiting
- Elizabeth and Zechariah were waiting for the birth of John.
- Mary and Joseph were waiting for the birth of Jesus.
- And when they took the 8 day old Jesus to the Temple, there was Simeon - an old man, we are told, who was waiting for the coming of the Messiah.
- And Anna, an old lady, also waiting, and fasting and praying every day.
Everybody was waiting! And we are waiting today. We are waiting for Christmas, when we remember the birth of Jesus. And we are also waiting for the day when Jesus comes again.
So how do we wait? Impatiently - pacing about, anxious, irritated? Or carelessly - just not bothered, not even thinking about it. (Someone we know has decided to cancel Christmas; not to "do" Christmas this year - because it's all too much hassle) Or positively - using the time constructively, usefully, so as to be ready when the day comes.
What would you think if Christmas Day arrived, and your Mum or wife said, "Sorry! I never got around to ordering a turkey. And sorry! There's no Christmas pudding, or Christmas cake, or mince pies. I just didn't think to make them in time. Sorry! I never got you a present - I completely forgot!" How would you feel? But it won't be like that because every day we are busy preparing, so we shall be ready for the big day.
Jesus told that story in our reading about the wise and foolish bridesmaids. The Jewish custom was that the Bridegroom came to collect his Bride from her home, to take her to the wedding feast. And the bridesmaids would go out to meet him, and then escort the couple to the wedding feast. Of these 10 bridesmaids, 5 had thought it through.
They took spare oil for their lamps, just in case. They were ready for any eventuality. The other 5 didn't bother.
They just hoped that everything would somehow work out.
And as it happened, the bridegroom was very late coming - in fact he didn't arrive until midnight. I wonder what delayed him - perhaps it was road works on the Jericho Highway! Or maybe he got wedding nerves!
I remember one wedding we went to, and the time came to start the service, and the Bridegroom was missing. And guess where he was found - in a nearby pub, trying to drown his nerves. What was even worse at that wedding - the Bride and Groom had each, without telling one another, hired a different photographer, and the 2 photographers proceeded to have a fight on the church steps. It was the "wedding from hell" - and perhaps not surprisingly the marriage didn't last long.
But I digress!
We don't know what made this Bridegroom late - that's not the point of the story. But when he finally came, in the middle of the night,
- 5 bridesmaids were ready
- 5 were not - their lamps had run out of oil, and they had to rush off and knock up a shop keeper, in order to buy more. And by the time they got back the wedding feast was well under way, and the doors were shut, and they were too late.
It's a simple story. And Jesus told it to make just one point - "Be ready!" "Be ready - because you have no idea when He will come again." "Be ready and waiting!"
So what does it mean for us to "be ready"? Does it mean to go manic? To rush around like headless chickens?
To go "OTT"? No! Even the wise bridesmaids in the story found time to sleep.
So does it mean to sit back and relax, and shut our minds, and hope for the best? To do nothing in preparation for Jesus? No! It doesn't mean that either.
So what does "being ready" mean? Doesn't it simply mean making sure, in a calm, thoughtful way, that we are prepared, that everything is in place, if Jesus were to come back today?
Are we ready ? How is our relationship with God? How is our relationship with other people? Are there issues in our lives that really need to get sorted, but that we haven't yet done anything about? Maybe issues that go back many years even. Are there people that we need to be reconciled with? Members of family or friends that we fell out with?
Are there apologies that we need to make? Hurts that need to be healed? Words that need to be said?
Sins that need to be forgiven?
Sometimes it is not until someone is on their deathbed that people say to them things that they are overdue to say.
"I love you!" "I am so grateful to you!" "I am so sorry for what I said, for what I did!" "You mean so much to me!"
But why wait for a death bed - an opportunity that anyway may never come? Say it now!
Sometimes it is easier to write things than to say them. Years ago our son Paul and I had a flaming row.
And later he wrote me a most lovely letter - one I still keep in my Bible. He said in a letter things that are not easy to speak. And, of course, a letter you can keep, and treasure. So do you owe someone a letter?
Are there, maybe, dark corners of our lives - things we would rather people did not know about - dark corners that we haven't yet let God's light into? All this is the spiritual equivalent of getting in spare oil. It's the spiritual equivalent of preparing for Christmas. It's all part of being ready.
Just say Jesus was to return today, now - are we ready? That's the message He was getting over in this parable.
"Keep awake!" He said "for you know neither the day nor the hour!"
So may this time of Advent be for each one of us a time of preparation. A time of getting ready. Getting ready for Christmas, yes! Spiritually as well as materially. Getting ready to invite Jesus anew into our hearts, our lives, our homes.
But also a time of getting ready - of being ready - for when He comes again. It's often helpful to make time in Advent perhaps to read a Christian book - and there are lots of books written specially for Advent. Or to make extra time to be still - to read the Bible. To pray. It's not too late in Advent to start now. It's when life is busiest that it's most important to make time to be still. I think it was George Muller who said "Life is so busy that I can't afford not to start the day with an hour of prayer".
Now is the time to take stock. To sort our lives out, with God's help, and in His strength. Time to fill up our lamps with the oil of the Holy Spirit.
So let's wait on God now, in a hymn and in prayer , and ask Him to show us what He wants to do with us.
David Webster
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