Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Advent is the season of four Sundays before Christmas when we’re spiritually preparing for the coming of a Messiah. The word Advent in Latin means: “Coming.” Now what does it really mean when we say “coming of the Messiah”? Well, there are really two comings. One that already happened, when God came to all of us in baby Jesus two thousand years ago in Bethlehem. And then there is the Second Advent the one yet to happen when the risen Christ comes in his glory at the end of ages. In that day all the nations will be gathered before him and those who belong to Christ will be saved.

Now you might ask yourself why we are still preparing for the first coming of Christ if it already happened. Well let me put it this way. Christ came to this world as a gift of God to save the world from the sin and its consequence, death. Where Christ is born, the sin has no power anymore and the victory belongs to Christ.

Now because this already happened it doesn’t mean that the whole world is automatically saved. The overall victory belongs to Christ, but our God wants us to be a part of this victory through our close and personal relationship with his Son Jesus Christ. For unless Christ is born in our hearts, unless He comes personally into our lives, we can’t fully experience and understand His incredible power of forgiveness, healing and the joy of victory.

And the wonderful thing is that Christ is here! He is that good shepherd who keeps knocking on the doors of our hearts. And sometimes we let Him in and He stays for a long time, but then sometimes because of the different circumstances in our lives we kick Him out. We reject Him. But He continues to knock, and He keeps coming back for He loves us unconditionally and wants us to belong to Him. And so Advent gives us that time to pause, to pray and to think about our lives and maybe reopen the doors of our hearts to let Christ come back in.

Now the tricky part is the Second Advent, when Christ comes as the only sovereign King to gather His disciples and followers. That day will be the end of our struggle with sin, temptations, suffering and pain. In that day the death will be defeated completely. The devil will have no power over us as he still does now, and we’ll be united with the Saints of the Church. That day will be glorious for those who put their faith and trust in Christ. The tricky part is that nobody knows when it will happen. In fact Jesus says that neither He nor the angels know, but the Father in heaven.

Well that is true; we don’t know when the day when Jesus returns will be. But one thing we do know. That for all of us it will be the day when our time here on earth comes to an end. (when we pass away or when we die??) In that day we will stand in front of our Lord and that day will be for us the Second Advent. We know that for Jesus says to the repenting criminal on the cross: “Today you will be wit me in paradise.” (pause) We basically have a lifetime, and none of us knows how long that lifetime is going to be.

And so Jesus says: In today’s reading: “Beware, keep alert; keep awake!”

Now again, these might come across as tough words, words that might scare us, words that might put on us a burden of worry. But that is not their purpose. That’s not what Jesus tries to do. These words are spoken to encourage us and to give us the strength to continue to fight the temptations, to repent when we fall and to continue the journey of grace with our Lord. These words are spoken to give us the assurance that as long as we walk with Christ, as long as we let Him to lead and guide us, we have nothing to worry about. For we have a Lord who is victorious and because of His grace and sacrifice we can be a part of this victory.

And so these words of Christ should shouldn’t worry us, but help us to lift up our hands in thanksgiving for all love, joy and all the miracles God does in our lives. The Apostle Paul in his letter to Corinthians says: “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that had been given you in Christ Jesus.” That’s us dear friends. We have the grace of God that has been given to us in Christ Jesus. But Paul continues and says: “You have been enriched in Him, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ!!!”

So what are we supposed to do while we’re waiting for the Lord Jesus? We’re supposed to be not lacking in any spiritual gifts. While keeping awake, we’re supposed to be using our spiritual gifts. Because when we do so, Christ is present in our lives! For Christ is the Spirit that leads and guides us and enables us to use our gifts. And when we use our gifts, Christ is made real and visible in our families, fellowship or community.

In the very same letter 1 Corinthians 12^th chapter Paul names the spiritual gifts: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in different kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Now with some of these we don’t deal on regular bases, like speaking in tongues. But most of these spiritual gifts dear friends aren’t used in some high church communities. They are, or should be used daily in our families.

Do we share these gifts with our loved ones, people around us? For example wisdom, parents, are we raising our children wisely? Are we making the right choices for them? Looking after them, their safety and future? Are we emphasizing the importance of their spiritual growth and community? Are we wise about setting the right priorities and goals in our lives? For if we do so, I believe we’re keeping awake and Christ is in our midst.

And knowledge, do we acknowledge how blessed we are? Do we recognize God’s love within us? And how do we teat each other with this love? Husbands wives and wives husbands? Parents their children and kids parents? Children and youth, do you have the knowledge of what a blessing it is to have a family that loves you and takes care of you? Do we with grateful hearts acknowledge these things or do we take them for granted? For if we do recognize them, we’re keeping awake.

And what about the faith? One of the most precious gifts. Do we value our faith community? Do we participate in it. Do we seek the fellowship where our faith can be strengthened? Or in our homes, what do we do, so that our faith can grow. Do we sit down at the end of the day, to pray, to share high and lows, to read the Bible? If we do, we’re keeping awake!

And then Paul talks about healing and miraculous acts. Do we use our gifts to heal each other, to forgive one another? In our closest relationship, or in this community? Do we perform miracles? Especially now in this Christmas time? If you took a card from an Angel tree, if you donated something for the food pantry, shelter meal, you certainly did. But again, let us not go too far, for I believe that if you told your spouse today I love you, if you kissed your children, or visited your parents, you did something miraculous. And for once again, by doing all these things, you’re keeping awake, you’re keeping Christ present and visible in your life, in your family, in your community. Praise God for that.

In today’s second reading Paul says: “God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” It is this fellowship dear friends and the fellowhip of our families, that will help us to keep awake, as we share the gifts of the Spirit with one another. This is the challenge that we as an individuals and a community of believers face. But I believe it is a joyful and very rewarding challenge. The question is do we want to stay awake?

I am persuaded that we all do. May Christ touch your hearts with his spirit this Advent season as your rediscover the beauty of walking with Him. And may the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen