No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him. (Matthew 24:36-44)

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     Well, folks, that time of year has come. We've arrived at the first Sunday of Advent and Christmas is now less than a month away. For many of us that means we're going to start having a pretty busy time, because with Christmas comes a lot of other “stuff.” We're going to be doing a lot of socializing: we're going to be spending time with family and friends and co-workers and neighbours and various ans sundry other folks, because such is the reality of this time of year. And it's fun. For the most part, anyway. Sometimes, admittedly, all the hype of the season can get a bit overwhelming and perhaps even tiresome, but for the most part we enjoy this time of year. And at all of those gatherings that we're going to be attending over the course of the next few weeks, I suspect that there's going to be a question that gets raised repeatedly to the point at which it begins to get tiresome – in fact, I've already had this question asked of me: “are you ready for Christmas?” When the question is asked, we have a pretty good sense of what it means. Basically, whoever asks that question is asking “have you finished your Christmas shopping yet?” or, perhaps, “have you got all your Christmas decorations up yet?” Have you, in other words, done all those things that you know you have to do in order to get ready for the big day? My answers to the question would be as follows: “no, I don't have all my Christmas shopping done yet,” and “no, I don't have all my decorations up yet.” I'm not a “Bah! Humbug” sort of guy. We just haven't gotten around to all of that yet, although I would say that our shopping is about 95% finished and we did put our tree up the other day, so we're doing all right on that count. There are, of course, a variety of ways you can interpret the question “are you ready?” when it's asked at this time of year, and I thought perhaps – with that question about to become such a reality in almost everyone's life – that we should consider what the question really means today.

     The first possibility is that it's a typical question that's asking about what we might call “the secular Christmas.” I have a friend who's an accountant who works out of an office at the TD Bank Tower at the corner of King and Bay Streets in downtown Toronto. That in itself is noteworthy, because not all ministers have friends who work at the corner of King and Bay! Having said that, my friend Jeff noticed something a few days ago. The TD Tower has traditionally from around mid-November had a huge decorated Christmas tree in its lobby. Everyone who worked there looked forward to its appearance. It was a tradition. Jeff tells me that the Christmas tree isn't there this year. Instead, it's been replaced by a huge wrapped gift box – bow and all! Do you think that's suggesting a pretty clear message about what the world has decided Christmas is all about? And it brings us back to that first way of answering the “Are you ready?” question. Have you done your shopping – because the gifts are what's important. The buying and the selling; the consumer frenzy; the long lines at shopping malls. So are you ready? Have you spent yourself into oblivion yet? That's Option number 1! But maybe we need to think some more.

     The second possibility sounds much more positive from our perspective as good, churchgoing Christians. It's the religious take on “Are you ready?” Are you thinking about Jesus yet? Because that's what Christmas is about, you know. “Jesus is the reason for the season,” after all. And, of course, “we have to put Christ back into Christmas” don't we? And darn it all, families all over Port Colborne and the rest of the Western world are planning to do just that. They're going to be in church – on Christmas Eve. They're ready. They're pumped! They're going to tell the kids, “church is important.” And when the kids say “but mom and dad, it's the same thing every Christmas Eve,” the answer is going to be “it doesn't matter. We're going to church on Christmas Eve whether you like it or not – because that's what Christmas is all about!” That's the second way of answering the “are you ready” question. Have you arranged your schedule so that you can be in church on Christmas Eve – because being in church is what it's all about, after all. That's Option # 2! But maybe we need to think some more.

     The third possibility for answering the question is a little bit broader. It doesn't just refer to the Christmas season. It's valid all year round. I call it the “warning” or the “threat” answer to the “Are you ready?” question. Somebody somewhere in the world (I'm guessing somewhere in the United States) made a killing on this. This person designed a billboard – one of those big signs you see as you drive along highways all over the United States and Canada. In fact we have one down Highway 3 between Port Colborne and Fort Erie. The sign says simply “Prepare to meet thy God.” If we read it properly, this isn't an invitation to come closer to God. It comes from Amos 4, and it's the last word in a series of threats made against Israel for having turned away from God. This is essentially the point of no return. God is coming to smite Israel – and they now have no way of avoiding God's wrath. I suppose it's yet another valid way of answering the question “are you ready?” The problem is that it presumes (as it did in the prophecy of Amos) that the answer is “no” and it's a promise of punishment. With great respect to those churches who post the sign apparently in the hopes that they might scare a few people into attending church I'm not entirely certain that's what Jesus ever had in mind when he commissioned His disciples to “make disciples of all nations!” It is, however, Option # 3! But, once again, maybe we need to think some more.

     I want to suggest to you a fourth option for answering the question – and in keeping with the spirit of the season, I'm going to call this “the Advent Option.” Christians have always believed the birth of Jesus to have been an event that points us to the future and not one that locks us in the past. Christ's birth has given rise to a lot of romanticized legends and stories that get great play at this time of year, and in some respects that's fine. Believing that the wise men came to the manger or that “little Lord Jesus no crying He makes” hardly seems to me to be the stuff of heresy for which God will get us. But if we get stuck in the romanticized stories and forget the challenge that's contained in the story of the birth of Christ – then we have a problem. Advent reminds us to look forward as well as backward. Advent reminds us that just as Christ came once, so we believe Christ will come again. Advent reminds us that Christ's life on earth – from birth to death and from manger to cross – was only a glimpse of God's glory – a glory we believe will be revealed and brought to fullness some day, and Advent reminds us that we can still show that glory to the world around us by how we choose to live; that we can point people to the future God promises to us by how we live in the present. What else are the traditional themes of Advent about? What's the significance of peace, hope, joy and love? They are gifts of Jesus to us, but surely they are also the qualities we are called to live by – for these are the qualities by which the people of God show the difference God makes. To live as people of peace and people of hope and people of joy and people of love is to give the world a glimpse of God – God with us and God in us. This is Option # 4. This is what this season of Advent is about.

     “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” So – are you ready? I ask because Jesus was right. We don't know. We should be prepared – but not out of fear. We should be prepared because to live as a child of God today is to invite others to live as children of God with us.