Don't Get Caught Taking a Nap on the Biggest Day of Your Life

About 18 months ago was an important time in the Morley household. In fact, it was one of the most important times in our lives. Because, 18 months ago Karen was going to give birth to Zoe at any moment.

Nowadays, there are all kinds of things that young couples can do to prepare for their first birth. There are libraries of books to read that contain everything you would ever want to know - and a few things you'd be better off not knowing thank-you-very-much - about the pregnancy and birthing process. There are classes to take. There are exercises, breathing techniques to master, and even practice run-throughs of the delivery room antics.

And then there's the basic stuff that you need to get ready: at the very least - if you don't read a single book or attend a single class - at the very least you need to pack your bags for the hospital adventure.

So, about 18 months ago the Morley household was ready to go - we were ready for the birth - we were ready for Zoe to come.

. . . well, sort of.

You see, Karen had her bag packed. It was packed and zipped up, and sitting by the bed. Karen also had Zoe's bag packed, so that when she was ready to come home from the hospital, she had something cute to wear.

But, Rick - Rick didn't have his bagged packed.

You'd think that 2 out of three bags wasn't bad.

You see, 18 months ago, Karen was still several weeks away from the due date. I had time - I had plenty of time. I mean why rush it?

And so when Memorial Day came, I accepted the invitation to give a speach at the town celebration. After the speach we went over to some friends house for a bar-b-que. After the bar-b-que I suppose I could have packed my bags - but we had plenty of time. So I laid down for a holiday nap.

I had just about fallen asleep when Karen called down from upstairs - "Rick?"

"Yes?" I said, a little annoyed that she had waken me up for something I was sure was trite.

"Rick? Can you come up here?"

Now, very annoyed, I asked (in a very annoyed tone), "What? What do you want?"

"My water broke."

"What?!" - I flew up the stairs, not sure that I touched a single one of them - "What does that mean." (I guess I hadn't committed all those books to memory.)

I (sort of) helped Karen, and then I ran downstairs, and did what any man in my position would do.

I started up the washing machine.

After all, my bad wasn't packed, and some of the clothes I wanted to wear at the hospital were in the dirty clothes hamper.

Karen, of course, calmly (yeah, right) explained that the situation was a little more iminent than that, and to please turn off the washing machine and turn on the car.

In short: I wasn't ready. I had put off getting ready. I got ready pretty quick - but I wasn't ready nonetheless.

. . . For those people who come to the Episcopal Church from other traditions (Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Nazarene, etc.) late November and early to mid December can be pretty disappointing and disorienting.

Santa Clause has been in the mall now for two weeks. Christmas decorations have been up in many, many stores and shops for weeks now too. Christmas music is beginning to be piped in through PA systems and the radio. Some of us may even have our Christmas treets up already.

But, this church is pretty much the same as it has been since last January. No tree, no lights, and NO Christmas music.

For some, this provokes a question: why? Shouldn't the church be the FIRST place where Jesus' birth is proclaimed?

Well, the answer lies in the Church's calendar: It's not Christmas yet, it's Advent.

Advent isn't about getting ready for Christmas. Advent is about preparing for Jesus to come.

Yes, it's about Jesus coming as the Christ-child in the manger in Bethlehem. But, it's also - and foremost - about Jesus coming AGAIN.

Each week when we have Eucharist, I stand behind the Altar and I say Let us proclaim the mystery of faith. And we all say: Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.

It's the "come again" part that we especially remember in Advent.

This has been a pretty rough year - in fact it's been a really rough year. We've had a tsunami in SouthEast Asia. We've had hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the gulf coast. We've had an earthquake in Pakistan. We've had tornadoes in the plain states.

With all of these disasters - with all the loss of life, and with all the destruction of property - there's a question on people's minds that is being voiced in many different arenas: does all this mean that the world is coming to an end? Does this mean that Jesus is coming? Is this the beginning of Armageddon?

There are Christians who get caught up and preoccupied with End Times questions. There are Christians who try and figure out exactly when the end of the world is coming, and exactly what it will look like.

There was one guy - Hal Lindsey - who suprisingly is still around - who predicted that the world was going to end in a certain year. Unfortunately for his career, the year that he predicted was 1988.

Throughout the Gospels, whenever Jesus talk about his Second Coming, he does indeed talk about earthquakes, fires, and floods. He indeed talk about disasters and death and war. But, he also - always says that we will never know when it will be. He EVEN says that HE doesn't know when it will be.

When St. Paul talk about Christ coming again, he uses an interesting metaphor: birth. It's like the birth of a child. You know it's going to happen - there are even contractions and other signs to let you know that things are coming along - but the child doesn't come until the child is good and ready, and unless you schedule a c-section, we are never, ever certain when that time is going to be.

What Jesus does say, is that we're supposed to be ready. We're supposed to be prepared - as he says in this morning's Gospel lesson, we're to keep awake.

If, 18 months ago, I had had my bad packed and laundry done, would it have matter when Zoe actually came? No, I would have been ready.

It's the same with Jesus. We're to have our spiritual bags packed. We're to have our spiritual laundry 'done.' I say 'done' with our laundry because, like real laundry, it's never really done! No sooner do you get all the laundry washed, folded, and put away - and the hamper is full again!

We're to - like the Boy Scouts - be prepared.

To be honest, I get very warry of people who are always talking about the end of the world, and Jesus coming back. I get warry of people always trying to figure that kind of stuff out.

I get warry about it, because it's nothing to worry about. We're just supposed to be ready and awake. We're suposed to be prepared.

What's it worth to ya?

Hear this description of Christian worship:

On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president. . . But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead.

This is an extraordinary description of what we do in worship. Not so much for what is says, or how it is written - for it's a pretty simple piece of writing.

What makes it extraordinary is that it was written by a fellow named Justim (Justin Martyr) - around the year 150 AD.Isn't it incredible that what Justin said his church did 1,850 year ago is exactly what we do in church, here, today?! I just think it's astonishing.

There are two little things that stand-out about what he said.

One, he said that worship wasn't just what happened on Sunday morning when everyone was gathered - remember? AFTER the service people took communion to the sick and shut-in. Worship extended outside the church service and into the world.

Two, a key element of worship was described by Justin, that I think many people would not consider a key element of worship today: giving.

I think most people in most churches today probably see giving as a necessary thing to keep church operations going. Most people like to walk into their churches and still have the heat, light, and water turned on - and at least someone who acts like he/ she knows what their doing behind the pulpil and altar!But, that's not why we should give. Giving monetarily of ourselves is just as much an act of worship as singing, praying, or taking Communion. And, thanks to Justin, we know that it has been for at least 1,850 years.

Last week I had the chance to go to a different church in the D.C. suburbs and sit in a pew. It was really nice to do that for a change, and not be 'in charge' of a single thing!

When I got to the church - beofre I got out of my car - I took out my wallet and put the amount of meny I was going to give in my breast pocket, so that when the ushers brought the plate around I would be ready. The service started, the service went on, and the service ended - and no one came around with a plate!

After the service I took a good look around the room. There were several different 'stations' that worshippers could go to during the service. At the time for communion, before you wnet back to your seat you could go light a candle in one part of the room, you could go and be prayed for by a group of people waiting to pray, you could write out your prayers on a big piece of paper that was attached to a wall, AND you could walk over to a box and place your offering in it.At their church, you had to make a conscious effort to give to God and His Church. You had to actually get out of your chair, walk across the room - out of your way - and place your envelope, check, or cash in the box.

What this church had done, was they had made their offering system into an intentional act of worship.

I didn't care for everything the church did - I mean it was fine, it just wasn't my 'cup of tea' - but I loved that.

Worship. Do you know where the word comes from? It comes from the Old English word worth-ship, and it literally means to ascribe worth to something.

We do that kind of thing all the time. Every day we make hundreds of decisions as to what is worth what. Is eating out tonight worth it? Is taking the time to search the whole living room for the remote worth it, or should we just change the channel with the button on the TV. Is the price of the object we're thinking of buying worth the price? Is paying someone to mow the lawn worth it, or should we just do it ourselves.

Everyday we show by our actions and our words how much our spouces are worth to us - our children - our property - our country - our jobs - our health - our well-being - etc.

And then comes the really big stuff. Is God worth getting up on a cold rainy Sunday morning, when it would be so much nicer to sleep in? Is God worth all the effort of a Bazzar this year? Is God worth making an ethical decision, when an unethical one might be a lot more tempting? Is God worth the 5 bucks, 10 bucks, 50 bucks, 200 bucks I put in the plate each week,when it would be nicer to have the extra cash especially with gas prices as they are? Is God worth the time we could spend studying the Bible, time we could spend praying, time we could spend playing Bingo at Egle with the elderly residents, or the time laboring for the church?

"Churchy" stuff isn't the only way we worship God though. I fully believe that giving worth to our marriages, to our children, to our schools, to our country and the world, to our planet, to our own health (physical and mental) and to the people who we love and the people we don't even know is 'BIG' stuff too.

Answer those questions 'correctly' at any one time and you're worshipping. You're ascribling worth to God. You're showing God that you think He's worth it - even after he's show us how much we are worth to him all the time - with each sunrise, with each heartbeat, and with each blessing God showers down on us morning by morning.

This morning's Gospel lesson (Matthew 25:14-29) is a tough one. This is one of those bits of the Bible that scholars argue over its meaning. Who is the Master? What do the Talents represent? Who are the people who invest the talents, or not?

He's what I think this passage is about, without taking up too much time: It's God saying that those who are given great things by God are expected to yield great things. Much is expected of those to whom much is given. We're to ascribe worth to the gifts and blessing that are given, and we're to ascribe worth to the One who gives.

I don't know about you, but this one gets me. I don't get all that caught up in the 'thou shalls,' and the 'thou shalt nots.' I get most of them right most of the time.

It's the fact that God is expecting great things from me that gets my knees knockin' together pretty good.

God's expecting me to show that he is worth something to me, even as God shows that I am 'worth it' to Him all the time.

I'm to show that God is worth it here, in church. Worth-shipping God in some of the very same ways that my brother in Christ Justin did 1,850 years ago. With my prayer, with my song, with my taking of Holy Communion, and my giving. I'm to show that God is 'worth it' to me in my home, at the mall, in the deer stand, selling tickets at the bazaar, and in how I love my wife and daughter.

Come, let us prepare our hearts and minds to worth-ship. If for no other reason than God thinks we're worth a whole, whole lot.