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.