Knowing the Day and the Hour
“...Jesus then said, ‘Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.’” — Matthew 25:13.
Bonnie and I have a G.P.S.— a Global Positioning System— for our car. And we really like it. Having the G.P.S. for trips to places with which we are not totally familiar, like the trip to Philadelphia slightly over a week ago, just makes things easier.
Now, interestingly, this week I bumped into a friend here in Norwich and we got to talking about how easy the G.P.S. makes things. He then told me this story.
His granddaughter called him from her cell phone. She also lives in Norwich. She was in Herkimer when she called— about 55 miles away. “Grandpa,” she said, sounding upset. “I’m in Herkimer.”
“So?” he asked.
“How do I get back to Norwich?”
A little flustered and not quite understanding what the problem was, my friend said, “Well, first you’ve got to get on Route 8.”
And then grandpa got really a big surprise. His granddaughter did not know what Route 8 was. His granddaughter did not know where Route 8 was. His granddaughter had never read a map in her life.
Now, she is young. She has been driving only a year. But she had totally and always and only relied on her G.P.S. And she had left the G.P.S. at home.
A friend had guided her to Herkimer but then that friend decided to stay there. She was afraid to call her Dad and tell him that. So, she called Grandpa.
And, indeed, Grandpa was probably more understanding, or at least a little more sympathetic about it than Dad would have been. So, as dangerous as this is, over the phone Grandpa talked her back to Route 8 and once she got far enough along Route 8 to notice some landmarks she recognized, she was able to make her way to Norwich. (Slight pause.)
In today’s bulletin you will find something Tom Rasely and I wrote. It’s a new Christmas Carol called One Angel Sings. Would you please take a moment to pull it out and look at it? (Pause as the Pastor waits for the congregation to do this.)
Tom and I have had a conversation a number of times which runs like this. The piece of paper on which this music is printed (the Pastor hold up the music) is nothing more than a road map. It is not the music itself.
You cannot hold the paper up to your ear and listen to it. (The pastor holds the paper up to his ear.) The paper does not make the music come alive. The music comes alive through your experience of it.
Further, that piece of paper with music printed on it is simply a series of landmarks— a roadmap of sorts. These landmarks do become familiar once you’ve experienced them. But you need to experience them to gain that familiarity.
Now you’ve never heard this music because it’s never been sung by a congregation. So, let’s do that. Let’s see what the experience of this Christmas Carol, newly written, this roadmap, is like. Bob will play through it once and then we’ll all sing it together. Bob— it’s all yours— once then three— right.
One angel sings / both silent and plain: / “A Child is born— Emmanuel now!” / And suddenly shouts / from heaven are heard / as the many heavenly hosts / cry out a refrain.
Chorus: “Glory to God, the peace of God reigns. / Glory to God, the Alpha, Omega. / Glory to God whose presence is here. / The peace of God reigns” / the angels proclaim.
One Angel sings / and freedom abounds. / A Child is born / and God is with us. / The peace of God / whose presence resounds. / And we respond to God / with songs of praise.
Chorus.
Let’s stand for the last one!
One angel’s voice / both silent yet clear / says God lives among us / now in the world. / And suddenly shouts / from heaven are heard! / As the many heavenly hosts / cry out the refrain:
Chorus. [1]
(Pause.) Please be seated. [To the organist:] Thank you Bob! [To the Congregation:] And thank you all for singing that.
So, just looking at the road map is quite a different experience than traveling on this road, is it not? And when you stood it was a different experience, right?
So, I want to suggest that when you experienced the road laid out on this map rather than just looking at it (the pastor hold up the paper with the song printed on it), you lived out the road in time, you lived with the road in time.
If you take the journey the map laid out, you have to be in relationship with the journey over time. And, as the words and music moved forward through time, the relationship changed and shifted.
Now, you did follow the landmarks on the paper. And despite not initially really knowing the landmarks since this is a piece of music you have never seen before, you were, in fact and none-the-less, faithful to those landmarks and responded to them. And I’d also bet every time you sang another verse, the landmarks became more familiar through your previous experience.
To be clear and perhaps even redundant: when you were only looking at the road map, you may have been able to imagine what it should be like and what it could be like. But, even if you could imagine what it would or could be like, you’d probably have to admit that experiencing it, living it, is different than imagining it. (Slight pause.)
And these are words we find being used by Jesus in the Gospel commonly called Matthew: “...Jesus then said, ‘Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.’”
Before the passage from the Gospel was read it was said society seems to want to know when the end times will happen. It was also said that may have been true in the era recorded by the Gospels.
After all, Jesus gives what I take as at least an admonition, and perhaps a clear warning (quote): “...you know neither the day nor the hour.” In short, realizing the error of that kind of thinking which must have been going on then, Jesus points it out.
But besides actually wanting to know the day and the hour clearly an error according to Jesus, I happen to think people make a second error when examining this story. People tend to ask: ‘what did the wise attendants do which helped them be wise, helped them successful?’
But that’s the wrong question. The question which needs to be asked is: ‘How did the wise attendants do that which helped them to be wise, be successful?’ How did they do it, as opposed to what did they do?
I think the ‘how’ in this story is that they are willing to engage in process. Their wisdom comes not from what they did— having enough oil. It comes from how they did it— being faithful to the task at hand.
You see, knowing about the ‘what’ of a situation is simply mechanical. It takes no thought, no relationship, no process. In this case, it just took a little oil. On top of that, engaging in the ‘how’ of a situation, which is exactly what these attendants did, does not worry about the outcome, does not worry about results.
Put a different way, today people often say ‘winning isn’t everything. Winning is the only thing.’ So, whatever happened to this motto: ‘It’s not whether you win or lose. It’s how you play the game’?
I think that’s what this story is really about— how we play the game. You see, we often take this— as I said— as a story about who wins and who loses. But it is not.
Neither is it a story about having oil on hand. It is a story about an approach to life. Suppose the wedding party had been still later than they already were? The so called ‘wise’ attendants may have run out of oil too.
That would have made them no less wise. That would have been no less faithful. Indeed, what makes the wise attendants wise is that they were faithful to the process, faithful the place to which they are called. (Slight pause.)
Theologian Friedrich Nietzsche is unfortunately known for coining the phrase ‘God is dead.’ But the following phrase certainly ranks as one of his more important conclusions (quote): “The ‘Dominion of Heaven’ is a condition of the heart— not something that comes ‘upon the earth’ or ‘after death.’” The Dominion of heaven is a condition of the heart. (Slight pause.)
I think this goes without question: life is a dynamic dialogue with God. The dialogue is ongoing, continual. It is a process. Life needs to be a condition of the heart. Living life needs to be a condition of the heart.
Hence, the key for us is a willingness to engage in the process. We may win. We may lose. But it is the journey, the experience— not the map and not the landmarks and not even the end result which counts.
So, let us concentrate on what we need to do. Based on the words of Jesus, the end times are clearly of no concern. We need to simply strive to be faithful. We need to simply strive to do what God calls us to do.
In short, we need to work on the process called loving God and loving neighbor. Having a map may be good. Noticing where the landmarks are is helpful. But engaging— engaging in the journey— that is key. Amen.
11/06/2011
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I invite you to look at the Thought for Meditation courtesy of Sister Joan Chittister (quote): ‘Life is not about knowing exactly what we are meant to do. It’s about doing what must be done that makes our lives a song.’ Making our life a song is a process.”
BENEDICTION: The knowledge that God loves us frees us for joyous living. So, let us trust in the love God offers. Let us also be fervent in prayer as we make choices daily, and seek to do God’s will and walk in God’s way traveling on our Christian journey. And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding and the abiding truth of Christ keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge, love and companionship of the Holy Spirit this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] Copyright 2011 - Tom Rasely and Joseph Connolly. If you want to hear what the hymn sounds like, the audio of this sermon will be posted on the web site of the United Church of Christ, First Congregational of Norwich after 11/09/2011.
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