BE
ALERT
DECEMBER
16, 2007
LUKE
12.39-40
WESLEY
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Douglas
Norris
Reading
from The Message, Luke 12.39-40
You
know that if the house owner had known what night the burglar was
coming, he wouldn’t have stayed out late and left the place
unlocked. So don’t you be slovenly and careless. Just when you
don’t expect him, the Son of Man will show up.
God
is constantly doing the unexpected. God breaks in on history
unexpectedly, like Christmas in the birth of a baby. God breaks into
your life unexpectedly. Don’t miss. Be alert. Who knows how many
visits by God have been missed because you weren’t alert? Late one
Christmas Day a family in Hillsborough set out to sing carols to the
neighbors. At their first stop, the woman of the house came to door,
looking distraught. “Look,” she said, “I’m just too busy.
The plumbing is on the blink and there’s a mob coming for dinner.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” replied Bing Crosby respectfully, as he herded
his troupe elsewhere. Imagine what the lady missed! What she could
tell her grandchildren for years about Bing Crosby singing at her
house! But, she missed out, because she was too busy for the
unexpected. She was too preoccupied to recognize Bing Crosby. Be
alert! Jesus may come singing at your door.
A
14-year-old boy gave a talk before 450 people at his school. He was
applauded enthusiastically, even approached for his autograph. He
went home giddy with happiness and accomplishment, walking on clouds.
He rushed into the house, but before he could speak, his mother
chewed him out for not making his bed that morning. “But, Mom,”
the boy pleaded, “Let me tell you what happened to me today.” “I
know already,” she complained, “You got caught smoking, right?”
His great day evaporated like mist. Poof! A great opportunity for
family celebration was lost because Mom was preoccupied with her own
agenda. No doubt the mother had had a difficult day. She was
probably tired, irritable, and resentful, but she missed the
unexpected. Be alert. Watch for the unexpected.
I
wonder how many lodgers in the Bethlehem Inn that night complained to
the manager, “Hey, what’s going on out in the stable? What’s
all the commotion? Keep that kid quiet. I've traveled a long way to
get here and I’m tired. What’s this with all these shepherds and
Persian foreigners?” I wonder how many missed the event. How many
missed Christmas! I wonder how many lodgers went out to the stable
and got involved. I wonder how many offered to help Mary deliver her
baby. I wonder how many helped bathe him, change his swaddling
cloths, burp him, hold him, sing “Tu-ra-lu-ra” to him. I wonder
how many missed the unexpected event of their lives because they
weren’t open, they weren’t alert.
This
Christmas, not only be alert for the unexpected, but do the
unexpected. What surprises can you arrange for someone? What can
you do that will be unexpected, and might be an occasion for God to
bless someone’s life? Pick out someone lonely and befriend
him/her. Invite him/her to coffee and cookies. If you are going to
be alone this Christmas, invite someone who will also be alone to
share Christmas dinner. Be alert. God will do something unexpected.
Be alert. Do something unexpected for someone.
Paul,
a college student, received a new car from his brother as a Christmas
present. On Christmas Eve Day, Paul saw a boy admiring his car. The
boy, obviously poor, was enchanted with the car. He asked, “Is
this your car, mister?” Paul nodded, “My brother gave it to me
for Christmas.” The boy was astonished, “Wow! You mean your
brother gave this car to you, and it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy
I wish…” Then he hesitated and choked up. Paul was sure that
the boy was going to wish that he had a brother like Paul’s; but
what the boy said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels. For the
boy said, “I wish that I could be a brother like that.”
Paul
looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively, unexpectedly,
asked, “Would you like to ride in my car?” “Oh, yes, I’d
love that!” After a short ride the boy turned with his eyes aglow
and asked, “Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?”
Paul smiled a little. He thought the boy wanted to show off in
front of the neighbors. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop
right where those two steps are?” asked the boy. Then he ran up
the steps.
In
a little while he returned, carrying his little polio-crippled
brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed
up against him and pointed to the car. “There she is, Buddy, just
like I told you. His brother gave it to him, and it didn’t cost
him a cent. And someday I’m gonna give you a car just like it.
Then you can see for yourself all the decorations, all the lights,
the pretty things in the store windows, all the things that I’ve
been trying to tell you about.”
Paul
got out and lifted the little lad to the front seat of his car. The
shining-eyed older brother climbed in, and the three of them had a
memorable holiday ride. That Christmas Eve, Paul did the unexpected.
He gave two brothers a ride in his brand new car, and Paul learned
about being a brother and not just having a brother.
Be
alert this Christmas. God will do something unexpected in your life.
Be alert for an opportunity where you can do something unexpected and
God can bless someone because of you.
|