Opening Activity Part 1
Gather some paper, preferably blue in color to match the Season of Advent. On one side of the paper, invite attendees to write down one or more things that are currently wearing them down. This is to be done privately by each individual because these have the potential to be personal. Some examples of current hardships could be:
- family divisions at the holiday meals
- higher prices of necessary goods and lower wages
- friendships that have soured
- or simply having had to wake up early for church services
Text
Read: Matthew 24:36-44
Jesus Watches so You Can Rest
This gospel lesson contains a sense of urgency that readily fits into modern times. There are single parents who work multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet, barely having any time to rest. School-aged children are swamped with activities that will look good on university applications, but do not allow space for the joy of non-adulthood.. All ages, occupations, backgrounds, etc. are impacted by our go-go-go culture. It could be then that we find ourselves nodding our tired heads, blinking back much-needed sleep, as Jesus’ urgent words resound from the pulpit:
“Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” (Matt. 24:42)
However, I invite us to consider the Greek word Γρηγορεῖτε (grégoreó, pronounced gray-gor-eh’-o) which is translated “keep awake.” Yet, in English, it could also be faithfully expressed as Jesus saying, “Be on the lookout for …” or even “You should expect …” And so, let us wonder what it means to be expectant, rather than awake.
In my estimation, Jesus is inviting his followers to expect a hopeful tomorrow because, he assures us, it will come! In fact, because of the Incarnation, it already has come near. There is nothing that we can do, no labor we can accomplish, and no tiredness that can usher in what God has already promised. The late Roman Catholic Bishop Ken Untener beautifully penned this Christian truth when he affirmed that, “It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is beyond our vision … We are prophets of a future not our own.”
As the busy holiday season envelopes us and our culture asks us to do more than is humanly possible, I encourage you to step back and consider what God has already done. Jesus has already been born, and the Kingdom of God has already come near. The promise of Christ is that one day, of which we do not know the date, God will set all things right. Let us trust in Jesus who faithfully keeps watch so that we can rest in God’s promises. And, if we can rest in these promises, what good things can we certainly expect?
Opening Activity Part 2
Focus on how God has already done everything necessary for this world in having sent Jesus to be born. This means that our role is to step back, consider what God has already done, and rest in the promises which God gives to all. Instead of urgency lest we miss it, Jesus is inviting us to expect goodness that will surely come one day.
What does this look like for Jesus followers today? Invite all the attendees to turn their pieces of paper over and write how Jesus is inviting them to let God keep watch? What goodness ought you expect? Some examples of this could be:
- Those gathered at holiday meals can pray the Lord’s Prayer together despite strong disagreements.
- The congregation can begin a program to address food/rent insecurity for everyone.
- One person could send a holiday card to an estranged friend asking for another opportunity.
- Those who are sleepy can have a nap after church services.
Resting in Christ’s promises is also very personal, so participants may want to keep this part of the exercise private as well. In all of this, we do not accomplish what God has already done, for God has redeemed the world through Jesus. But we do experience glimpses of hope which make us expectant for the one, unknown day that God will make all things new, all things whole, and set everything right.
Closing Activity
If your space allows for it to be done safely, have adults burn their own pieces of paper and help minors burn theirs in the flame of the first Advent candle. If your space does not allow for this, have a responsible leader collect all the pieces of paper and make sure to tell everyone in attendance that they will be burned using the flame of the first Advent candle.
This can be done in an outdoors firepit, a fireplace, etc. after the gathering. If this is done outside of the gathering, it is important that the individual(s) tasked with the burning maintain confidentiality and not read what people have written. It is also important that the flame of the first Advent candle is somehow used in the burning.
In whatever way you choose to complete the closing activity, remind everyone that Jesus invites them to rest in God’s promises and expect something good to come.
Ending Prayer
You may all choose to pray together the late Roman Catholic Bishop Ken Untener’s prayer. It is a long prayer so you can choose to pray only a section, have it printed so multiple voices can read, or simply make a copy for everyone to take home.
The Romero Prayer
“It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us. No sermon or statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the church’s mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about. We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything. There is liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the Master Builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.”
Bio
David Larson-Martínez is a consecrated deacon of the Lutheran Diaconal Association and an ordained pastor serving at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN. A graduate of Valparaiso University and Luther Seminary, he grew up in Cuernavaca, Mexico and now happily calls the Twin Cities home. David treasures his large cross-border family—his mom, five siblings, and a growing crew of nieces and nephews who live in both Mexico and the United States.
