A sermon for Proper 14: Year C (1979)
“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
Gee, that sounds ominous and somewhat unnerving. It reminds me of the 1970’s TV Show, Welcome Back Kotter and one of Horshack’s famous lines (besides “Oohh Oohh Oohh”), “When you least expect it, expect it.”
But letting Jesus’ words about the unexpected hour ping inside my head for a couple of moments and letting that message travel from my amygdala to my central cortex _ as there always is _ there’s a message of wisdom to halt us. And that message is not ‘Be afraid’, but to ‘Be prepared’.
When I think of being prepared, I think about being prepared for disaster, and mitigating the inconvenience of the disaster as much as possible. At home, we have a Go-Bag. Our cats have a Go-Bag. The car has supplies if we break down. We have an escape ladder for the 2nd floor of our house. We have fire extinguishers at home. I regularly check my credit score and credit card statements for fraud. And I balance my checkbook to the penny.
Outside of wrapping bubble wrap around myself and our house, I feel prepared. But I’m smart enough to know that when that lightning-strike-moment occurs _ we’ll be making use of our supplies, and my spouse will ask did you pack X or Y or Z. And at that moment, I will think _ I should have thought of that.
In the business world, they call this continuity of operations. To the extreme, the recommendation is to prepare 100% redundancy for your business. Conceptually, you should already have another location rented, full of everything you need (internet, phone, computers, desks, etc.) and when disaster strikes one workplace, you simply go to the other workplace.
Can you imagine setting this up for yourself and your family and having to sustain a complete duplication of your life? If you’re doing this, one might say you have too much time on your hands, or that you are truly blessed.
What I’m getting at is that no matter how much effort you are in being prepared, you’re probably going to miss something.
But that’s OK, we’re just humans. We weren’t created to think of everything. God knows there are infinite possibilities of situations to be prepared for. And God doesn’t expect us to be. But God expects us to do our best to prepare. And that Go-Bag is full of faith, prayer, and trust.
Is that enough though? And who has time for this? Are earthly lives are made up of obligations, responsibilities, and commitments. “My house is flooding, a chemical spill is in the air, and someone is using my credit card. I don’t have time for the ethereal future.”
People want quick answers. They want to read the Bible once, pray once and be told they have a ticket to heaven. They got stuff to do. They want to know exactly how much faith, prayer, and trust that their Go-Bag needs.
My favorite part of today’s readings is from Genesis. Abraham is worried about the future. He’s worried that Sarah and he are too old to procreate. At their respective approximate ages of 90 and 100, who would blame them. He’s worried that he hasn’t prepared enough.
But God tells Abraham to, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” The image that I conjure when I read this is an endearing one of God standing next to Abraham with one hand on his shoulder and the other hand pointing up to the night sky, and Abraham silently in awe.
Through this simple moment of God directing Abraham to look up, it’s comforting for Abraham to learn he has the right amount of faith in his Go-Bag.
Remember today’s psalm, “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. Indeed, our heart rejoices in him, for in his holy Name we put our trust.”
So don’t worry that you’re not prepared enough. Simply look up to the stars and listen for God and let the awe overtake you. With that, you will have the Go-Bag of Faith that you need.
Referenced scriptures:
Wired For Faith 
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