Listen for the Rooster- Mark 13:24-37

I ate too much Turkey, I ate too much corn,I ate too much pudding and pie.I'm stuffed up with muffins and too much stuffin'I'm feel like I’m going to die.
I piled up my plate and I ate and I ate.But I wish I had known when to stop,For I'm so crammed with yams, sauces, gravies, and jamsThat my buttons are starting to pop!
I'm full of potatoes and fresh baked rolls,My stomach is swollen and sore,But there's still some dessert so I guess it won't hurt
if I eat just a little bit more!
Anonymous
Pray- Lord- we come to you ready to eat a true meal. We are ready to feast on your word. We need nourishment for our souls- our lives- our family
So Lord- May the words of my mouth...
Mark 13:24-37– 24 "But in those days, following that distress,
"'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'
26 "At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
28 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
32 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'"
We read scriptures like these- at the beginning of Advent- because Advent is a season when we are reminded to be people on Watch.
Truths from this scripture:
We don’t know the date and time
There are many who spend their days and time trying to figure out when Jesus is coming back. But v. 32 says: No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
There are signs that have happened, v. 30 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
There are signs that are happening, v. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.
How can something be imminent - how can the Second Coming of Christ be both imminent and yet its signs happened for Jesus’ generation as they do in ours?
I can’t explain this away- this teaching is what it is.
Signs can be Obvious and Subtle- the subtle signs Jesus uses as examples are fig tree twigs and leaves- as well as quoting Isaiah 13:10 and Isaiah 34:4
The trick with signs is connecting their presence with what they are trying to point out-
Danny Illustration- of watching Charlie Brown’s thanksgiving- DVD- credits- he didn’t see them as a sign of the end of the DVD- but I knew- that this meant that the story was over
Sometimes we see the signs, sometimes we don’t
Signs can be misleading: There's a sign above the scale in my bathroom that says "Pretend it's your IQ."
Signs of Jesus’ approaching birth:
Ancient signs: prophecies- then the dreams- then the star
Modern signs: Commercialization of Christmas- we have already had a family argument about the ads in the paper on the day after Thanksgiving- are they "Christmas" ads- are are they "capitalism" ads. To me they are not advertising Jesus Christ.
How does this scripture relate to my daily living?:
What does it mean to "watch" in everyday life? What does it mean to "listen for the rooster"?
Life is meant to be lived in expectancy and hope, not in fear and despair
Life is to be lived as if everyday is your last day.
We are so busy- Sometimes we get so tired
An elderly couple stare silently at each other- as they have just bailed their adult child out of another life disaster- they feel frustrated...
A young parent- wakes up yet again to a screaming child- wondering if maybe God made a mistake in making them a parent, because they feel impatient...
A teenager gets home late Friday night after their game, his parents weren’t there again. A sore throat has set in, homework is piling up- what’s the point? He feels lost and lonely....
A father tries to come to grips with the cancer diagnosis for his 17 year old son
We, in the midst of this fantasized commercialized holiday season, are living real and sometimes painful, tiring lives
We are tempted to SLEEP. Physical SLEEP is okay. But we are tempted to SLEEP spiritually and slide into Spiritual Laziness- it is all to easy to drift into meaningless habits in our lives- as a sort of pain reliever for the problems in our lives
I am speaking to myself too- Steve Martin joke about criticism
We MUST NOT SLEEP- We are called to WATCH- to be Spiritually AWAKE- we MUST be people of prayer, fasting, study, service and worship
What is a rooster- It is essentially a living noise-maker. It was made by God to make noise- noise that Jars one awake.- it is an ancient alarm clock
God- wants you to be awake this Advent Season
To be ready to be used by God to bring a little bit more beauty and love into this world- The very next story in Mark is the story of a woman anointing Jesus with a very expensive jar of perfume. The disciples chastised her for wasting money.
She was awake to the fact that her savior was right in front of her- and she wanted to honor him with a beautiful act of kindness
Are we awake to the fact that Jesus is here in the midst of us? Matthew 18:20?
The more AWAKE we are to the Living Reality of Christ in our midst- the more we will become servants of His cause- servants of Love, Forgivness, Mercy, Kindness, and Beauty
I am convinced that the more beauty, forgiveness and love we bring into the world- brings a bit closer to the final return of Christ
I want to spend my life AWAKE and WATCHING for the possibilities- the signs God puts in my life that say- "help this person out" "say a kind word"
"it’s time to swallow your pride and ask forgiveness"
I don’t want to be surprised by the rooster
I want to be listening for the rooster
Jesus said: If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'"
Amen.