Be prepared

11/5

Showing Amanda all that’s changed since the last time she was here...Sarah’s great signs all around the outside, the new sound system, the painted bathrooms....

11/6

Things need to be rearranged after the symphony concert. Need to move the piano back and bring the communion table back to the center of the sanctuary. And I can’t do that by myself.  When John arrives, we’re able to get things set up. And then wait for the people to come. 

One of those days where I wonder why I’m there. Where I have to breathe, suck it up and keep going. There is a woman I haven’t seen before. There with her children. Turns out she grew up in this church, years ago. Glad that she is here.

I ask if anyone had  ever been a boyscout?  Well, no one raises their hand. What was their motto?:  Be prepared. ...always made me wonder, ...prepared for what? Any and all circumstances?  When I was a little kid, we worrried about nuclear bomb attacks. We had a fall out shelter in our school. We only went down there twice, once for a drill and another time when someone got  sick and threw  up in the  classroom. In highschool, we just practiced getting under our desks. The old duck and cover. Never seemed to me like that would help a whole lot. We even had a fall out shelter at home. Our fruit cellar. My dad filled it with stacks of canned food and water.  

How else do we get prepared? Save money for a rainy day? Insurance is another way, (though it doesn’t help when your company goes bankrupt.) You can’t drive without a spare tire. You have to do your homework.Thinking of school, remember pop quizzes? You never knew when one would hit. Lifesaving equipment. First aid kits...all about being prepared...

So we have this story in Matthew 25. Jesus.. Talking about wise and foolish virgins.. They used this parable  in 17th convents to indoctrinate novices. Jonathan Edwards preached a nine part sermon series on this passage and what it means to women’s responsibilities. 

A story about a strange bridegroom who comes without warning..

Some have oil, others do not..,(.we know all about that now....we have to keep making trips to buy diesel for heat....) A bridegroom and a pop quiz. 

How about the preacher Harold Camping who thought world would end back in May...Revised to October. 21st..still didn’t end...

It’s just frankly not something I worry about...

Back in Jesus day, they thought he’d be coming back at any moment so you had to be prepared...And I could go all apocalyptic and make that point today...But I think the issue really is....

What if he came here this morning? What would he find? Anyone here to greet him? An unconditional welcome? The love of God reflected in our faces? We don’t do this out of fear....not God’s gonna getcha if you don’t watch out...but out if a commitment to a way of living, ..of who were going to be...(All this getting ready...it’s  almost like an early  Advent piece here...just like the stores...from Halloween to Chritstmas..)

Do you remember Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing?.The film begins and ends with the same words...wake up

I don’t want us to worry about Jesus’ coming back....I do want us to be wide awake...alert to all that’s going on around us...alert and aware that serious questoons are being  raised at every level of church and society..I don’t claim to have the answers ...but we have to be part of the conversation...that’s what today is about. 

We share our communion. The Session meets and explores further the relationship with Jane and Sanctuary. And plans to move the boiler project along. We’re almost there. 

11/7

Danielle tells me that Boxer Mike told her that the doors to the church had been left open and a computer almost stolen...Quick pass through before meeting with Marsha and Harris our attorney and representatives of two building coops to discuss possible air rights lease. And then to SPSA for the Dos Pueblos Nicaragua solidarity event. Which would’ve been at West-Park, except for the boiler.