	Reverend Anthony D Coley	One God, One Love . . .

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Wait , Watch, Listen November 27, 2011 Mark 13:24-37 The Reading of God’s Word for the people of God. 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 people 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 Truly I tell you, 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 “But about that day or hour no one knows, 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 their 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!’” This is the Word of God and It can be trusted. Thanks be to God. We live our lives situated in between the two Advents of the Christ: The Advent that was long ago in Bethlehem and the Advent that is yet to be. In this meantime, Jesus urges us to be watchful. We need to always be living in the ways Jesus showed us because not only could Jesus return at any time, but we already live every moment in the presence of Jesus. The Season of Advent is not just about either looking to the past or looking to the future; it is about today, living in the present, living out our kingdom call right here, right now! This is why we make such a big deal this morning about the rooster crowing. In our reading today, Jesus urged Peter and the others to wait, watch and listen to every moment as though it could be the last. Along the way, Jesus said that for all anyone knew, a moment of apocalyptic unveiling could happen at any time, even when the rooster crows at 1:30 in the morning. It is quite plausible that Peter heard all this and figured that if such a thing ever happened maybe he'd not even be around anymore when the end would finally come. Then, just a few short hours later, a rooster crows at 1:30 in the morning and the full truth of Jesus came crashing down around Peter’s ears. Peter did not need to live to see the final Day of Judgment. In that single moment, in that single cry of that rooster Peter experienced his apocalypse, his encounter with the living God. What Peter perhaps thought was a long ways off when Jesus first talked about it turned out to be far closer, far more urgent than he ever imagined. As it turns out, for Peter and perhaps for many of us today, any and every crying of the rooster is a moment potentially full of God. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Click HERE for access to the full length sermon