Things That Might Go Amiss

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(preparing for Worship Dec 9)

As I have learned my way around the sport of sailing, I have learned to always be on the look out for things that might go wrong.  In sailing, things can go amiss quite quickly and when they do, quick action is essential.  Doing the right thing, right away is a skill you have to learn to develop.  Of course, there is a leaning curve there, a long process of learning what the options are.  But it’s also seeing the problem coming that helps more than anything.  It is part of being prepared.

Also, part of being prepared is having the resources you need in an emergency. In sailing it’s sometimes called having “redundant backup systems.”  Here is an example, I can empty the bilge with the hand pump or I can turn on the electric bilge pump at the DC Panel.  There is also a bilge switch that will turn on the bilge pump if the water level gets too high and an alarm that sounds when the bilge pump as been on longer than one minute.  All of these options play their role in being prepared for what might go amiss on the water.

But, it’s not just about having multiple ways to do things.  It’s about being prepared for as many possibilities as you can imagine and then, thinking through how you might act and what you might need, in that case.  The more likely a scenario or the more catastrophic the scenario, the more prepared you want to be, with a plan and the resources you will need.  That is why we carry flairs for emergency use, and an emergency raft, and an emergency radio, etc.

The Season of Advent and the Coming of Christ, also suggests that we have some preparing to do.  And just like in sailing, the exact nature of what might come will have a direct impact on how you will prepare.

So, when Christ comes, the promise declares, justice will be brought about, the proud will be humbled and the humbled will be lifted up.  This suggests that we might want to be on the side of being about justice now.  If peace will come with Christ, then we might, want to have within us already a desire to be at peace with all.

Do you have a heart for treating all people who cross your path with fairness and justice? Do you see inequities that occurs in the community around you?  Perhaps the coming Advent of Christ invites us to be about being prepared today for the coming life that will come when Christ returns.  Perhaps preparing for the Advent of Christ might look like preparing our eyes and our hearts to see what is already amiss around us, and then, make preparation for its coming.

I think that is the Spirit of the Angel Tree program and the Our Daily Bread Food Pantry and many other efforts that we excel at during this time of the year.  Happy Preparing for Christmas… and for Christ’s coming.

Pastor Mitch