Prepare for the Master’s Return

By Steve Houghton, Lay Preacher

Good Morning. I would like to begin with a  paraphrase of New York Times columnist David  Brooks as I heard him on NPR’s 1A on July 7,  2025.  

Mr. Brooks said; Over the last twenty years, we've  seen a rise in mental health problems, a sharp  rise in suicide. Thirty six percent of Americans  say they feel lonely much of the time Forty five  percent of high school students say they're  persistently hopeless and despondent. The  number of Americans who say they have no close  friends is up by fourfold since February. And so  we've become sadder as a country, and more  distrustful. Social trust and interpersonal trust  have been collapsing over the last two  generations. And so when you feel sadder, you  feel meaner because your loneliness is a form of  insult to your dignity, and so you wanna lash out.  And so I think our politics sort of flow directly out of, the decline we've seen in people's social,  relational, and spiritual lives. End of paraphrase.  Let me repeat that last line of David Brooks, “and  so I think our politics sort of flow directly out of  the decline we’ve seen in people’s social,  relational, and spiritual lives.” 

We are here this morning to reverse that decline  in our spiritual lives. We are here to re-assess  how we are relating to the world and if we are, in  fact, following the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.  We are here to reacquaint ourselves with the love  and togetherness that Jesus always spoke of. 

In Hebrews, Paul is teaching us that the  obedience of Abraham, Jacob and Issac was  rewarded with God’s blessing and an abundance  of descendants. Paul goes on to explain that  even though they died before seeing the  complete fulfillment of God’s promise they had  faith that God would do what was promised.  They recognized that they were strangers on  earth and that “they desire a better country, that  is a heavenly one.”(Hebrews 11:16). Do we have  faith in that promise and do we desire a better,  heavenly country?

Jesus uses bridesmaids and servants in many of  his teachings as examples of the importance of being prepared. His kind of being prepared is not  a passive thing but is very active. 

“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.” I  really enjoy the gospel when Jesus calls for  action. There’s no personal salvation here. As  Paul said this is a call to action in forming a new  country, a heavenly one, a coming of the  kingdom. So the question comes to us, what  does it mean to be ready and to be dressed for  action and have our lamps lit? That is really what  I want to focus on in the readings this morning  “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.” 

Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis puts it this way.  

“I can see a bold new path led by a vision of the  sacred goodness of humankind and the  abundance of the planet’s resources…. You and I  are the ones we’ve been waiting for to create  better lives for ourselves and our communities  and to build a better world—together. All we need  is the courage to imagine, and the will to make it  be so.”( Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious  Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can  Heal the World (Harmony Books, 2021), 14, 15.)  

Rev. Dr. Lewis’ words roll easily off the tongue  but can be a bit less easy to execute. Early on in  my involvement with Emmaus Companions and  early in the prayer corner at Second Helpings I  was sitting at our prayer corner when a guest I  will call Bob came to me just before folks were  called to get their food. I need you to understand  that this was back when we would call individual  tables to the service line and we expected folks  to come when their table was called to keep the  line moving efficiently. I started getting nervous  since there didn’t seem to be enough time to get  a prayer in before they started serving the food.  

Bob went on for several minutes describing how  and why he wanted prayers for his daughter who  was ill and living in another state. I started to cut  
Bob short and explained that food was being  served. He looked me in the eye and told me  that if he wanted food right away he would have  waited in his seat but he came to me to pray for  his daughter. To say I was embarrassed and  caught up short would be an understatement. I  quickly recovered and was able to lead Bob in a  prayer for his daughter. 
Driving home I realized that I had put my need to  keep things moving, to maintain the protocol of the meal, ahead of what our ministry was about;  sharing Christ’s love. I had tried to approach  serving others through a perspective of  maintaining the established system. Fortunately,  Bob, like many we serve, was not shy and quick  to redirect my focus. 

And doesn’t that happen with most of us? We  set out to help build a new country with an  attitude focused on maintaining the status quo.  One of the guidelines of Emmaus Companions is  to shut up and listen. We need to hear what our  companion is asking for or looking for. Focused  on not stepping out of our comfort zone will  cause us to misread or completely miss the other  person’s need. 

How often have we joined the express lane in the  supermarket only to see someone in front of us  with a full cart? Stage whispered observations of  “which checkout is this” and how “some people  don’t know how to count to fifteen”, don’t really  demonstrate having our lamps lit. It is possible  that the customer with the oversized load is  trying to get home as fast as possible to take  care of a sick child. Perhaps being prepared will help us to smile and take the edge off that mom  or dad as they red faced leave the supermarket. 
I was in the Energy Park with a number of folk  including one gentleman I will call Mike. Mike  had been homeless for over thirty years in several  cities and towns in Massachusetts. He was  looked up to by the people on the margins and  saw himself as a mentor and guide to those  newly homeless. We were talking about  homeless experiences when he suddenly turned  to me and demanded what right I had to be with  this group of people. In the four or five seconds it took me to respond my mind went in a million  directions. This is where the Holy Spirit usually  steps in and saves my butt and this was no  exception. I looked Mike in the eye and said  something to the effect of “There was this  teacher in ancient Israel who said all people were  my brothers and sisters and I believe him.” Mike  looked at me for what seemed like an hour but  was really only about fifteen seconds then  declared that he guessed that I did have a right to  be there if that was the case. 

People have a right to challenge us when we are  trying to do good works and it is important for us  to have an understanding of what motivates our  actions. If I had been caught up in trying to  justify myself I am sure I would have failed in  Mike’s eyes. 

I know that standing in front of a 6’ 4” man with a  thousand foot stare that burns like a laser into the  back of your head trying to make friends and  offer a helping hand isn’t everyone’s cup of tea  but for Alicia, Charlie, Dennis and I it is and if any of you think it might be for you also just talk to  one of us.  

The reality is that none of us has to do huge,  great, splashy things to help bring about a new  country. One of our reflection group members  shared that simple things have a big impact on  us. She shared that a person let her proceed first  at an intersection and that gave her hope that  there were still good people in the world. Now  that says two things; one, our culture is so  screwed up that a simple gesture of kindness has  a great impact and more importantly two how  easy it is to make a change toward the better. 

 I think Brian McClaren sums it up well when he  writes: 
“Our choice is clear from the start: If we want to  be his disciples, we won’t be able to simply coast  along and conform to the norms of our society.  We must choose a different definition of well being, a different model of success, a new  identity with a new set of values….  ” (Brian D.  McLaren, We Make the Road by Walking: A Year Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation,  and Activation (Jericho Books, 2014), 128–129) 
So the task before us is pretty simple in action  and very profound in impact. Whether it is curtesy at intersections or praying with a friend in  Page 15
need, we need to seek Jesus’ love as we build a  new country, a heavenly one. 

If we are to be salt and light, I wonder, how will  we dress for action and light our lamps in this  coming week? 
Amen

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