Chuck Swindoll tells a rather gross, but humorous story in one of his books. It takes place right after his graduation from high school. He was working in a machine shop in Houston, Texas. One of the men he worked near in the shop was named Tex. He was an unforgettable character.
Tex spent most of his adult life operating a turret lathe in that shop. He was a typical machinist. He wore a little gray and white striped cap "always greasy" and overalls that needed an oil change. And, of course, he chewed tobacco, which meant he spit a lot. He would keep his tobacco pouch open in his right hip pocket. As he ran the lathe, he would reach back, grab a fistful of that stringy stuff, cram it into his mouth, then chew on it for an hour or so. That entire procedure occurred without his eyes ever leaving his work on the lathe. Tex would easily chew his way through several pouches in a week. (1)
One hot sticky night, Swindoll noticed a Texas-sized cricket on the floor of the shop. As he looked at the little critter, he noticed that the color of the cricket was just about the same as the color of Tex's chewing tobacco. Immediately, a plan formed in his mind! Without Tex knowing it, he strolled over and quickly stepped on the cricket, being careful not to damage it too much. He placed it very gently on top of the tobacco pouch. After a while Tex needed to replenish his chaw, so he reached back and grabbed a fresh fistful. In went that cricket along with a jaw full of tobacco. Can you imagine the sight of Tex chewing that mixture and spitting wings, legs and body parts for the next hour? What a sight it must have been.
As I said, Tex was quite a character. He had a kind of invisible sensor down inside of him. He seldom ever had to look at the clock. Somehow he always knew when it was getting close to that last whistle of the day “that time known as quittin' time. He was always washed up ready to punch out. On one occasion, Swindoll said he mentioned to Tex that it was about time to start "gettin' ready for quittin' time." Tex replied, "Listen boy, I stay ready to keep from gettin' ready for quittin' time."
Advent is a time of getting ready for quittin' time. Advent comes from the Latin word meaning "coming to." Advent is a time for preparing our hearts for the Lord who has come into our world at Christmas and who is coming to our world again on the last day in victory.
Our text for the day from Luke's Gospel is about that second advent. He writes, "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (NIV).
Vivid imagery. Scary pictures of the end of time. We find them in several places in the Scriptures. What should we say about them that will be helpful to our lives on this first Sunday of Advent?
FIRST OF ALL, WE SHOULD SAY THERE WILL BE A QUITTING TIME.
The Bible is very clear about that. Our time is finite. Everything we have is temporary. That idea may have less impact on our lives than it did a few years ago. Lately, a lot of people have been making predictions about disasters “including the end of the world “that have not panned out. Remember the hullabaloo just a short time back about the projected great earthquake along the New Madrid fault? New Mexico scientist Iben Browning projected a 50-50 chance of a major quake that would devastate much of the mid-U.S. Scientists scoffed at this projection. Nevertheless, some people prepared for the worst. In some places, disaster drills were staged. Sales of bottled water, canned food and earthquake insurance jumped. Schools in parts of five states canceled classes. The world didn't end, though. No devastating quake. No traumatic disaster. We're getting used to such false alarms.
I was preparing a Sunday school lesson in Knoxville, Tennessee, one Sunday during Advent. The class had requested a discussion on the Second Coming. I remembered a popular book about the rapture that had frightened many people a couple of years earlier. So I went into a nearby Christian book store to see if I could purchase a copy. But I couldn't remember the title, so I explained to the salesperson the nature of the book.
She said, "Oh, you must mean the book, EIGHTY-EIGHT REASONS WHY THE RAPTURE WILL DEFINITELY COME IN 1988."
"That sounds like it," I said.
She said, "That also came in a 1989 edition." I tried to keep from laughing out loud. "We sent back our unsold copies last spring," the salesperson said apologetically. No wonder. Few things are more out of date than an end-of-the-world prediction two years after the supposed time passes. Impressionable people, though, sold possessions, spent their life savings, holed up in churches, and no telling what else on the basis of this misguided prophecy.
There was one interesting incident related to this prediction, however. A North Carolina gunman who kept police at bay for 30 hours gave up after his aunt urged him to "get right" for The Rapture. So, in at least in one case, there was a positive result.
Of course, Christians are not the only ones to talk about coming disasters. A year earlier it was the New Age people who were sounding the alarms. Astrologers were talking about a harmonic convergence producing chaos all over the world when the planets aligned August 16, 1987. They requested that 144,000 people meditate to prevent the imminent disaster. Nothing happened. I didn't meditate. Maybe somebody else did.
Scientists get into the act sometimes, too. In 1979, the fear was of the space satellite, Skylab. It was falling from the sky, NASA warned, but they were unsure where. The Federal Aviation Administration closed airspace; state and local governments went on alert; companies sold helmets. Skylab burned up July 11, 1979, over the Indian Ocean and Australia. No one was hurt. Chicken Little was wrong again.
People have short memories “particularly for predictions that the end is near. No matter how many times people set dates that are never realized, there will be people who take them seriously. It matters not that Christ said that not even he knew the day and the hour.
This is not to take away at all from the biblical prophecy. There will be an end-time to life as we know it. Science is just as adamant on that point as the Bible. No one knows, though, when that will be. We may be here another two thousand years before Christ fulfills his promise. No one knows.
THE SECOND THING TO SAY IS, BE READY. Since we don't know when the Second Advent might occur, we ought to stay ready. That's good advice in every part of life. Be ready. Or as the scouts say, be prepared. We simply do not know what any hour may bring. Opportunities or tragedies in life are not always predictable; we can't always see them coming.
Take the case of Otis Mounds. Years ago Mounds was a red shirt freshman for the University of Auburn football team. He was not supposed to play for Auburn at all that year. However, as he sat in the stands drinking a coke during half-time of the Auburn/California State (Fullerton) game last fall, he heard his name called over the P.A. system.
When Mounds answered the page, he found that Auburn's coach, Pat Dye, wanted him to change into a uniform and enter the game as tailback. It seems that the Auburn Tigers already had one tailback out hurt, and two more had been injured in the course of the first half. Their last remaining tailback had a real fumbling problem, so Mounds was called from the stands to go into the game. It was quite a surprise to that young man to be called out of the stands. That rarely happens in a major college game. Just because something rarely happens, though, does not mean that it won't happen.
Lloyd Ogilvie says that when he sits down to breakfast with his wife, she often asks him how he feels about the coming challenges for the day. He answers with the motto of a Highland regiment in his native Scotland: "Ready, Aye, Ready!"
That's an intelligent way to live. We don't know what opportunities may come our way. We don't know what tragedies may be thrust upon us. We don't know when quittin' time may be for ourselves, for someone we love, or for the world as a whole. It's best that we live each day prepared. Let's tell people that we love them. Let's live each day fully, abundantly. Let's not do anything we would be embarrassed for our Lord to observe if this were indeed the day of his coming.
One final word. WHATEVER THE FUTURE HOLDS, REMEMBER WHO HOLDS IT. The interesting thing about errant prophecies that keep popping up is how much fear they engender in those who believe them “as if the return of our Lord is something that his children ought to dread. Look at his first coming. Look beyond the beauty and the innocence of the stable in Bethlehem. See how the adult Jesus healed and taught and gathered little children in his arms. Consider how he died “ forgiving those who placed him on the tree, giving up his life for his friends. Is this the man whose coming we are to dread? No, we look forward to his coming with great expectancy. The future is in the hands of a loving God and we shall not be disappointed.
The CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR years ago carried an amusing story about a young woman in New York who had been seeing a great deal of a young man. One day he called to say he had something special on his mind. He would pick her up in his car, a memorable antique jalopy, and they would drive to the country for a picnic. They drove to Long Island. The young man seemed preoccupied. They drove along in silence. They then headed back to New York.
Back in the city, the young man broke his silence. He spoke solemnly of the great and significant event that was about to occur. Central Park, he said, would be the appropriate place for it to happen. They drove through the park on that beautiful spring day; the young woman's expectations soared. And the young man announced that the great moment was at hand. He slowed the car down, headed for a shady enclave. This was it, he said, the climax had arrived. He was sure that she would feel the same excitement as himself. The car, in short, had at that carefully timed juncture, reached the 100,000 mile mark. The figures on the speedometer were turning slowly over as the car came to a halt.
"Everything is back to zero," said the young man, caught up in the rapture of the moment.
"Yes," said the young woman to herself, "Everything is back to zero."
Christ's return will not be so anticlimactic. We can be sure of that. What began in a humble manger will be completed in wondrous majesty. When will it all occur? Nobody knows “not even the angels in heaven. The best thing to do is to follow the example of Chuck Swindoll's friend, Tex, and stay ready. Stay ready for the most beautiful experience that God's children will ever have. No wonder Advent is a season of living on tiptoe. Just as children can hardly wait for Christmas morning, adult children who are followers of Jesus can hardly wait for that one great tomorrow when Christ shall return. Let's stay ready, so we won't have to get ready, for quittin' time.
1. From a sermon by Don Emmitte