November 30, 2025 | First Sunday of Advent
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
On Christmas morning when I was little, my sister and I got up early and ran to the Christmas tree. There it was in the living room with all of its lights and decorations and … PRESENTS! My sister and I sat in front of the Christmas tree waiting for our mom and trying to guess what was in all of those beautifully wrapped packages. There were a few things we really hoped for, but we didn’t always get what we expected.
Today, we heard, “you … must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44).
We have expectations for all sorts of things. Expectations for Christmas gifts. Expectations for how our holidays will go and what traditions we will observe. Expectations for our homes, work, family, and church. Expectations for our day, our week, our future.
Even with the most sophisticated equipment, can any of us know with certainty what the future holds? Can we know with certainty whether an idea work or fail? Can we know with certainty when it will and will not rain … or snow?
What happens when what you hoped for … doesn’t match what you expected?
Why did Jesus say that he would come “at an hour you do not expect”?
These words from Jesus come after a terrifying story about Noah and the Ark. Jesus said that people were marrying, eating, and drinking until Noah went into the ark and the floods came that washed everyone away. Then Jesus said that the coming of the Son of Man will be like that. Then there’s the story some people refer to as the “rapture.” There are two people in a field … one is taken and the other is left behind. Given the placement of Jesus’ words, it can be difficult to see them as anything other than a threat. He says to always be ready for the coming of the Son of Man. You won’t have any warning, but you’ll know when it’s here when half of the people simply disappear while others remain behind. That sounds scary, right?
Does Jesus mean to scare us? Does Jesus mean for us to always be on alert, fearful, and sleep deprived? If it’s true the Son of Man comes at an unexpected hour and we’re to be like the person protecting their home from an intruder, when are we supposed to sleep and do other things like work? The idea that one person can be taken and the other left behind can throw us into uncertainty and wondering whether we will be the ones taken or the ones left behind … at an unexpectedtime.
When we “expect”, Websters dictionary says we regard that thing as “probable,” we “look forward,” we “await.” The dictionary doesn’t include anything that indicates that what we expect is a sure thing or a certainty.
Sometimes, that expectation can make us feel a sense of power or control. It gives us the feeling of stability and reliability. We can make plans, develop schedules, and anticipate outcomes based on that expectation as if that expectationwas fact. We can begin to hold onto that expectation tightly because that is what our plans are based on.
What if … instead of hearing these words of Jesus as a threat or call for paranoia, we hear them as an invitation? What if we hear Jesus calling us to a kind of readiness that is not control, but an open-heartedness or an open-handedness where we make our plans but hold them more loosely? What if we hear them as a promise from God? God has shown up in unscripted and unexpected places before … as a baby in a manger … on a cross between two criminals … and God will continue to show up where we least expect it because God is a God who refuses to stay inside our expectations, doctrines, timelines, and plans.
What if … rather than seeking control, which seeks to minimize uncertainty, we live into a courageous expectancy that is open to curiosity and surprise?
As we begin this season of Advent, we shift from predicting to preparing … from managing to welcoming … from certainty to hopeful imagination. Rather than holding tightly, we loosen our grip and allow room for the Holy Spirit and the unexpected. By definition, all of our ideas and plans are formulated in the past and we live out their implementation into the future. As we hold loosely, we have the space to adjust those things that no longer meet the present situation.
God’s arrival is always grace, not punishment. Jesus comes not to increase fear but to dissipate it. The One who comes unexpectedly is the One who already loves us fully and meets us in our unguarded, unscripted, and unexpected places.
We cannot control how or when God will come to us, but we can be ready to welcome God. We can loosen our grip not into the chaos of mismanagement, but to make room for the courageous expectancy of what God is doing and will continue to do among us.
Christ is coming! Not only at the end of time, but soon … as in … TODAY! Jesus comes to us each and every day in unscripted, unplanned, and unexpected ways.
This is how we get ready for the unexpected times and the call of Advent …not by holding tightly, but by holding loosely as we live in courageous expectancy … watching and following the God who keeps showing up where we least expect.
In the name of Jesus. Amen!
Epicurious Lutheran 