“Will that be for here, or to go?”

These are not unfamiliar words to many of us.

We step up to the counter, we place our order.

A burger, fries. Medium drink.

And we await the expected question:

“Will that be for here or to go?”
 
But it was not the question I wanted to hear just the other Sunday morning a week or two ago when I stopped by Krispy Kremes for a dozen donuts. A dozen! 12 of them.
“Will that be for here or to go?”

Really?!

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By the third Sunday in Advent, truthfully, scarcely any of us is really in the mood for what John the Baptist has to say with threats of doom and gloom, with cries for fruit-bearing repentance, and warnings of winnowing forks and unquenchable fire.

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I get a kick out church signs and often wish we utilized our location here on the Lincoln Freeway a bit more to have some fun with passersby. These signs can make you laugh as you appreciate their sharp wit, they can make you groan and shake your head and thank God that’s not your church, and sometimes they can give you pause and make you go “hmm.” Here’s one from St Cyril of Alexandria Catholic Church in Houston, TX: “Staying in bed and shouting ‘O God!’ does not constitute going to church.” Or try this one from Goodwood United Methodist Church (who probably would do well to consider a different name for their church): “Free Coffee. Everlasting Life. Yes, membership has its privileges.” Or this one from Donelson Baptist Church, “Forgive your enemies. It messes with their heads.” But I think my favorite one is “Looking for a sign from God? This is it!”

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With the apocalyptic movie “2012″ hitting theaters this past week, once again the American public is freshly-confronted with images of a global cataclysm ushering in the end of the world, and scaring the living daylights out of those with just enough knowledge of biblical apocalyptic literature (or Mayan culture and eschatology) to make it seem like “the end” is really just around the corner two years from now. With the terror-striking three-word banner advertising the film, “We were warned,” the apocalyptic fever of the country — and possibly the world — just went up a degree or two.

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None of us is bound to feel good about this morning’s Gospel. Not you, the church-goer. Not me, the professionally-religious. And certainly not the stewardship committee. So let me make this quick. Not only because it’s not a “feel-good” text, but also because — frankly — I still don’t feel so good!  What I’ve learned from having pneumonia is, the more I talk, the more I cough! So lucky you, it’s a super short one this morning, so listen closely!

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Did the Jesus who was 100% human really believe Lazarus would walk out of his tomb alive?

For a moment, or maybe even more, I don’t think he did.

Jesus stood at his friend’s grave much like we all do at the graves of our loved ones.

Like Jesus, we stand there in our disbelief.

Like Jesus, we are greatly disturbed in spirit.

Like Jesus, we are deeply moved.

Like Jesus, we weep.

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In contemporary psycho-babble, you might say James and John had major “control issues” surrounding their self-serving request of Jesus in today’s Gospel. “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

One can practically imagine Jesus’ eyeballs rolling as he asks them in reply, “And just what is it you want me to do for you?”

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How perfect is it, that just as the nights are beginning to cool way down as befits the autumn season now upon us, just as summer’s heat is starting to back off a bit, just as September has subtly segued into October, just as we throw an extra blanket on our beds at home to keep us warm through the crisp early morning hours, we now bring out our communal blankets to be blessed and sent into the world?  The timing couldn’t be better.

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This weekend in Indianapolis, a group of Lutherans capped off at 1200 met to discuss the formation of an “alternate church fellowship” or a “reconfiguration of Lutheranism in North America” for those who find unacceptable the decisions made by the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Minneapolis last month.  Those decisions, which affirmed same-gender relationships and reversed policies which previously had excluded from the ministry rosters of the church those in such relationships are the specific reason why this group, called the Lutheran CORE or Coalition for Renewal, came together in numbers rivaling the Churchwide Assembly.

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If you prayed this prayer before bedtime as a child, or perhaps even still do now — with your own children or maybe all alone with your own inner child, chime right in:

Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

I have a feeling most of us stumbled on that phrase, “If I should die before I wake.” It was always a rather troubling and confusing thought: the notion of waking up dead. As a child, I used to wonder how that all worked. “Well, I’ll wake up, but I guess when I do I’ll be dead.” As I got a little older, the whole concept got a little scarier. “What if I don’t wake up?” “What if I really do die before waking up? … I guess I better finish the prayer!”

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