One of the members of my parish in Hobbs, New Mexico was a young man, Hans, from Sweden who came here with his wife, Anna, because he wanted to go to school to become a commercial airline pilot. He came to Hobbs after he'd had all the training, but unlike those who have Air Force experience, Hans' first job out of school was as a pilot for a small oil company--where he could gain experience. Soon after they moved to Hobbs, his mother-in-law was coming from Sweden to be present for the birth of their first child. Because Anna didn't want to fly with Hans in that small plane from Hobbs to Dallas, he asked me if I'd like to ride along and be "co-pilot"--so to speak. I jumped at the chance, and was all excited by the time we got in the plane, buckled up and took off. We had just left the ground, it seemed to me, and were still climbing, when Hans fiddled with some switches, set some dials, and then said, "Pastor, would you like something to drink--a soda, water?" To which I said "sure-that'd be great". When all of a sudden Hans got up, out of his seat and went to the back of the plane. Still climbing, hardly off the runway, it seemed, I was a little surprised, so I said, "Hans, is there something I should be doing? A steering wheel I should hold--should I be watching out for other planes?" "No," said Hans, "we're on auto-pilot--the plane will fly itself. We can relax and enjoy the ride."

     While there was more to it than that--especially when we got away from our little Hobbs airport, closer to the busy airspace around Dallas-Fort Worth, I must say auto-pilot did a lot of the work. We had a relaxing, quiet, enjoyable ride.so much so that for a little bit, at least, I dozed. In a fairly small prop-plane, from southeastern New Mexico to Dallas, it took longer than you might think to get there, so, once we were on auto-pilot, napping was only natural. And isn't that how life sometimes is?

     Don't you sometimes feel like you're on auto-pilot? Work becomes a little routine, so we slip into auto-pilot mode? Our marriages can become comfortable and easy, so we set the cruise-control and relax. Kids at school get caught up in the middle of the term, and then decide to relax for a while. The only problem with auto-pilot is--we can be lulled into a kind of safety and security that is deceiving, so much so that we are tempted to doze. And as the saying goes, when you snooze, you loose. At least, when you're supposed to be wide awake. How long can you glide along on auto-pilot at work, before problems arise? Students, how long can you relax at school in the middle of the term, before you're homework is backed-up and you're in trouble, grade-wise? How long can your marriage survive, when you're on cruise control--and maybe even asleep at the wheel? It's natural, maybe even human nature to get comfortable and relaxed in life, so that we are lulled into inactivity and inattention. But is that to be the norm in life? Is that to be our long-term mode of operation? The fact is, Jesus, in our gospel lesson is warning us against operating on just such an auto-pilot mode. Just as it's not good in a marriage, at work, or at school, to be too long on cruise-control, it's not good for faith, either.

     Jesus uses, as an example, the people who lived in the time of Noah--people who in the days before the Great Flood, were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, without a clue. They were on auto-pilot, living their lives without a thought to the fact that God was displeased with all of them. In Genesis, it says "the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.for behold, all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them", said the Lord.

     And right there, we see what happens when folks become complacent, and lazy and lukewarm with regard to God's will. Although the time of Noah and the flood was early on in the history of God's relationship with His people, it was not so early that they didn't know, and shouldn't have been aware of what God wanted from His created people. They knew that what God commanded was: purity, godliness, faithfulness and obedience. And yet, here they were, busy eating and drinking--they were busy marrying and arranging marriages for their children to get the best deal they could, oblivious to God's displeasure and the coming judgement. And Jesus tells us they knew nothing, until the flood came and swept them all away. And Jesus also tells us, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man! People will be busy with their day to day lives. People will be at work in the field, or in their cubicle, or at their desk in school--completely unaware--and one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together, or working out side by side at the gym--one will be taken, the other will be left. And the message of Jesus, for us today is--"Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Therefore, you must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour." The message of Jesus is, do not cruise through life on auto-pilot, giving no thought to your behavior, your faith, your obedience, for the one who is cruising through life dozing, will be caught unprepared. Rather, Jesus says, keep awake; be alert, in life. Live your life constantly vigilant, always reflecting on how you are living, and whether you are living faithfully and obediently, and whether you are living a faith of the heart, or whether you are a Christian in name, only. Jesus is exhorting us to live our lives always ready for His imminent return--ready whenever he comes, whether today, or tomorrow, or twenty years from now. The fact that He is coming at an unexpected hour means we must be ready always. And the season of Advent is meant to help us be awake and ready.

     The truth of the matter is, we all fall into auto-pilot, and doze a while. And Advent is that season of the Church Year that is intended to shake us up, and wake us up, to rouse us from our drowsiness and call us back to repentance and renewal and readiness. And what are we to do to be ready? St. Paul reminds us, as he reminded the Romans, "it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.the night is far gone, the day of the Lord is near. Let us then, lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." Martin Luther said, "he who lives in ungodliness-- sleeps, and is, as it were, dead to God." What Luther, and Paul, and our Lord Jesus are saying to us, today, is--wake up, and live to God! Wake up, now and live for God! Don't put off till tomorrow, spiritual growth, spiritual discipline, spiritual renewal! If you are living in some unrepentant sin, today, then, today, turn away from it, and turn toward God! If you are living in some impurity, unchastity--don't continue in sin, but turn from it, and amend your life--now, today. If, in your marriage, your family, your household, there is something that is broken and not right--turn off the auto-pilot, and attend to it, now. For, that is how we will be prepared for Christ, whenever He comes again in judgement and power. That is how we will be ready--for the many ways He comes to us!

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.