A thief in the night; or in this case 2 thieves. Somehow when a thief breaks into our house, we feel violated, fear fills our souls, we no longer feel comfortable in our own home, we can no longer trust the security of our surroundings, nor do we trust anyone walking in our neighborhood or coming to our door. We may have only lost items that have no sentimental value and can be easily replaced with insurance money, but the inconvenience and the uncertainty of why we have been singled out causes monsters and demons to take hold of our souls. Will we ever be safe again? Can we ever walk into a dark room without shivers running up and down our spine? Could someone be lurking in the shadows?

Are my fears rational? Even those TV commercials that advertise security companies and portray safety and protection for the consumer if they have the right home security system, somehow don't instill full confidence and relief in the owner. What if the thief gets around the security system? How do we keep away a thief in the night? My sister-in-law, who lived in the Philadelphia area and worked in the ER of a large suburban hospital, called us one year on New Year's day to tell us the news about one of their doctors. He was a fertility specialist, a young, kind, friendly, knowledgeable doctor who had helped hundreds of couples who had difficulty having children. Everybody who knew him, loved him and respected him greatly. It seems that the doctor lived in a wellto-do neighborhood full of homes with security systems, and on New Year's Eve, he and his wife and young children went to bed rather than going out partying like many of the other people in their neighborhood. Around midnight as he and his wife were sound asleep, he was startled awake to see 2 men in their bedroom and one of them was slipping a ring off of his sleeping wife's finger. Being suddenly startled awake seeing 2 strangers by their bed, he immediately bolted up into a sitting position and yelled, "Get out of here!" And no sooner was the last word out of his mouth, than one of the robbers panicked and shot him point blank in the chest, severing his aortic artery. The thieves rushed out of the house, but the doctor bled to death before the ambulance arrived. Like his neighbors, he had a state of the art security system, but modern technology couldn't protect him and his family. A thief in the night; or in this case, 2 thieves. So I find it fascinating and somewhat disturbing that Matthew creates a picture of Jesus as thief in the night.

"Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour." (Matt. 24:42-44) What is it that Jesus might steal from us if he broke into our lives? Today, the Church begins a new Christian year, and we call it Advent. While the world's calendars begin on January 1 of each year, the church's new year begins on the first Sunday in Advent, or the 4th Sunday before Christmas. Now we have just come through Thanksgiving, which our society uses as a warm-up for Christmas. Sometime in October, stores and malls began to prepare for Christmas shopping, Christmas club checks came out at the beginning of November, and the frenzy of Christmas shopping, Christmas parties, and Christmas celebrations and specials are now moving into full force. Yet, in the Church's calendar, this is not Christmas, nor are we called to celebrate Christmas early. Christmas doesn't begin until December 25, and we in the Church don't officially begin celebrating it until Christmas Eve. What captures our attention during Advent is anticipation and preparation, not for Christmas, but for the Lord's coming. And while we may include the coming of the baby Jesus in our anticipations and preparations, it's really a different kind of coming for which we anticipate and prepare.

Since the beginning of the Christian faith almost 2000 years ago, Christians have believed that Jesus would return again in glory, floating in on the clouds of heaven, and set all things right, transforming this life into the kind of life that God intended from the very beginning of creation. So strong was this belief, that early Christians urgently did several things. First, they got rid of all of their possessions and shared life together as a community which cared for one another. Second, they worshiped and prayed together each and every day, usually eating together and celebrating Holy Communion at their daily meals. This was a preparation and anticipation (some might say practice) for their life in heaven together with Jesus. They had begun living the eternal life here on earth. And third, they proclaimed, taught, and shared the Gospel with as many people as they could as quickly as they could, traveling great distances to do so. If Christ was indeed coming soon, then they knew that they couldn't be complacent or haphazard; it was urgent that the whole world hear and be given the opportunity to receive the salvation of Christ before Jesus comes soon.

Well, the fact is that Jesus hasn't come yet after 2000 years, but the promise is still there. What biblical authors like Matthew reminded early Christians and Christians throughout the ages is that Jesus is coming, but we don't know the time. All we can do is be prepared for when he does come, and since that time could be now, we need to prepare our souls now. If we wait, it could be too late. This is where the story of the thief in the night comes in.

While the expectation of Jesus coming again is still valid and needs to be taken seriously, there are other meanings that we can derive from this biblical passage that remain true to its original intention. Obviously, if we interpret the night as being death (and that is a valid image), then all of us need to prepare our souls, that is receive God's salvation through Christ, and live that Christ-like life now, because we never know when death will claim us. My Mother went to bed one night feeling perfectly healthy, and she died in her sleep. Given her family history, we expected her to live at least another 40 to 50 years. We never know when the night will fall upon us. We can either be scared and live life in fear, or we can prepare ourselves in Christ, and live life in joy and victory, because salvation in Christ not only protects us but puts one foot in heaven so that we are living with Christ in eternity now. So what's to fear?

But there is another meaning that comes before even this one. Matthew refers to Jesus as the thief in the night. What is so valuable that Jesus would come at the darkest time to steal our valuables? This is where we must think spiritually and not physically. For unlike human thieves, Jesus doesn't come to steal what is valuable to him, but what is valuable to us. And what is valuable to us?

Oh, a lot of things; usually the kinds of things that have nothing to do with our Lord and God. They are the things in life that we consider to be of ultimate importance, the things for which we spend extra time, talent, and energy to achieve, such as money, property, power, fame. They are the things that we sacrifice life and family to posses and end up worshiping as a god or gods. They are the practices and the ways in which we live life that center on our own wishes and wants and hurt those who stand in our way. Christians have a fancy word for all of this.

It's a simple word, but it's a word that the world no longer knows or acknowledges. We call it sin, that which separates us from God, anything that deludes us or puts a barrier in front of us so that we can't see and hear God. Everything else but God looks better because we can't see God and hear God's invitation or consider God's promises.

But then comes the night, when we discover that gold doesn't glitter, that joy isn't found in addictions and indulgences, that God isn't in our trinkets that we have diligently collected, that meaning and purpose are missing from the life we have chosen. Our souls become dark, and we wonder what life is all about and if it has any meaning. That's when the surprise and shock comes.

Without us seeing or knowing, we discover that Jesus has quietly and silently slipped into the darkness of our souls and has come to steal our valuable possessions: our sins and our false gods. Unlike the human thieves who violate our homes, what Jesus steals are revealed to be nothing of importance. These were the things that kept us from God and now that these sins are gone, we can see the glory and salvation of God held out to us take away the darkness and fill us with the light of grace and faith.

What makes Jesus the thief different from human thieves is not what he takes, but what he leaves behind. Jesus, the thief in the night, leaves grace and peace and joy and meaning and fulfillment and purpose for the soul. And because the human soul receives precisely what it needs, God's salvation, then all of the other meanings of Matthew's scripture passage are fulfilled. We are prepared for death, that time when God calls us home to eternity, because we have already begun to live in eternity. We are prepared for when Christ comes again to set all things right, because salvation has caused our lives to be set right and so Christ has already come for us. Jesus, the thief in the night who brings us salvation, has come into our hearts to bless us with the gifts of life and of eternal life.

My friends, are you ready for Christ's coming? Is your soul prepared so that you have begun to live in eternity with Jesus now? If not, you need to know that Jesus has already sneaked into the darkness of your soul and is stealing your prized possessions of sin, and Jesus wants to leave you his precious gift of love. Will you receive it?

Open your hearts and let the presence and love and light of Christ shine in and through your life. Let God have your prized possessions and accept God's wondrous gift of life. Come and offer yourself to Christ.

Ideas taken from Marion Soards, Thomas Dozeman, and Kendall McCabe, Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A: Advent/Christmas/Epiphany (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992), pp. 25-28.