There’s a flood coming! Jesus tells us that when the day of reckoning comes, it will be like a flood, in Tennessee, maybe more like a tornado. Two homes will be standing then one will be destroyed and the other untouched. Two women will be chatting in the front yard, one will be taken and the other one left.

There’s a flood coming! And the barriers that we thought would hold are no longer keeping us safe. We failed to heed the warnings. We can’t sandbag the river any longer. No one can protect us. It is as if all our foundations have been built on sand. All we can do is watch and wait.

There’s a flood coming! It reminds me of the mayor that tried to warn all its residents about an impending hurricane. He had the town’s police officers go house to house with permanent markers. Their instructions were this – either leave everything you know and get out, or take this marker and write your Social Security number on your chest so we can identify your body later.

There’s a flood coming! Jesus says, “Keep awake!” You do not know on what day or at what hour your Lord is coming. “Get ready! There’s no time to lose.” Although the boy scouts among us would tell us this is the precursor to their motto, “Be prepared,” there really isn’t much we can do to prepare us for the time that Jesus is telling us about.

There’s a flood coming! Jesus is telling us to get ready for the most unpredictable things we can imagine. I know, I know, he said this a long time ago. Eras have come and gone, some with bloody revolutions, others simply fading into the night. How will we know that a flood is coming? It seems silly to watch and wait when we’re more comfortable at this time of the year in front of the TV or shopping at Turkey Creek for our Christmas presents. What has changed? What are we waiting for?

There’s a flood coming! Jesus is not content for us to stand idly by. The Son of Man takes no excuses. There are things we can be doing. If you fast forward through this chapter of Matthew, he reminds us with the parable of the talents to take the risks to invest in our future. When we multiply what we have been given, the Master will bless us with abundance. Remember that the one who buried the treasure is called the “worthless slave,” and he gets thrown into the outer darkness. Jesus also reminds us that in the Day of Judgment, we will be held accountable for our care for others. When did we see you hungry, or naked, or sick or in prison? “Truly I tell you,” Jesus says, “just as you did so or didn’t do so for the least of these, you did so for me.” It is apparent from the outline of this chapter in Matthew, Jesus is announcing a revolution. He forewarns his disciples about the end times, about the destruction of the temple and signs of what is to come, then warns them three times that the Son of Man will come at an unexpected hour – so stay awake, stay awake, Stay Awake! Then the two parables tell us what will happen as God is doing the sorting out of the righteous from the unrighteous when humanity receives its judgment.

There’s a flood coming! Call it what you will – a spiritual awakening, a political upheaval, a cultural revolution. The “end times” speech is applicable in just about every time and place because God’s energy is always at work changing who we are. The end can be our own end, the end of our way of thinking, the end of a particular way of life. There are floods that either wreck or renew people’s lives happening right now. However, what we choose to do about it is up to us. Our spiritual ancestors knew that following Jesus is about taking risks. The part of our Book of Order that waxes eloquently about mission reminds us even as decent and orderly Presbyterians that the Church, both universal and particular, is called to the work of Jesus Christ even at the risk of losing its own life. The church has always known that we are inclined to stagnate in our traditions, to steep ourselves so thoroughly in what we know that we become bitter to outside tastes. Risk is a part of what Jesus is talking about here. He reminds us that God’s patience with us can get worn out. The Master expects something from us. God expects us to invest in the future and multiply the talents. We must take seriously that our role is not to preserve the church for ourselves, but to grow the church for future generations. This means letting go - letting the flood purge us.

In one telling of the Rip Van Winkle story, when he goes to sleep for 20 years and wakes back up, everything has changed but schools and churches. That’s not a compliment to the spiritual life – it’s a criticism, a harsh one at that. None of us wants to be banished to the outer darkness, so part of our staying awake is paying attention to the needs of others more than our own needs. We aren’t told what the Master would have done if the talents has been invested poorly, but we are assured that the slaves who took the greater risk all got the greater rewards.

There’s a flood coming! The flood will show us what kind of character we have for helping others. Jesus is clear that we aren’t just here to help people who can help us or to help those who are like us. Jesus says that the mission is to serve the least of these. This is not a check-writing ministry to the poor and downtrodden, this is a call to look people in the eye, to invite the lonely into our homes, to treat each person we meet as if we were meeting Jesus. This is both an individual mandate, each of us will be judged for our relationships with others; and a national edict, the NATIONS will be gathered before the Son of Man and be separated as one separates the sheep from the goats. It’s in our best interest, not only to be kind and generous ourselves, but to inspire kindness and generosity in others.

There’s a flood coming! And Jesus has a three part plan for us to be able to weather what happens. 1) Stay awake. Stay awake. STAY AWAKE! Falling asleep on the job is not a pretty option. The church that carries on into the future will always stand for something. 2) I am confident we can take the risks of honestly living into the Master's expectations if we wish to move forward and have an investment to share with the next generation. Some time ago we committed ourselves to inspiring the next generation of believers, and we can follow through on that promise. And 3) We also need to care openly and compassionately for the least of these. Churches that become havens for those who have it all are missing Jesus on the street. We lose heart and we lose help when we lose our focus on the Son of Man, our human connection to the divine heart of God. We have a plan - let's follow Jesus together.

There’s a flood coming! Noah built an ark. Jesus invites us to be a part of his body. We baptize with water to remind us that God will carry us through the flood rather than destroy us. We eat and drink to remember that we are united with Christ to serve one another.

Amen.