Advent, part 2: Get ready, get set and go

I know that I am going to stir up some controversy in what I am about to say, so here goes. I think NHRA drag racing is better than NASCAR. (I can hear the collective inhale of breath as you read this.) I realize these may be fighting words, but quite frankly, I was raised around dragsters. When my uncles and my dad tuned engines, they were tuned for the hole shot, not the left turn.

I think the coolest thing at the drag strip was the Christmas tree. These are staging lights that range from red to green. As the colors progress, the drivers prepare to hit the gas and drop the clutch to go from a standing start to the finish line. The noise and the smell of alcohol-based fuel mixed with nitrous oxide and burnt rubber is just intoxicating. (I’ve tried to talk the scented wax makers to come up with a similar scent.) The thunderous roar of overpowered engines combined with the whine of superchargers is overwhelming and awesome.

The staging lights are the equivalent of saying Ready, Set, Go! And Advent is just like those staging lights. It is in these weeks that we are getting things ready, getting everything set and then going. Mark 1:1-8 shows us God started the staging lights.

It seems to me, though, that we may be hung up in the staging area. We have the ready, but for some reason we seem to be stuck at set. John prepared us to follow Jesus, Jesus set the stage for us to go and make disciples, yet for many of us, we haven’t come out of the starting gate. The staging light has been glowing green for almost 2,000 years, and yet we are still at the start line.

We were supposed to be running a race. We are in a race against time. We have only so much distance to cover and we only have so much time to make the disciples of the world. Why have we stalled? Why are we still at the staging light?

When a dragster fails to come out of the hole, it is usually due to a mechanical failure. Fuel lines may be switched, the transmission could be blown, or the engine seized. Any number of reasons can cause a car to fail to race.

However, we have no such excuse. God has given us everything we need to run the race. The Bible has all things necessary for salvation. The call to make disciples could not be any clearer. Christ’s instruction to love God, love our neighbor and love one another cannot be any plainer. There are no hoses to blow, rods to throw, or cables to break. It is time to get out of the starting gate and run the race.

The Christmas tree is on, the lights are showing green. Hit the gas and get moving. Time to make disciples.

Just a thought.

Shalom my friends. See you in church.

Rev. Kent Wilfong is the pastor at the United Methodist Church, Doniphan/Neelyville.