Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Matthew 24:44

This passage came to my mind last week, for a different reason than you might have thought of In fact, probably no one had cause to think of this the way I did for the simple reason none of you were on the hook to preach Sunday night.

Let me back that up a little. Back in June, when Mr. Mo gave me the schedule for July, he had put me down for preaching the evening of July 30th. That was, at that time, a long way off. Well, three weeks of vacation in Yellowstone later and I found myself back at home and pulling a lesson together. But Sunday morning, who happened to sneak in unexpectedly during communion but our friend Buddy Payne, preacher extraordinaire! Wally asked him if he could perhaps deliver us a lesson Sunday night, giving me the "Get Out Of Preaching Free" card, and he obliged us with a great lesson.

So what does that have to do with the scripture above? Well, about 10 minutes before services started I got to thinking. What if Buddy had broken his leg playing flag football at the potluck? Suppose he drank too much watermelon tea (yuk!) and his throat was all swollen and he couldn't talk? At the last minute, if something happened, Wally would have turned to me and said, "Well, you're back on!"

I confess, I did not bring my lesson to services Sunday night. I left it at home on my computer. In fact. I hadn't even gone over it one last time that afternoon because Buddy was there to speak. But you know as well as I do that's not going to change the facts that someone is going to preach and I was the most prepared person to do it, and it was my turn, so it would have been me!

And I knew what I would speak about. Not the lesson I had planned, oh no. Simply this: we must always be prepared. Not only for the end of time, and judgment day, but any time an opportunity comes up. Passages about having a "ready answer" or being "instant in season and out of season" flashed through my head. Even something about feet being shod with preparation came to mind.

It was a long 10 minutes before services started, so I also had time to consider examples from scripture. Paul and Barnabas on Mars Hill. Peter and John healing a lame man. Even Paul in his captivity, using the occasion of testimony to preach the gospel. There are so many, where the opportunity gets thrust on someone and they don't shirk but instead use it for God's good. Even those who came to arrest Jesus at the feast, not the mob but the soldiers sent by the Jewish rulers, end up getting an earful of teaching and come back empty handed.

So I thought on these things, glad I didn't have to put them in use in the form of a lesson, yet knowing I would have if I'd been asked. In my last minute before services, I jotted them all down to be used as a bulletin today on what I had available. As fate would have it, I thought back to some other soul who was inspired at the oddest of times about something dear to him: his flag. A fellow named "Francis", who was being held prisoner by the British while they tried to frighten American troops with "fireworks" at Baltimore. And on the back of an envelope went his poem, just as mine went, the back of a birthday card envelope the LaBranche's gave me. Thanks to them, when I had an idea to write down, I was all set, proving that not only should I be ready at all times but we can help each other be ready, too!

Randy