When you tell people you grew up or live in central Florida,  it is my experience that within a few minutes, the conversation will turn to Disney World. I can remember hearing the news that the Magic Kingdom was coming. It was exciting. Can you imagine?  A Sunday night staple in our house was the TV show, the “Magical World of Disney” – and that magical world was coming to us.  Anaheim had Disney Land, but we were getting a whole world, the whole Disney experience!

In the 40 years since the park opened, the “Disney Experience” has only expanded. It seems to me that when you take it all in , Disney offers a happy future come true today where everyone is pleasant, cheerful, and are there to help you at every turn.  Everything is immaculately clean; why …. it is almost magical !

In the days after Thanksgiving, everywhere in Disney, music fills halls, the malls and plazas.  Be you waiting in line for one of the attractions or at one of the gift shops, there are Christmas carols in the air. Familiar tunes like “Silent Night.”  All is calm, all is bright.  Everything is set just right, it is polished and clean, all is happy as we wait for the Savior’s birth.  No single star over Bethlehem, there is a magical finale of fireworks to punctuate the moment. We are at peace, undisturbed.  All is well.

All is well at Disney. But the world we live in is not perfect, not redeemed. There are wars and rumors of war. People are homeless, hurting, and helpless. People are lonely, lonesome, and lost. It can be a struggle – and there is a part of us that want the holiday season. That wants a break, a pause, a Disney moment. That needs to recharge, be happy, be hopeful, hospitable. So, we also open our homes for gatherings of friends and families. There are concerts, lots of children’s Christmas pageants, musicals, and we light up our homes and streets against the darkness of winter. I love the streets over in South Tampa where the lights in the trees form a canopy over the street and the homes are just amazing. There is a part of us that wants Disney to be reality. That wants this moment to never end. To be truly is magical.

Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.

The words of Advent scripture are anything but Disney. On this first Sunday, the message is ominous and dark. It takes us by surprise.  We are like one of those families that somehow acquires a cute little lion cub. I mean doesn’t it look just like Simba in the “Lion King” (…brought to you by the good folks at Disney).  I mean…. Really, it is so cute, so huggable, so…. domesticated. Then one day, the lion roars.

The message of our Advent Scripture roars, asking us to look around because it is just like it was in the days of Noah. We are going about business as usual, but there is a coming flood that will sweeps us all away. While the world would present a huggable, domesticated, Disney Christmas, Advent begins with a roar that shatters the calm on this day.   It cries “wake up!” because Salvation is coming; Redemption is on its way!  You have to be ready.

Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.

If we really hear the Advent message, we would better understand the power of the coming God. If we had any idea of the reason for the season, we would not come to church at Christmas in our finery, we would be prepared and come wearing crash helmets and life preservers, prepared to be swept away in the flood of God’s power and grace.

God is not like Disney.  God does not want to pacify us – He wants to electrify us. He does not want us lining up for Space Mountain, but rather would have us stream towards the mountain of the LORD’s house. He does not want to bedazzle us with fireworks and Main Street – He wants to mystify us the idea that God, our Redeemer, the one to heal, house, and give hope –  would come to us as one of us – as a helpless child.  Would draw us into the hard and demanding work of raising a child.

A child in a manger, arms raised upward, inviting you into the embrace.  A child we are called to pick up and take into our lives, doing the hard work of nurturing our faith in to maturity. A Child that will make the demands of love known. A Child that will point to homeless, hurting, and helpless – past all the magic of Disney – and remind us of Love’s demand to be played out away from the Magical Kingdom – on the highways, byways, back alleys, and streets of the Kingdom of God.

The readings of this first Sunday in Advent asks us to wake up, be vigilant, and reminds us that this Child’s story cannot truly be rolled into malls, markets, Main Street Disney, or any endeavor that would soften, temper, domesticate, obfuscate, or obliterate news that should roar at us like the full grown lion, sweep us away in the flood waters of change. It truly is “As it was in the days of Noah…”

Salvation is coming; Redemption is on its way!  You have to be ready.